Apex Legends: How To Play Bangalore Effectively

Updated:

04 Jul 2023

Bangalore is one of the OG Legends in the game, and she is still a staple of competitive and casual play, even 17 seasons into the game. Bang was recently placed into the Assault Legend category during season 16’s overhaul of the class system, meaning she gained even more utility.

Because of that, her pick rate increased by quite a bit, so more people are now playing Bang. Despite how simple her kit looks from an outside perspective, she has quite a lot to her and it's not easy to master. She's a great Legend and one that rewards good players mastering her.

Being an Assault Legend means that Bangalore has access to the Assault passive. This passive ability gives Bangalore a few things. First, it allows her to carry more ammo per slot in her backpack.

Next, she can open Assault bins around the map to gain more attachments, ammo and gear for herself and her team. These bins contain smart loot, meaning you get attachments according to what you need as a team.

Bang’s basic passive is quite a simple part of her kit, but one that makes her more impactful than most. When Bangalore is damaged, shot at or shot near, she enters “Double Time”. Double Time gives Bangalore a speed boost of 30 per cent for 2 seconds.

This allows Bang to run away from fights, into fights or just move around the map quicker. It's a super simple ability, but one that defines her play style. Run and gun is the way of Bangalore, and this ability makes that all work.

Next is Bangalore’s tactical ability, the bread and butter of her kit. With this ability, Bangalore gets two charges of smoke. These are your usual smoke grenades, but she can fire them quite far.

The great thing about smoke in Apex is that you cannot see through it, and its server side. This means that wherever the smoke is, everyone sees it like that. Bangalore can use this smoke to push fights, hide revives and so much more. It's one of the most versatile abilities in the game.

Finally, Bangalore’s ultimate is the cherry on top of her fantastic kit. Similar to Gibraltar’s ultimate, Bangalore can throw down a grenade that calls in an air strike at her position.

The way this differs from Gibby though is that this one is a rolling thunder. Meaning it moves across the map in the direction you threw the grenade. This ability is extremely simple, but just like the rest of her abilities, it's got a lot of depth to it.

Bangalore is a fantastic Legend all on her own, but she opens up with other Legends to cover her weak points. Bloodhound works perfectly with Bangalore as they can scan through her smoke, basically giving your team free wall hacks through her smoked-out area.

This pairing is fantastic for both ranked and casual play and is also extremely fun to play around.

Now you know how great Bangalore is, let's discuss how to play her better.

How to Play Bangalore Effectively:

15. Smoke as you move forward

One of the best ways to use Bangalore’s smoke is to screen as you move forward. Smoke in front of you, then bob and weave so enemies can't just beam you. You need to play unpredictable as Bangalore in your smoke, then the kill should be yours.

14. Smoke yourself, not the enemy

One mistake Bangalore make is to smoke the enemies who are firing at you. Whilst sometimes this might be a good idea, most of the time they will just move to a different position that's still better than yours. Good players will have multiple options to shoot you from, so smoke yourself to make them guess where you are going.

13. Smoke out areas you plan to run towards

We already know to smoke in front of us. But you can also smoke where you plan on running. Though the smoke itself provides no physical cover, people often lose track of enemies when they run into smoke. Fire the smoke where you want to go, move towards it and watch your enemy panic.

12. You can also bait with your smoke

On the other side of things, you can smoke where you would go, and go another direction. This baits enemies into watching the smoke and waiting for you to emerge, where in reality you are already ganking their position for the kill.

11. Combine Double Time with Smoke

Double Time is the most powerful ability in your arsenal, so use it whilst smoking. If you run towards your smoke after being shot at, you disappear because of how fast you are. Bangalore is fantastic at pushing through open space, so use these two abilities in combination to your advantage.

10. Grenades are a girl’s best friend

Another thing many Bangalore players forget, and Apex players in general, is how useful grenades can be. Bangalore can use the cover of her smoke to launch grenades at her enemies or throw grenades into her smoke when enemies push her. It's a great idea to get free damage or push your enemies into a different position.

9. Use your ultimate as an approach

The Rolling Thunder is a great tool to push a fight with. Throw the ultimate in front of you as you run forward to hit the enemy as you get close. Remember, you and your team are still affected by the ultimate, so get into a building before it hits you.

8. Use the ultimate to run away

On the complete opposite side of things, you can use that ultimate to run away. If you're running in one direction away from enemies, turn around and throw that ultimate. It should hit the enemies so you can get away. Even if they aren't hit by it, they will need to take some form of cover to not get stunned. It's a surefire way to get away.

7. Combine with Bloodhound

Bloodhound is Bangalore’s best friend. When Bangalore smokes an area, Bloodhound can scan through her smoke to get wallhacks for the team. It's an insane combination and still works well to this day in ranked and competitive play.

6. Loadout options

Just like any other Legend, I recommend using an Assault rifle like the R-301 or even the Volt SMG for medium to long range, then having an R-99 or Peacekeeper for those close-range engagements. It's better to be prepared for every situation.

5. Digital Threat Sight

The best thing a Bangalore can ask for is a digital threat on something like a Prowler or an R-99. This golden rarity attachment allows Bangalore to see through her smoke, without a bloodhound or a seer. It's an insane item on her and is a must-pick-up if your teammates don't take it first.

4. Assault Bins

Speaking of getting yourself a Digital Threat, make sure you open those Assault Bins as you have a good chance of getting one for yourself. The chance of this was lowered in a recent patch, but it's still a reliable way of getting one for your loadout.

3. Pace yourself with Double Time

Good Bangalore players don't treat Double Time like an instant push tool. Yes, it's fantastic for chasing down enemies or attacking them, but pacing yourself is also a great idea. You need to know when to push to get the most out of your ability. Remember, there's no cooldown on getting Double Time again, if it runs out and someone shoots you, it just procs again.

2. Learn Movement tech for Double Time

Movement is key in Apex, and perfecting techniques like wall bounces, super glides and tap strafes only gets better in combination with Double Time. You move so much faster in this state, amplifying the positives of these movement techniques. Get practising as it's going to make you harder to hit, cooler to look at and an overall better Bangalore player in the long run.

1. Use the ultimate to force enemies off of the high ground.

The most important tip for any Bangalore player, and what separates the good ones from the most effective has to be how they use her ultimate. Though it's not the best part of her kit, it's still extremely impactful.

Gaining high ground in this game is the key to winning engagements and holding ground in general. Bangalore’s ultimate is fantastic for getting enemies off of their high ground so you can either take it for yourself or take them out.

Learning how to place your ultimate when people are above you, knowing all its timings and calling out to your team all takes skill. But that is how you become the most effective Bangalore you possibly can.