At the beginning of Royale, Mystery Mode or SvR modes, the match begins with a flight on the back of a giant eagle, and the player’s SuperAnimal jumping out at some point over the map.
In Royale and equivalent modes, knowing what path of the eagle shall be can be very helpful.
For this reason, something that a player should consider doing before the match even starts is to pull up the map (‘M’ key by default). On this map you will see an arrow lined path that the eagle is expected to take for this match, and this is certainly helpful for planning ahead, especially if one is not the only player on one’s team.
The path that the eagle takes is rather random – and the choices one makes here can have a significant impact on how the rest of the match goes.
As a general rule, the earlier that one chooses to jump out of the giant eagle, and the closer that one lands along the path of the eagle, the greater the concentration of immediate threats shall be, and the sooner that one will likely encounter opposition.
While a player will find equipment almost anywhere on the map, the various points of interest on the map will generally offer an easier scavenge for better quality equipment. This also makes points of interest more desirable drop-points, and the odds of encountering opposition also increases, especially when near the path of the giant eagle.
What this does mean is that one can use this information to tailor the amount of pressure that one encounters at the beginning of a match. If a SuperAnimal drops at the start and land near the path of the eagle then they will encounter a lot of opposition. If they wait until the eagle has already crossed half the map, and take a perpendicular path to land far away from the path then the SuperAnimal likely won’t encounter resistance, even if they land at or near a point of interest.
Now let us speak of the jump itself. Once a SuperAnimal jumps out of a giant eagle, they will be drifting, hanging upon an umbrella or equivalent.
This gliding state assures a controlled descent, and allows a SuperAnimal to travel as far as one can while descending. As they descend, the view pans in and the player sees less and less of the surrounding terrain.
Pressing the same key or button as used to jump out again leads to the SuperAnimal going into a much faster descent. This can be very useful if a player has made up their mind on where they would like to drop, as being on the ground sooner than others can mean that they get desirable pieces of equipment before other opposition, giving their SuperAnimal a preparedness advantage.
Know when to switch back to gliding, though, as spending several seconds splatted on the ground can more than squander any advantage that could otherwise have been gotten.
It is noted that one may also choose to dive most of the way down, redeploying the umbrella at the very last moment. This can be helpful if the intention is to get to ground in as short a time as possible.
Going back to the descent from the giant eagle, as one begins to descend, one will notice that a number of places have roofs and cannot be looked through. However as one descends further, the roofs of these areas, especially those that one is passing over, will begin to fade away to reveal what is within. In super animal royale these previously roofed sections are legitimate places to land, and a SuperAnimal landing there won’t be landing on the roof.
As one approaches the ground, one will notice that one’s glide speed appears to pick up, especially on the final approach.
Yes, a SuperAnimal can land directly within an indoor area, regardless of whether it is a hut, a resort complex or the tunnels of a mountain.
If one lands in a place where one’s SuperAnimal cannot legally move around, such as a body of water, trees, or closed shipping containers, then the game will instantly relocate that SuperAnimal to the nearest legal position to that point. Since this is instant it can prove to be momentarily jarring, but it is otherwise harmless.
Gliding movement is not as fast as that of a giant eagle, and so it is generally more efficient to travel more or less perpendicularly away from the path of the eagle. Of course, with eight-direction movement this will often result in changes in direction to get more or less the path that one intends.
If a player happens to be a well known quantity and wishes to dive covertly then one has a few options. One is to jump when many others have jumped. This may increase the odds of one’s jump being missed, having more super animals to look through. Depending on one’s adversary, this may also dissuade them from jumping.
‘Next’ we’ll be looking at a mechanic that is specifically important for Duos or Squads royale. The downed state – and revival.