How To Fix Apex Legends Lag
The launch for Apex Legends came out of nowhere. No one was expecting this game from Respawn. The gaming community was still speculating that Respawn is working on a new Titanfall title. However, Apex legends proved to be a massive success.
Apex Legends came out on the 4th of February 2019. One of the main reasons for its success is being free-to-play. However, there are a lot of free-to-play failures on the market. The thing that makes Apex Legends different from all the other free-to-play battle royale games at that time is its fast-paced gameplay. Along with the fast-paced gameplay, Apex Legends also introduced some of the most creative solutions that plagued battle royale games. For example, Apex Legends was one of the first games that allowed dead teammates to get revived.
Despite its popularity, "Apex legends" still suffers from one of the worst nightmares of an online gamer, LAG. As established, Apex Legends is a fast-paced game and, it rewards those players that play aggressively. In these types of games, lag becomes even more annoying. Here we will discuss all there is to know about Apex Legends Lag.
What Is Apex Legends Lag
Lag is the name given to the time delay between the input given by a user and the appropriate response displayed on the screen. This time delay is actually always present even on the most high-end gaming systems. When the time delay becomes large enough to be noticed, it is called lag.
Suppose you are playing a ranked match of Apex Legends and, you see an enemy. You aim your R301 at the enemy and start firing. You are aiming correctly and, you see bullets hitting them. However, you don't see any hit markers or their HP going down. Or maybe you do see hit-markers, but they appear after two or three seconds. This experience is called lag. However, lag is not limited to this exact experience. Lag is quite frequently referred to several issues including, rubberbanding, input lag, and game freezes.
Apex Legends Rubberbanding
Rubberbanding is one of the worst issues that can occur during an online Apex Legends match. If you try to move your in-game character forward, you will have a tough time doing so if you have a rubberbanding issue. The in-game character will move two steps forward and jump one step back in the direction from where you started moving. This back and forth motion happens every second if you have severe rubberbanding.
Apex Legends Input Lag
Unlike rubberbanding, input lag does not cause an extremely choppy animation on your screen. Even with high input lag, graphics and the movements on the screen will feel very smooth and fluid. However, input lag can cause a massive deterioration in your in-game performance.
Input lag basically refers to the time delay between an input device and the image being rendered on the screen. For example, you might be trying to move the crosshair of your weapon in a particular direction by moving the mouse in that direction. If you have high input lag, the crosshair will take a second or two to start moving after you have started moving the mouse. This can cause you to overshoot your aim.
What Causes Apex Legends Lag
As discussed, there are several experiences that can be classified as lag. Hence, there are even more issues that can cause lag. The things that cause lag can be broken down into two main categories, Hardware-related issues, and Network Related issues.
Hardware-related issues can include several problems. For example, input lag is often caused by a hardware-related issue. Input lag arises because of low framerate. If your gaming rig is very old or, if you are playing at a resolution that your gaming rig can not handle, you will experience a massive drop in your framerate. V-Sync is notorious for inducing high amounts of input lag. You can also experience frequent game crashes or game freezes due to a hardware-related issue. If any of the wires coming from or going to your graphics card is not properly connected, you will most likely experience a random game crash.
Rubber banding and ping spikes are some of the most common results of a network-related issue. If you have a bad network connection or there is an issue with your network connection, you will most likely experience high ping. If the problem gets worse, rubberbanding will start. If there is an issue with the stability of your internet connection, you will experience frequent ping spikes. A network-related issue may also cause your game to crash sometimes or freeze.
How to Fix Lag
Just like many problems can cause lag, several solutions can potentially fix your lag. A simple google search of "Apex Legends Lag" will lead you to tons of internet forums describing different fixes that may or may not fix your problem. We have explained the most common fixes with the highest chances of success that you can try to solve your lag problem.
Hardware Related Fixes
Hardware-related issues can sometimes be very easy to deal with. Here are some fixes that you can try and are related to hardware.
Recommended System Requirements
As we have established, a low framerate will induce input lag. You might be experiencing a low framerate because your gaming system is not meeting the recommended system requirements for Apex Legends. If your computer meets the minimum system requirements for Apex Legends, you will be able to run the game but you will not be able to achieve a high framerate. Hence, it is always best to at least have a gaming system that meets the recommended system requirements of a game.
High framerate is always better than lower framerate. If you are experiencing input lag even if your computer meets the recommended system requirements, we recommend that you try upgrading to better hardware like a graphics card or RAM.
Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit)
CPU: Core i5 3570K or Better (Intel) / Ryzen 5 or Better (AMD)
GPU: GeForce GTX 970 or Better (NVIDIA) / Radeon R9 290 or Better (AMD)
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
Available Space: 22GB
DirectX: 11
Network: Broadband Internet Connection
Graphics Settings
Sometimes you may feel input lag or low framerate even if you have upgraded your gaming system to the point where you are certain that there are no hardware limitations. Framerate drop can occur even if you have the best gaming hardware that is currently available. If this is the case with you, you should try tweaking your graphics settings.
V-Sync is a technology that helps in reducing screen tearing, however, it always induces unnecessary input lag. If you prefer a lag-free experience over zero "screen tearing" then you should switch off V-Sync while playing Apex Legends.
You should always make sure that you are not running the game on a graphics preset that your computer can not handle. If input lag persists even after having capable hardware, try lowering your resolution or some of the graphics settings.
Removing Unnecessary Load and Stress
So you have made sure that you have capable hardware, you have also tweaked your graphics settings for maximum performance, and you have tried setting all your graphics settings to the lowest possible value, but you still face input lag. This might be because you are putting unnecessary stress load on your computer by running several applications in the background while playing Apex Legends.
The recommended system requirements for Apex Legends are for the game only and not for the game plus 20 browser tabs. If you are running any unnecessary applications in the background while playing Apex Legends, we recommend that you close them. This will remove some of the load from your system. This will allow your computer to allocate all its resources on trying to boost your framerate as much as possible.
Network Related Fixes
While hardware issues are relatively easy to diagnose and a bit easier to fix, things are a lot difficult for network-related issues. Network-related issues can be really tricky to figure out because there are tons of issues that may be causing them. Applying the necessary fixes for a particular network issue can get even more difficult and time-consuming. This is because, from the hundreds of issues related to the network, there are even more potential fixes available on the internet, with each one without a guarantee of a permanent fix.
However, there are certain fixes that are much more common and have a higher probability of reducing network lag. These fixes are explained below.
Wired Connection
It is commonly known in the gaming community that a wired connection is better than a wireless connection. This is because a wired connection is like a solid pipe that grants a direct link for data to be transmitted from a gaming computer to the internet router, with zero restrictions and hurdles in the way. On the other hand, wireless data transmission has to deal with tons of obstacles and hurdles like walls and furniture.
If you are facing lag, then you should definitely try switching to a wired connection. This will not only reduce lag but will help you achieve much more stable internet speeds.
Gaming Router
While a wired connection is best, it is not for everyone. There are multiple situations where a person would prefer a wireless connection over a wired one. Not only that but for certain gamers, getting a wired connection may not be an option at all because of certain limitations or restrictions. If that is the case and you cannot switch to a wired connection, we recommend that you get a gaming router, and place it as close to your gaming computer as possible. Gaming routers are built while keeping all the necessities of gamers in mind. Gaming routers provide a stable and consistent internet connection with minimal to no lag.
Removing Unnecessary Bandwidth Restrictions
Just like hardware performance, network performance should not be restricted in any way whatsoever while gaming. This is because, when it comes to playing online games, especially competitive fast-paced games like Apex Legends, you need all the performance you can get in order to avoid running into any kind of lag.
If you are facing any kind of lag while playing Apex Legends or any kind of ping-related issues, then you should make sure that you are not downloading any large files while playing the game. These downloads use up your bandwidth and cause your game to lag. Also, make sure to turn off automatic windows updates. These are all just unnecessary restrictions on your bandwidth that are likely to cause lag.
Separate Connection
If you are experiencing lag and high ping, despite making sure that there is nothing in your computer using up all the bandwidth, and you also use a shared internet connection with other users, then they may be the likely cause of the lag you are experiencing. The other users that you share the internet connection with might be downloading large files while using up all the bandwidth without even realizing it. To solve this issue you can try getting a separate internet connection that only you will be using.
ISP or Bandwidth Upgrade
If you have checked out all the possible causes of bandwidth limitations, and have made sure that there are no users or unnecessary downloads using up all the bandwidth, then the issue might be in the bandwidth itself. The bandwidth may be too low so you can try upgrading it. However, if you are sure that the bandwidth is not the one causing the issue, then it might be the ISP. You can try switching to a new ISP that is reputable.
WTFast
The several hundreds of solutions out there for several hundreds of problems that may cause lag may seem daunting. Not everyone has the time to figure out what is causing lag only to end up on a solution that may or may not work. If you are looking for a one-stop solution that will fix network-related lag, then you should give WTFast a try. WTFast is a "Gamers Private Network" that lowers lag by rerouting your connection to a network that is more stable. This also gets you the lowest ping possible. For an unmatched lag-free experience, get WTFast today.
