While other battle royale titles such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and PUBG Mobile are hailed as genre-starters, some devs and publishers like Garena want a piece of that battle royale pie. As a result, while Garena Free Fire takes familiar elements from the games that started it all, it’s still quite different from what fans could expect from games like PUBG and PUBG Mobile. More specifically, it’s quite interesting how Free Fire actually features pets.
Unlike other battle royales, Free Fire allows players to have pets accompany them during combat - providing a much-needed visual aid to make avatars look much prettier when engaging in firefights. However, some pets in the game are just a cut better than the rest.
10 Beaston (Helping Hands)
Players with an aggressive battle royale playstyle know that throwables can have a lot of impact in combat, be it through smoke grenades, flashbangs, or even grenades. However, throwables won’t be as useful if their targets are a tad a bit too far from where they are. Thankfully, Beaston can help players with this predicament.
With this Helping Hands ability, the pet can extend the throwing range of players whenever they use throwables. This first starts at a 10-percent boost and provides bigger boosts in the long term. Such a boost is integral for aggressive players who want to catch enemies off-guard at a distance, beneficial for ambushers and snipers.
9 Yeti (Frost Fortress)
Combat in any battle royale game is annoying not just because of pesky opponents and their weapons, but rather those that catch players by surprise with explosives. One properly-timed grenade throw can kill players without giving them a chance to retaliate. Thankfully, Yeti can help players circumvent this threat.
Through Frost Fortress, those that bring Yeti in combat can benefit from a reduction of explosive damage. This begins at a 15-percent reduction every 150 seconds, while at max level can confer a 30-percent damage reduction every 90 seconds. This can become a great deal for players aggressive enough to constantly seek firefights.
8 Ottero (Double Blubber)
Dying in combat means losing in a battle royale, which means players always need a stock of recovery items in order to ensure their HP stays in tip-top shape. Thankfully, Free Fire also has an EP resource that automatically gets consumed to replenish lost HP, provided players earn them constantly via campfires, mushrooms, and character skills. Thanks to Ottero and his Double Blubber ability, players get more bang for their buck.
With Double Blubber, the otter-inspired pet will give players a bonus EP whenever they use a recovery item. This bonus EP starts at 35-percent of HP healed and grows to up to 65-percent as they level up. This can become a life-saver in longer excursions, as players need all the EP they can have for emergency heals.
7 Spirit Fox (Well-Fed)
Players who want a more straightforward healing bonus can actually rely on Spirit Fox in order to get more of their money’s worth whenever they get recovery items. That way, players can outlast more foes in combat and not always rely on EP for their emergency heals.
Thanks to Well-Fed, Spirit Fox can start giving 4HP to as much as 10HP at max level whenever players use a recovery item. This can become extremely convenient in critical close-range incursions, as a player’s usage of recovery items like medkits can spell the difference between a winner and a loser in a fierce conflict.
6 Agent Hop (Bouncing Bonus)
Players can’t stay in a single area for too long in a battle royale, especially since the safe zone shrinks the longer they stay in the battle. As such, players will inevitably face other characters or risk getting damaged if they remain in the zone. With Agent Hop, players get more incentive to explore within the zone and prepare for enemy encounters.
Thanks to their Bouncing Bonus, players can get as much as 50EP whenever the zone shrinks, giving them an EP-regeneration ability which can be nifty for emergency heals. Players who want a more aggressive approach can rely on Agent Hop for the constant EP bonus and avoid having to look for mushrooms, which can take time away from hunting down other players.
5 Poring (Stitch And Patch)
Armor and a helmet are the two things protecting players from being killed too easily by opponents, and sometimes their defensive bonuses get easily overwhelmed to the point that they have to be regularly replaced. Thanks to the Poring and its ability, this might not necessarily be the case.
With the Stitch And Patch ability, a Poring can give a 1 point boost to the durability of worn helmets and armor every three seconds. At its initial level, the ability protects Level 1 armor and helmets from damage, but at maximum rank can protect even Level 3 armor and helmets. This is extremely useful for players reliant on careful plays, where being caught off-guard in combat means dying too quickly.
4 Sensei Tig (Nimble Ninja)
Spotting opponents quickly is what often separates a survivor and a dead body in a gunfight, and man-marking is a viable strategy to do this. Through man-marking, players can spot players in a vicinity through certain skills. However, players who have Sensei Tig with them can rely on the power of stealth to disable these advantages.
With Nimble Ninja, Sensei Tig essentially reduces the duration of players using man-marking skills from 30-percent to as much as 50-percent. When used properly, a player in a gunfight can feign escape and, when the enemies don’t seem to spot them, can get back for a fierce counterattack.
3 Dreki (Dragon Glare)
Mythology describes dragons as fearsome creatures, often forcing others to cower in fear in their presence and making it easier for dragons to hunt them down. The pet Dreki has somewhat the same property, allowing players to spot opponents quickly and catch them while they’re trying to recover.
At its core, the Dragon Glare ability will ping opponents in the player’s radar if they’re using recovery tools at a certain distance. This initially starts with a 10-meter radius and can expand to as much as a 30-meter radius. Despite its 5-second duration, Dragon Glare is more than enough for players and their squad to initiate an ambush.
2 Rockie (Stay Chill)
Unlike other battle royales, Free Fire offers unique characters for players to use as their avatars, often coming with active skills that can change the way combat works. Of course, as with other games, these active skills have cooldowns before being usable again, dampening an aggressive player’s approach. With Rockie, this dynamic can change when used properly.
Thanks to its Stay Chill ability, Rockie can reduce the cooldown time of the character’s enabled active skill - starting at 6-percent and growing to as much as 15-percent. This can greatly help players using characters such as Chrono, Skyler, and DJ Alok with active skills and want to get access to their abilities as soon as possible.
1 Detective Panda (Panda’s Blessing)
Battle royales are usually won through two strategies - eliminating as many enemies as possible, or camping until the very last team remains. One thing is certain - players will definitely have to kill at least one team to win. Perhaps a godsend for aggressive players, Detective Panda compensates for a more combat-oriented playstyle thanks to its bonuses.
With Panda’s Blessing, this panda-inspired pet gives players some HP whenever they register a kill. This initially starts at 4HP per kill, and then eventually evolves up to 10HP per kill. Such a bonus can be a blessing for aggressive players, as the extra HP they obtain can spell the difference between life and death in a firefight.
Garena Free Fire was released in 2019 and is currently available for play on Android and iOS devices.