A complete PUBG guide to help you win PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

An image of a selection of playable characters from PUBG Battlegrounds, one of the best battle royale games
(Image credit: PUBG Corporation)

A good PUBG guide will help players dominate the competition in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Knowing how to survive the initial drop, find a good range of equipment, and last until the final circle and victory will make sure you claim regular victories - or chicken dinners, as they're also known.

It's not easy though. To survive throughout any game, you'll need map awareness, tactical skill, understanding of the game and quick-thinking reflexes. That's why we've put together this proper PUBG guide to help you not just survive, but thrive in the pan-wielding world of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

Controls Guide

If you want to last for longer in PUBG then you need to know how all the controls work, which may sound obvious but some of the inputs are quite different to other games. Learn how to switch from third person aiming to first person scoping, change your grenade throwing motion and more in our guide on how to aim in PUBG on PS4 and Xbox (and the rest of the controls explained).

Beginner's Guide

PUBG Season 9

(Image credit: PUBG Corp)

How does the blue circle work? What the heck can I do with a frying pan? Why is everyone obsessed with chicken? If these are the sorts of questions you're asking yourself, you could definitely benefit from reading our PUBG beginner's guide: frying pans, blue circles and chicken dinners explained.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Survival Tips

If you want to keep going until the final circle, you're going to need some pointers for outliving the other 99 players. To get closer to earning a victorious meal, check out our PUBG tips - 10 ways to stay alive and win that chicken dinner.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Maps

pubg map

(Image credit: PUBG Corporation)

Erangel is a huge place, with a variety of areas and terrains that affect how you move around them and the sort of loot you can expect to find there. Then we have the deserts of Miramar and the compact Sanhock, along with snowy Vikendi and the even smaller Karakin, which have their own unique areas to explore. We've broken down all of the regions to show you how risky each of the main locations are in our map guides:

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Best Starting Gear

pubg

(Image credit: PUBG Corp.)

As soon as you parachute into a round of PUBG, your first instinct is to grab as much loot as you can - however, there's only so much you can carry at once, meaning you'll need to prioritise what you take. To help you with these decisions, we've split items into tiers depending on their usefulness in our guide to the best PUBG starting gear - get the best gear to start out with.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Best Guns

Forget the frying pan - if you're going to survive then you need a proper weapon, and PUBG has an array of assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, sniper rifles and more to scavenge. If you want to know which shooters you should look out for then read our Best PUBG guns - what are the best weapons?

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Best Armor

pubg gun

(Image credit: PUBG Corporation)

Every helmet and bulletproof vest in PUBG has an armor level between one and three, and understanding the differences in their durability and damage reduction could save your life in a firefight. We've got all the information you need in our PUBG armor - get the best helmets and vests.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds cheats explained

PUBG

(Image credit: PUBG Corporation)

If you're a PC player and have felt that something is not quite right, and that maybe one of your opponents is doing suspiciously well, then it may be that they're using some sort of cheat. If you want to know more about what could be going on, we've got the most well known PUBG cheats explained.

Has Playerunknown's Battlegrounds whet your appetite for eliminations? Then here's a selection of awesome Battle Royale games like PUBG you should check out.

Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has over 500 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.