Quake Champions marks the fifth installment in id Software's Quake series of fast-paced arena shooters. Like Quake Live before it, Quake Champions lets you play for free against players from around in the world in a wide selection of game modes rooted in fast gameplay, rocket jumps, and railgun snipes.
Study the following tips and tricks to frag your way to the upper echelon of contenders. Below, you'll find sections that offer detailed explanations of the game's free-to-play currencies, characters, and mechanics.
Tips for Quake Champions
- Know Your Environment. The maps in Quake Champions never change. Anyone who doesn't know where the best weapons spawn and which areas to avoid when another player is on a Quad Damage-induced killing spree is at an instant disadvantageous. Pick a map and study its layout until you know its weapon and player spawn points better than you know your own neighborhood.
- Complete Daily Goals. Every day brings a new set of daily goals, displayed on the main menu when you start the game. Completing daily goals earns you Favor, Quake Champions' in-game currency that you can use to rent champions and buy backpack-type loot boxes that hold new armor parts and color shaders.
- Rent Champions Before Buying. Renting a champion adds them to your character roster for 24 real-time hours. Each champion boasts a unique ability, activated by pressing F in-game. Champions also have varying levels of maximum health, armor, and movement speed. You can buy champions using Platinum currency to unlock them permanently, but Platinum costs real money. Rent first so you don't spend money on a champion you end up disliking.
- Warm Up. Before a match begins, Quake Champions gives you time to run around. Besides getting acquainted with an arena's key areas, take this time to experiment with your champion's active ability as well as its cooldown time. When the match begins, you should feel confident in your ability's range and whether it's more useful in offensive versus defensive scenarios.
- Never Stop Moving. In Quake Champions, which has its roots from the fast-paced arena shooters of the 1990s, staying still is the fastest way to die. No matter what you're doing, no matter where you are, no matter how impressive your lead in frags over your opponents—keep moving. When you draw near a weapon, spin around and walk backwards over it to pick it up so you can watch out for opponents trying to sneak around behind you.
- Remap Key Bindings. Quake Champions maps movement, weapons, jumping, and every other in-game action to default key bindings. Some of those bindings work better than others. Weapons, for instance, are mapped to 1 through 0 at the top of your keyboard. The first five keys are within easy reach of your left forefinger, which should rest on "D" most of the time, but the last thing you want to happen during a match is to run head-first into a wall (or a rocket) because you were straining to press a key further to the right. Remap weapons further down that top row to more accessible keys, such as your mouse wheel button and the bottommost row of letters.
- Master the Rocket Launcher. The best players know the optimal way to fire the rocket launcher. A rocket fired straight at an opponent is easy to dodge; instead, fire at their feet. Even if you miss, the rocket will detonate when it hits the ground and batter any players in its blast radius. Splash damage may not be as harmful as a direct hit, but some damage is better than none.
- Learn How to Rocket Jump. Rocket-jumping originated in id Software's inaugural Quake title back in 1996. This risky maneuver propels you upward to out-of-reach platforms at the cost of some of your health. Perform a rocket jump by aiming at your feet and firing a rocket at the same time you press the jump key.
- Know When and How to Move. Just as some weapons work better in certain situations than others, you'll need to change up how and when you move to stay alive against different weapons. If you see a rocket launcher clutched in your opponent's hands, keep your distance and circle-strafe around them while shooting back at them. On the other hand, the Lightning Damage is only deadly when opponents can hit you with a steady stream of energy; move erratically to keep them guessing.
- Change Your Starting Weapon. No matter which champion you bring into battle, you can change your starting weapon—shotgun, machinegun, or nail gun—by clicking the option to change champions or starting weapons after you die. This option pops up every time you're fragged, so don't hesitate to play around with champions and weapons until you find a combination that suits your playstyle.
Quake Champions: Guides
Is your Ranger lonely? Learn how to unlock additional champions to frag alongside him.
Learn the types of in-game currency and what you can buy, as well as how real-money transactions work.
Choose which of the game's three starter weapons to take into combat and learn what other weapons are available.
How to Buy and Redeem Loot Boxes
Cash in Favor currency for backpacks that net you armor parts and other goodies.
Check back often as we fill out our Quake Champions guide with more information and strategies.
David Craddock
Long Reads Editor
