Five things to know before playing Brawl Stars

Brawl Stars is a fast-paced arena shooter, and there are a few things worth considering that aren't immediately obvious as you play.

There are plenty of things we wish we were aware of before we began playing Brawl Stars regularly. Whether it's ways to make your Brawler more powerful, or in-depth mechanics that can help or hinder your abilities, here are five things to keep in mind as you progress, and you'll be earning trophies in no time.

Each match begins with a 10-minute time limit, which is quick for a multiplayer match in this arena-based format. However, that 10 minutes is misleading. Some entire matches can be over in seconds rather than minutes.

Most matches we've played range in the two-three minute range. Simply put, don't expect matches to be long and drawn out. Brawl Stars just isn't that type of game.

Each character falls into one of seven different classes, each with their own play style and abilities. For instance, Damage Dealers focus on attacking, Controllers use area-of-effect attacks to hurt multiple enemies at once, and Marksmen attack from a distance.

However, baked into these classes are inherent strengths and weaknesses against the other classes. Each class’ best and worst matchups are below:

Taking a Brawler into battle without making any adjustments is fine when in lower levels, but eventually you're going to need to make some enhancements. Builds are enhancements that can turn your character of choice into a powerhouse.

Builds let you equip special abilities, stat boosts, and more for any character who is fully powered up. Each character has multiple build slots and choices for each build slot. This allows you to build your character how you want, and then ride into battle with them at their peak.

The auto-aim feature sounds terrific in the early stages. It makes the game easy, as all you have to do is seek out enemies and the auto-aim will take them down in your stead. However, it isn't as effective as it should be, especially with multiple enemies on the screen confusing the aiming sensors.

The auto-aim feature tends to target characters who are either A) just out of reach of your weapon, or B) not the enemy you're chasing down if a third character is close to you. Auto-aim is a good onboarding tool, but eventually you'll want to leave it behind. So, learning how to attack while aiming manually will be key to your long-term success in Brawl Stars.

New Brawlers are unlocked by completing quests, and there are multiple types of quests found throughout Brawl Stars. Before jumping into your next match, head into the quest menu, and see what tasks you're close to completing. Achieve them in your next match and watch the XP roll in.

Daily quests are easy to achieve, which makes accidentally forgetting about them all the more frustrating.