Essential starter characters for Free Fire

Free Fire has a dizzying number of characters to choose from, each with their own special ability that can be used to aid you in battle. This guide will walk you through which characters – and more importantly, which abilities – you should unlock first, to get a jumpstart on those early wins.

Andrew has a terrific ability for brand new players to Free Fire. When he’s active, all armor you find during a match loses durability at a slower rate, which means you'll stay protected for longer than normal. Despite being one of the first characters you can unlock, Andrew's ability is one you may keep coming back to.

For those who want sniper-like precision, Laura is a smart character to unlock as she increases your accuracy whenever you look down the scope. "Scoping in" already results in more accurate shooting, but Laura makes each bullet even more likely to hit its target, and as a new player, this will let you learn the in and outs of Free Fire's shooting on your own terms.

Ford is the perfect option for someone who is not only playing Free Fire for the first time, but also might be new to battle royale shooters in general. His ability lets you recover some of the HP you automatically lose when you’re outside of the safe zone, giving you precious time to get back inside the shrinking circle of a battle royale map before it’s too late.

Luqueta's ability rewards you with extra HP for each downed opponent, and what's a better reward than extra health? That boost to max HP could be the difference you need to get the Booyah for victory at the end of a match, so be sure to give Luqueta's ability a spin as soon as possible.

Much like how Andrew increases your armor's durability, Antonio lets you start each match with a shield for some extra defense. What's more, he also regenerates shields after each skirmish, so you'll continually have access to the extra protection. Extra Shield Points coupled with shield regeneration can give you extra confidence when an enemy approaches.