After EA made huge changes to the competitive system in Season 13, it's become much harder to reach those higher ranks in Apex Legends. Not only does it cost RP to enter a competitive match, the number lost is determined by both the player's current rank and tier division, but a player must also reach a place higher than 14th for their kill/s (or kill participation) to be converted into RP. Anything lower than 14th place will count as a loss and, even if a player were to get several kills upon dropping, RP won't be rewarded.
Ultimately this means that a team should be particularly careful about where it is they decide to land, dropping in an area too dangerous, or even small, could result in a huge amount of RP lost and therefore a decay in overall rank. This, of course, is especially crucial for those in higher ranks who lose an upwards of 40+ RP if they were to die too soon.
5 Energy Depot
Energy Depot is located in the center of Olympus surrounded by other hugely popular areas: Hammond Labs, Gardens, and Rift. This area is, in fact, a high-tier loot area and is reasonably large, meaning enemy teams aren't necessarily forced to drop too close to one another. However, this particular location is known by fans to have an incredibly high volume of teams landing there, which forces teams to fight extremely early on in the game, often before they even have a chance to pick up any loot at all.
Of course, in the case that a player outlasts the competition there, they could be in for huge amounts of RP but seeing as this seems to be one of the many hot spots of Olympus, it is much more likely that a player will end up below the 14th place mark and inevitably lose ranked points instead. Landing here is most definitely a gamble.
4 Bonsai Plaza
Bonsai Plaza is located between Phase Driver and Icarus and is one of Olympus' many hot spots. It is a mid-tier loot area and is quite large but proves to be an extremely popular place to land with its high number of enemy squads. Fans have often criticized this section of the map for how spread out loot is here. It's extremely dangerous to drop here considering how vulnerable players are to enemy squads, while the loot isn't as easily obtainable upon landing.
Perhaps a result of its high-tier loot scattered across the top floor of the skyscrapers, squads tend to drop in the same general area of Bonsai Plaza which means, once again, players are often forced to fight before even picking up a weapon. All in all, it's certainly risky to land here during a ranked game.
3 Oasis
Oasis is one of the larger areas within Olympus and is situated on the outer section of the map between Carrier and Estates. Oasis is filled with mid-tier loot and includes several buildings. Two are apartment buildings each with three floors accessible to players, along with an entire underground café below it. The café spawns high-tier loot, such as legendary armor or knockdown shields. It is a tricky area to escape from if invaded by a competent opposing team.
With it being such a great place to land in terms of loot and size, it is guaranteed that several enemy squads will land here each game and unless a player and their team are able to loot and run away safely, only one team can and will be left alive. With the sheer amount of people that land here, it is much less likely that a player will reach the place needed to begin earning RP, and therefore decay in rank.
2 Gardens
Gardens is another area planted in between highly popular areas: Clinic, Energy Depot, and Rift. It isn't the biggest location in the game, but it certainly isn't small, so players will have the chance to have at least a building or two to themselves they can loot before getting into a fight. The loot here, like Bonsai Plaza, is mid-tier but does, however, spawn a lot closer together.
Gardens is one of the more popular POIs (point of interest) and is guaranteed to have a few squads dropping here every game. With its mid-tier loot and its high volume of enemies, it isn't really a place players want to land if they're looking to survive until at least 14th place and ultimately gain RP to rank up.
1 Estates
One of the most popular places to land out of any map in the entirety of Apex Legends is Estates, which has proven to be the Skull Town of Olympus. It is a small area filled with mid-tier loot, meaning there isn't really a lot of loot to go around when in comparison to the number of players who actually land here. This location is described by fans to be one of the most fun places to land in a standard match but in terms of grinding RP in a ranked mode, Estates is probably the one area of the map players should definitely avoid landing at, at all costs.
Located beside Oasis and Hammond Labs, Estates is the most lethal area on the map. There are guaranteed to be multiple enemy squads that drop here each game and, while in previous seasons having numerous kills early in the match would have been a great way to gain RP, after the huge changes to the competitive system, dropping here seems like a surefire way to lose rank.
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