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What is Garena Free Fire and How to Play It: The Complete Guide

What is Garena Free Fire and How to Play It: The Complete Guide
Leri Koen

Leri Koen

  • Updated:

UpdatedEnrich article with new tutorial

If you like games like Fortnite or H1Z1, then Garena Free Fire is right up your alley. Here’s the real perk: it is completely free to play! Available on both iPhone and Android, Garena Free Fire has all the elements of battle royale games we love from player customization to taunting enemies with emotes. 

More and more players are jumping into the game. Between January and March of this year, 73 million more players entered the fray. If you’re looking for the next great battle royale experience, here’s what Garena Free Fire is and how to play it.

What is Garena Free Fire the Game?

Garena Free Fire, or simply Free Fire, is a wildly popular battle royale game available on Android and iOS. The game takes place in the third-person perspective and involves up to 50 players landing on an island by parachute. With this many players involved, stakes are high. You’re forgiven for wondering what Garena Free Fire is and how to play it. 

The main objective of Free Fire is to gather as much equipment and weaponry as possible and eliminate everyone else on the island. 

The game starts onboard a plane. The players choose locations on the island to drop over as the plane flies; this way, no one needs to land in the same spot. Once on the ground, your primary goal is to find as much medical equipment, weaponry, utility items, and special items as you can. 

As players are eliminated, the safe area of the island will decrease. This forces remaining players into closer combat situations so that no one can prolong rounds by hiding far off. The game operates on the last man standing mechanic, where the last player to survive wins the round. Players can also team up and play cooperatively; in this case, the team that survives will win the round.

Garena Free Fire

Tutorial on How to Play Garena Free Fire

Free Fire is an exciting game with a fairly straightforward control setup and graphics that suit mid- to low-spec mobile devices. Having a good handle on the basics of battle royale gaming is always an advantage, but you’ll have even more of an edge with a dedicated guide on how to play Garena Free Fire. 

Garena player customization

The Basics

Your journey begins on a plane. Looking at your head-up display (HUD), you’ll see a circle around a portion of land on the map. This is the field of play. You are allowed to land anywhere within this area. As soon as you see a place you think would be good to start in, press eject on your screen, and your character will jump from the plane. From here, you can control your direction as you hurtle through the air toward the ground. Steer yourself toward your desired area, and before you fall too far, deploy your parachute. 

Once you land, it’s a race to see who can pick up weapons first. Because Free Fire supports up to 50 players in each round, you will likely land somewhere near another player and your first target. You can find your weapon anywhere near where you landed. Weapons are distributed fairly well, and it shouldn’t take you long to find your first gun. 

Weapons

There are five classes of weapons in Garena Free Fire. These are launchers, large machine guns (LMG), small machine guns (SMG), melee weapons, and automatic rifles (AR). Each class has a few weapon choices with varying degrees of damage, rates of Fire, reload speeds, and accuracy. The range of weapons is quite wide, you can pick up a pan or a baseball bat and hit your opponents, or you can slice them into obscurity with a katana.

Guns are the best option for early gameplay, however, as you’ll be able to hit targets from further away. It’s always a good idea to have a melee class weapon, though, because you never know when you’ll have to face someone in close-quarter combat. 

Characters

You can choose from a decent selection of characters, from musicians to physicists, and almost everything in between. As of the latest update, there are 39 individual characters to choose from. Each character has its own perks and special abilities, apart from Nulla and Primis. 

Characters can also use emotes, which are fun gestures that you use to communicate with other players. There are currently over 60 emotes in Garena Free Fire. You can equip your character with up to eight emotes at a time and can change them at any point during gameplay. Emotes are purchased from the in-game store using the in-game currency, diamonds. Before buying an emote, check if any special events offer the emote you want as a prize.

Events

There are numerous events in Free Fire that offer all sorts of rewards. 

Daily Task events require you to complete a task to earn a token. Tokens are what you use to purchase other rewards. Remember to collect your tokens once you achieve the Daily Task objective; otherwise, they will be forfeited. 

Gacha events mimic the real-life gacha toy vending machine. Here you can get random items from a list of possible rewards. The four lists you can choose from are Mega Luck, Gold, Character Royale, Incubator, and Weapon. 

Item sales are not so really events but more special opportunities. Some of the game’s items will be sold at discounted in-game prices. Sales range in length from a day to a couple of weeks. 

Login rewards are bonuses you can claim simply by logging in to the game.

Top-up Promos require you to top up your diamond loot with a specific amount of diamonds to get a prize. These range from one-time top-ups to more lucrative cumulative events. The first op-up usually awards you with extra diamonds or character skins.

Pets

The inclusion of helpful sidekicks in the form of pets is one way Garena Free Fire sets itself apart from other mobile battle royale games. You can choose between 13 pets as of the latest update, and each pet boasts unique special abilities that can help you in your quest for domination. Pets are obtained from the in-game store. 

Garena pets
LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!

Kitty

Kitty is a simple cat. Other than looking cute, Kitty has no special skills. Kitty has 6 levels, the last of which introduces players to Detective Kitty. This upgrade comes with a new skin, and occasionally Detective Kitty will find hidden objects and items in the world. 

Shiba

Shiba is a dog based on the viral Shiba Inu meme and also the actual dog breed. Shiba has an ability called Mushroom Sense which enables it to find mushrooms around the world. At level 1, Shiba marks mushrooms once every 180 seconds. At level five, this frequency increases to 150 seconds. Shiba is a good companion pet for players that move around a lot. 

