Totally Accurate Battlegrounds is the funhouse mirror version of popular Battle Royale shooters like Fortnite and PUBG — and that’s pretty refreshing when every waking hour, we’re bombarded with new, serious attempts to cash-in on the king of popular game modes. There’s a new Battle Royale announced every other day, and none of them are as effortlessly weird and wonderful as TAB.
Instead of giving you tight controls and competitive balancing — TAB is all about the ludicrous. You’re a wobbly physics character in a world of wobbly physics characters. Your guns can barely aim. Instead of parachuting to the ground, you’re launching out of a flying bus, head-first. Just standing upright can be a challenge when you’re exchanging fire in the fields between creatively-named locations like ‘Crappy Castle’ — and to help you get a full understanding of this completely ludicrous game, here are 10 secrets, strategies, tips and fixes you probably should know before diving in.
#1: Press G To Aim Like A Gangsta
Let’s get the most important tip out of the way first. Press [G] to tilt your weapon and start shooting with the coolest-of-the-cool grips. If you can’t blast your enemies in style, then what’s the point?
#2: Use Shotgun Jumping To Get That High Ground
You’ve probably noticed all the bendy, wacky physics in TAB. You can use the floaty physics engine to your advantage with a shotgun — or a minigun. Basically, any powerful gun will send your wobbly character flying into the sky. Rocket Jumps aren’t required here. Gun Jumps are all you need to launch into the sky. Also? No fall damage.
#3: Don’t Forget To Switch To Full Auto!
Anyone that’s played Player Unknowno’s Battlegrounds knows all about this — when you grab a weapon, any weapon, it’s set to the default single-shot setting. That’s no good. Check your controls and make sure you know how to switch to full-auto mode so you can unleash a torrent of bullets on your enemies. Aiming is for suckers in TAB.
#4: Up Close And Personal Is The Best Way To Fight
Thanks to the weird physics, fast bullet drop, and terrible recoil with every weapon, aiming is really overrated. The best way to win is to get up-close. If you play for even a short amount of time, you’ll notice fools trying to shoot you from across the map. Unless they’re incredibly lucky, they’ll never hit you. Just zig-zag up to those goons and shotgun / unload SMG bullets into their faces.
#5: Waiting Forever To Get Into The Game? Swap Your Region
TAB’s popularity has exploded over the weekend, and it’s only getting more popular. If you’re stuck and want to join a game, but you’re finding it impossible, there are a few tricks you can try — namely, swapping regions. In the top-left corner, change the server to US 1, US 2, US 3, etc. Just keep swapping and seeing if you can join. It helps to reset the main menu too — press [Esc] to skip the opening intro.
#6: Put Guns In The Throw Slot To Toss Your Junk Around
You can throw just about anything. Just drop what you don’t need in the throw slow, and you’ll be able to make those useless weapons work for you. The more mass the weapon has, the more likely you’ll knock down your target. Throwing stuff isn’t just a great way to knock people over, making them a totally easy target, it’s also super fun.
#7: Send Messages Far With Carrier Pigeons
Want to send a message in-game? You can use carrier pigeons to alert your enemies far-and-wide! To throw a carrier pigeon, you’ll need to type some text into the chat window. Instead of pressing [Enter], just left-click instead and you’ll generate a carrier pigeon with a text balloon. Throw it in the right direction, and you can taunt campers across the map.
#8: The Water Gun Isn’t Useless — Knock Enemies Down!
If you manage to find the Water Gun, don’t throw it away just yet! It’s actually a great weapon that can knock opponents down with a quick burst of water. It’s easier to use and aim than throwing stuff, anyway. Squirt your target with a splash of water, knock them down, then blast them with your main weapon. It’s easy and humiliating!
#9: You Can Shoot Around Corners With The Periscope Barrel
Here’s something you probably won’t find or use, but it’s cool anyway. The Periscope Barrel is a special attachment that lets you shoot above walls or around corners. Too bad it’s completely useless without the Periscope — a parakeet that sits on the barrel of your gun and lets you see behind you.
#10: Don’t Miss Secret Guns
And there are tons of secret guns in the game. The Shooting Range shows off most of the weapons you’ll find, but look hard enough and you might stumble into some super-rare (and super awesome) weapons that don’t make any sense at all. You’ll find Finger Guns (literal), a giant fake revolver, MAC-10s with money strapped to the side, a Holy Sword, a blunderbuss with wings, and a handcannon that’s a literal cannon that’s hand-sized.
TAB is a completely ludicrous game, and you probably shouldn’t take it too seriously. Let’s all enjoy the madness, and the floppy physics.
