How to play Loba in Apex Legends: Abilities, tips & more

Andrew Amos
Loba guide for Apex Legends

Loba is Apex Legends’ loot queen, picking up every goodie across the Outlands. If you want to pick up the Translocating Thief, follow our guide to the best tips and tricks you need to master.

Season 10 of Apex Legends is well underway and although Loba isn’t a top-tier pick in the current meta, she’s definitely strong in the right player’s hands.

However, in practice, most players fail to use the legend effectively. She plays very similarly to other lurking Legends, always poking at fights and getting out to safety with her bracelet. Mastering this playstyle will go a long way and it all comes down to positioning in a gunfight.

If you’re looking to pick up the Translocating Thief, follow our guide here.

How to make use of Loba’s abilities

Passive: Eye for Quality

Apex Legends loba skin season 8
Loba can scout ahead for loot with Eye for Quality.

Loba’s passive is a very strong looting tool. Eye for Quality allows her to see Epic and Legendary loot through nearby walls. If she gets close enough, she can also ping it for her team.

Her passive, in tandem with her Ultimate (more on that coming later), makes Loba one of the best early-game Legends. Eye for Quality can be used the other way too ⁠— if you can’t see good loot in a building, you can go somewhere else, without possibly running into an enemy squad.

Tactical: Burglar’s Best Friend

Loba’s bracelet. That is all.

Ah, Loba’s bracelet. One of the most contentious abilities in Apex Legends. After the buffs that arrived in Season 9, the jump drive device finally received the love and attention it needed. With the changes allowing her to keep running and gunning while throwing the device, she’s a lot less of a sitting duck than she once was.

Nevertheless, Loba’s Tactical is still a strong ability to get high ground or jump into a fight. She throws her bracelet in front, teleporting to it when it lands. It’s on a 29-second cooldown though, so be mindful of teleporting into your demise.

Ultimate: Black Market Boutique

Loba’s Ultimate pulls in a ton of loot for the Translocating Thief.

Loba’s Ultimate, Black Market Boutique, is perfect to get loot in a pinch. You can drop your shop anywhere, and it’ll grant you access to all nearby items. You can only take two items from each shop (and unlimited ammo on top), but it’s on a short cooldown, so don’t be afraid to take bits and pieces.

In the early game, you should drop Loba’s Ultimate off cooldown. Loba jumps into the Outlands with 50% charge on the ability, and it has a 120-second cooldown. Be mindful of dropping it later on though, as it can reveal your position with a big pulse when deployed, and trails when you pick up items.

Use Eye for Quality to explore supply drops and explosive holds safely

Loba in Apex Legends turning round
You can peek into drops from afar to see if it’s worth pushing.

Eye for Quality can see into supply drops and explosive holds (on King’s Canyon), and you should use this to your advantage. If you see an item you really want inside these capsules, you can set up a push. However, if it’s not worth your time, you can save yourself the danger.

You can play around these to bait enemies if you so choose, but it’s easier to just move on and keep looting up. Loba doesn’t do well stuck in one spot, so you always want to be looking to push somewhere.

Use your Bracelet to surprise enemies bunkered in buildings

Surprise, Rev.

Loba’s bracelet is unique compared to any other movement ability in Apex Legends. You can fire it through little gaps to break into compounds and surprise bunkered-down enemies. Using this in tandem with your team pushing from the outside can make for a great pincer attack.

You do have to be mindful of the entire enemy team turning on you, but if your team is there, you should be fine.

Collapse your Black Market Boutique when finished

After you finish shopping, don’t forget to pack up!

It’s a simple tip, but one some Loba players don’t know. Enemies can use your Black Market after you move on or die. It’ll only despawn when the zone closes in on it, it gets shot down, you spawn another one, or you choose to collapse it. You should always choose the last option after you’re done looting.

Collapsing the Black Market means enemies can’t access nearby items after you leave, making their looting a bit harder. In the same vein, if an enemy Loba hasn’t collapsed their Black Market, keep yours in your pocket and abuse their open one to stock up on attachments and ammo!


There you have it, that’s everything you need to know about Loba and her handy kit. Coming up to Season 11 hopefully, she can rise up the tier list.

Make sure to follow @alphaINTEL for all the latest Apex Legends news, guides, and updates.

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