Mechanical Pup

Apart from looking like an animatronic dog, Mechanical Pup has no skills. Increasing Mechanical Pups levels isn’t really necessary as there are no skills present to increase. Mechanic pup is a good visual companion for players that don’t need much help. 

Spirit Fox

This fox comes with the healing power of Well Fed. Spirit Fox grants you an additional 4 health points (HP) when you use a health pack. Upgrading Spirit Fox to level 5 increases the HP given to 7. Spirit Fox is a well-rounded companion suitable for all players. 

Robo

Robo is a small, spherical robot with cute cat ears. This companion’s special ability is Wall Enforcement which grants 60 HP protection by increasing the efficacy of the Gloo Walls you build. At level 5, this protection increases to 80 HP. Robo is, therefore, good if you rely on defense rather than attack as your playstyle. 

Poring

Poring is a sentient gelatinous blob. It carries Stitch and Patch as its special ability, which increases the durability of your armor and helmet every 3 seconds. It also prevents a level 1 helmet from being destroyed. Upgrading Poring to level 5 increases its effectiveness to every 2 seconds and prevents level 2 armor and helmets from being destroyed. 

Ottero

This is a cute otter-like creature in a hoodie and headphones. Ottero comes equipped with Double Blubber, a skill that recovers energy points (EP). When you use a treatment gun or medkit, Ottero increases your EP by 35% of your current HP. When you upgrade Ottero to level 5, this increases to 50%. 

Night Panther

Night Panther is another addition to the robotic companion family. Resembling a panther, this companion’s ability is called Weight Training. Useful to any type of player, Weight Training increases your inventory capacity by 15. If you upgrade Night Panther to level 5, your inventory capacity by 30. This is a good choice if you’re the kind of player who collects everything they see. 

Detective Panda

Detective Panda bestows Panda’s Blessing on your character. This restores 4 HP with every kill you make. Upgrading Detective Panda to level 5 increases the HP received after a kill to 7. If you initiate battles a lot, Detective Panda is the companion for you. 

Falco

Falco is the newest addition to the Garena Free Fire pet collection. Its skill is called Skyline Spree, and it will increase your starting skydiving speed. It also increases the speed you have while parachuting to the ground. 

Lobby

In general RPG and battle royale terms, a lobby is the screen you see just before the game starts. This is where you can see the details of the game you’re entering, and often you can see a list of the players. In Garena Free Fire, you can communicate with other players from here. The lobby is also where you make final character adjustments and wait for players to join.

Joining a lobby is easy, but Garena also lets you create custom lobbies so that you can play with your friends. To create a custom lobby in Free Fire, you need to have a Custom Room Card. This functions as a payment for each room you create. You can obtain a Custom Room Card in two ways.

Garena lobby

With Diamonds

You can buy a Custom Room Card with 100 diamonds. With the current Garena diamond exchange rate, this is equivalent to about $1 each. 

Garena free fire money

As Guild Rewards

During the guild tournaments, players receive dog tags as rewards for any mode they play in. Dog tags can then be exchanged for a Custom Room Card. You need 1,800 dog tags to get the Custom Room Card, but this isn’t such a massive task if you band together with the players you want to create a room with. You’ll make more dog tags collectively and get a Custom Room Card sooner. 

To play the game’s classic mode, you need at least 10 players to join your lobby. 

Tips and Tricks

With all of its features and possible specifications, Garena definitely deserves its place near the top of the battle royale food chain. To help you rise to the top quicker and more effectively, we’ve compiled a few tips and tricks to get you playing like a pro. 

Keep Moving

Moving targets are easier to kill. As soon as you establish a home base or a camping spot, you’re a likely target. Keep moving across the safe area, and don’t settle down anywhere for long. The objective is to be the last player standing, and this is far easier if no one can catch you or find you. 

Sneak Your Way to Victory

Garena Free Fire is all about survival. This game isn’t dependent on kills; all you need to do is be the last player or team alive. Use every opportunity for cover you can find, and don’t linger too long in open areas. If you do choose to camp, pick a spot that gives you an edge as a sniper. This will be somewhere high up and fairly well hidden. 

Vehicles

Don’t use vehicles early on in the game. While driving is faster and more efficient than walking or running, it makes you an immediate target. If you are intent on driving around, only use vehicles in safe zones. Avoid open vehicles because you’ll be easier to kill if you’re in a roofless car. 

Weapons

You can carry three firearms and a melee weapon at the same time. Choose these weapons carefully. Base your choice of weapons on your primary playstyle. So if you’re a sniper, grab up a few rifles, and if you prefer close-quarters combat and sneaking up on your enemies, use more melee-style weapons.

Get your game on!

The main reason to pick this game up is that it’s free. You can do fairly well in matches with all of the basic weapons and armor available to you without spending a dime. Sure, you have the chance to absolutely dominate the competition if you spend a few bucks here and there. However, you also might buy all that and get killed within the first few seconds.

If you are a fan of battle royale games, this one is a lot of fun, and worth your time.

Leri Koen

Leri Koen

Born and raised in South Africa I am the mother of two busy kids and one loving husband. Since leaving school I immediately started working and have been involved in many different industries where I learned a wide range of skills. Some of my skills range from marketing to management and even teaching special needs children, particularly those with severe developmental delays. I am a self-proclaimed holiday nut, taking any chance I can get to decorate and celebrate major holidays such as Easter, Halloween and Christmas, often planning these months in advance! I have a wide range of passions that I persue (as often as I can) such as reading, writing, bonsai, crafting, creating natural beauty products, listening to music and playing games (prefered platforms being PC and Xbox).

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