Loba is a great legend to use, and sits right in the middle of the pick rate for characters. In my humble opinion, she deserves a higher pick rate than that. Loba’s abilities lead her to be categorized as a support legend, as she can provide quick loot for her team. Her other signature ability is throwing a bracelet to teleport a short distance, providing a quick escape to heal up in battle or creating an opportunity to flank. Let’s get ready to go shopping, and see what we can accomplish with Loba in Apex.
All information in this guide is updated for Apex Legends Season 14.
Loba’s Apex Abilities
Eye For Quality
While it isn’t the strongest in Apex Legends, Loba’s passive ability can still be a considerable help; it allows you to to see epic, legendary. and mythic items through objects and walls. However, you are unable to see inside loot ticks and death boxes that may contain these items. Her passive is more useful than the abilities of a couple of other Legends, as it is used for finding loot as quickly as you can for you and your team. It has a range of 112.5 meters, and the ping range is 12 meters. It also allows you to ping items through obstacles, loot bins and care packages. Not only can you see loot for your teammates, but if you notice something nearby disappear, you can assume an enemy is close.
Burglar’s Best Friend
Loba’s tactical is quite useful, especially in comparison to her passive. Use her bracelet to quickly teleport into flanking positions, gain high ground, or simply escape. It comes with a 30-second cooldown time so be sure to use it at the right moment.
The distance you can throw the bracelet varies, depending on the height you’re standing at. On normal ground, you will be able to travel 71 meters, but if you find yourself on a high surface you can throw it 100+ meters. Likewise, while travelling on ziplines or jump pads, you can get some good distancet. Once you throw Loba’s bracelet, you cannot cancel it unless another legend interrupts it, but don’t worry about throwing it off the map or out of bounds. If thrown into these areas, the bracelet will come back to Loba with no cooldown time. After throwing, you can also stop the bracelet mid-air and force it to the ground to teleport to that location.
Throwing her bracelet at Gibraltar’s dome shield will cause it to bounce off, and throwing it off of Octane’s jump pad will cause it to bounce, possibly gaining some distance. If you throw Loba’s bracelet while walking, or at a standstill, you cannot begin running, so try to throw it while running so you can continue to move fast and slide. One of the biggest things to note about Loba’s tactical ability is that after teleporting, there is a brief animation before you can actually start shooting.
Black Market Boutique
Loba’s ultimate ability allows you to place down a device that teleports nearby loot to you and your teammates. Each member of your team can take up to two items, not including ammo, depending on how much loot is in the area. When ammo or health kits are chosen, you will receive full stacks. Any player can access the black market, meaning enemies can also use it. Press down on your directional pad to close the black market so enemies can’t use it when you’re finished. You unfortunately cannot grab banners from the black market.
Her ultimate charges quite fast at 120 seconds, meaning you can use it frequently and she starts the game with an ultimate charge of 50%. Because it charges so quickly, ultimate accelerants only give a 20% charge boost. Activating and placing Loba’s black market will take 4.5 seconds, at which point it can be used. Placing her ultimate also creates a large pulse enemies can see, and a noticeable sound cue as it scans the area for loot. Selecting an item will teleport it to your inventory, leaving a faint noticeable trail for a second. Loba’s black market has 100 health and a 112.5 meter radius, making items within range float noticeably off of the ground.
Loba’s black market is unable to loot death boxes from flyers while they are still being carried, and it cannot take loot from randomized drops like MRVN, cargo bots or loot ticks. You can use the black market to steal one item from locked vaults, but keep in mind it will set off an alarm and the black market will be destroyed.
Source: Electronic Arts
How to Play Loba in Apex Legends
Though she’s not the most complex legend in Apex, Loba can be very useful. You should be looting on the run and taking advantage of her abilities to keep your team rotating quickly, well-stocked, and with the best tactical advantage. Keep your team on the move by providing fast loot, and cover areas more quickly when gearing up. Loba is most effective right at drop and for the first few minutes of a game in order to get a head start.
Her ultimate starts at 50% after landing and charges quickly, so take advantage of the quick cooldown time and use it as often as possible. Of course, don’t use the ultimate in an area that you’ve already looted, as there will be nothing left. You can use her ultimate to see if an area is even worth looting, as sometimes the time it takes to loot may not be worth what’s there. This can be extremely beneficial early on. Further, her ultimate makes it so that you don’t even need to enter the area to loot – everything nearby will be available in the black market.
You need to be cautious of enemies when placing the black market so they don’t notice the sound it makes when placing it, or see the faint trail that gets left behind as it teleports nearby items to you. You also don’t want to leave it behind for enemies. Be aware to not develop tunnel vision when using her ultimate and passive to try to track down loot, as it can put you out of position. Tunnel vision with Loba’s passive can also lead to under-looting, causing you to miss lots of great blue items you and your team might need.
Although you can be aggressive with the bracelet, it is not the best to use unless it’s a sure push.. This is because it’s easy to track the bracelet through the air, and it makes a noticeable sound when used as well. The best way to use her bracelet is to gain height advantages or move to areas of tactical advantage just before engaging in a fight. However, as mentioned previously Loba’s bracelet is best used for escaping. Because you can still move while the bracelet is travelling through the air, you can continue to dodge enemy fire or move to cover while activating it. Running the opposite way it was thrown can help disorient the enemy’s aim.
Advanced Tips for Loba in Apex Legends
- Don’t forget to use Loba’s ultimate every chance you get. It’s tremendously valuable even in the late game, as it will infinitely allow you to replenish ammo.
- Approach fights cautiously. When near an area with an active engagement and lots of death boxes, you can steal great loot without actually getting in the fight by using Loba’s ultimate. This includes armor swapping in the late game.
- Loba’s ultimate can also block doors and provide a brief bit of cover if needed in a pinch, although will most likely be destroyed shortly after activating.
- Wear a gold helmet to charge the black market even faster and rotate your team even more quickly.
Source: Electronic Arts
Best Loadouts in Apex for Loba
Loba doesn’t benefit from any particular loadout in terms of weaponry. With Loba’s abilities giving her the ability to access almost any loot she wants, it’s really up to you to go with what you’re comfortable with. Loba can be played at long-, mid- or short-range, so she doesn’t have restrictions based on distances.
Best Legends to Pair With Loba
- Bloodhound
- Seer
- Valkyrie
- Gibraltar
Legends with recon abilities, like Bloodhound and Seer, are great teammates for Loba, as they can help identify if an area is already occupied. If it is, it may be worth using the black market to loot, or moving on altogether. A Legend like Valkyrie helps Loba move around the map more quickly, and makes it easier to get to all the best loot spots fast. A legend like Gibraltar is great for giving protection when using the black market.
Bringing style to the games and being able to grab the exact loot you want makes it extremely fun to play Apex as Loba. Getting to throw around her teleportation bracelet and having an ultimate you can use so frequently makes for an active game. Though one of the simpler Legends in terms of gameplay, her potential has a decently high ceiling and she shouldn’t be overlooked. Now that we have covered all the basics, tips and tricks to using Loba in Apex, get out there and hunt down Revenant!
