Essential gear options for PUBG Mobile beginners

Picture this: you've loaded up a new PUBG Mobile battle royale match. The plane is flying over the map, you’ve chosen your preferred landing zone, jumped from the plane, and are slowly drifting down with your parachute. Things will move quickly once you’ve landed, and if you want to win, you need to grab gear fast.

Inventory slots are limited early in the game, and you need to save them for priority items. This guide will walk you through the top items you should be focusing on when you first touch down. A little self-control will go a long way in keeping you alive, so be sure to limit your looting to core items when a match begins, and you'll be set up for victory right from the jump.

PUBG is a competitive shooting game where the last person standing wins the match, so you'll need some sort of weapon in order to progress. However, there are a couple of layers to this that may not be so obvious in the beginning.

For starters, unless they're your only option, you should avoid weapons like sniper rifles, light machine guns, or anything with a slow rate of fire or reload speed. Focus on getting something small and light like assault rifles or DMRs. Once you’ve found your weapon of choice, start venturing out from your landing zone and seeing what else is around.

Admittedly, it's weird to be so specific about an important item worth picking up, especially when it's something like ammo, which every gun in the game is going to need in order to fire. Hear us out though, and you'll understand why we're so keen on collecting 5.56 ammo specifically.

Assault rifles are in solid supply in a standard PUBG battle royale match, and majority of the ARs, LMGs, and DMRs in the game use 5.56 ammo. Therefore, collecting it as you see it will have you prepared for when you finally find the gun you've been looking for, and you won’t have to worry about ammo for a while. You can go on the offensive and move closer to victory straight away.

Along with guns and ammo, items that raise health or give temporary health boosts should be your top priority in a match. No damage runs are few and far between in PUBG Mobile – we might even go so far as to call them impossible – so being able to heal any damage you take is always important.

You can go for the First Aid Kits, Med Kits, or even Painkillers in a pinch. A med kit may fully heal you while a First Aid kit will only heal up to 75%. Find health items and fast, or else you could find yourself at a massive disadvantage as the match progresses.

Much like how health items are paramount to staying alive, finding the best pieces of armor is also important. They will give you an extra layer of defense when the time comes for late-game firefights. Both helmets and body armor are important pickups, so be sure to seek them out as you begin.

Helmets and armor both come in different "levels", with higher-level equipment offering more protection. You can switch out lower-level or even damaged armor for new pieces you find on the ground too, so don't hesitate to pick a piece of armor up in the early going; you'll be glad you did.

This is going to sound like bad advice, but when we say you should always pick up a 4x/8x scope, or a suppressor, even if you don't have a gun the parts will fit on at that moment, trust us. They are very hard to find in a match, and when you eventually do find the gun that matches the gear, you'll have some of the best attachments in the game ready to go.

Make sure you grab a backpack! They are essential for increasing your inventory and allowing you to avoid making tough inventory decisions like leaving behind a desired item, and the bigger the backpack, the more you can hold.

Backpacks like helmets and armor, come in multiple sizes based on their level. You can also upgrade them as you progress through a match, with all of your inventory carrying over to the bigger backpack, so don’t be afraid to get the first backpack you see.