The Translocating Thief: A Guide to Apex’s Loba — abilities, tactics and skins

Loba arrived in Season 5, bringing attitude, high fashion, and an eye for loot. Apex Legends players are in love with Loba’s voice lines but the support legend is also pretty useful in certain situations, making her a great addition to any team if used properly. 

Apex's Loba is a loot-focused legend, allowing her team better access to nearby weapons and armor without having to waste time digging around for it. She can also do some pretty sneaky things thanks to her teleportation ability, allowing you to escape sticky situations or catch enemies by surprise. 

This stylish thief currently sits comfortably in B-tier. She is currently not a heavily used legend, with about 6% of players choosing to play her at the moment. This puts her sort of in the middle of the pack. But it’s possible that many players are underutilizing this legend. So here is how to master Loba to make better use of her utility. 

The key to mastering Loba is communication and teamwork. Loba is actually considered a support legend, gathering important intel for her squad and helping everyone grab loot early on. For this reason, it’s very important to be very vocal about your findings and what you see, especially early in the game. 

Apex's Loba can spot the best places to land thanks to her abilities and also sees nearby loot through walls (as well as the enemies who may have dropped it) once you land. This can help your team get a great headstart with the right coordination and communication. 

Loba players are often not focused on aggression. Her teleport ability is often used to disengage from tough situations and stay out of reach. She can also use it to get high ground, keeping a distance from enemies as she picks them off with a powerful ranged weapon. 

Players looking to master Loba should be highly aware of their surroundings, have a deep understanding of the map, and should have constant communication with teammates. Just like any thief, Loba thrives better when she is out of sight or being sneaky. Using her abilities to rush into a fight could spell danger in most situations. 

This ability allows Loba to naturally spot epic and legendary loot through walls up to 112.5 meters. 

Eye for Quality is great in early game, allowing your team to gather more impactful weapons and armor up faster. As you drop into the map, you’ll start getting good visuals of epic and legendary loot inside buildings, meaning you can pick a great spot to land thanks to this insight.

Since Loba’s passive has a pretty long range, she can also spot enemies that are nearby if they pick up or drop good loot. This is very valuable insight for your team so make sure to tell your teammates when you spot loot changing nearby. They will however, need you to ping the items!

Try to memorize the shape of different loot! This will help you spot and call out nearby loot a lot faster. 

This ability allows Loba to throw a Jump Drive bracelet, quickly escaping to a surprising location or teleport to hard-to-reach locations on the map. The Jump Drive can be thrown 71 meters horizontally and 20 meters vertically. It can be thrown even further if you’re already elevated. 

Burglar’s Best Friend is a useful mobile ability. Apex Legends is a game where rotating quickly is a huge plus for any time. Unfortunately, Burglar’s Best Friend only allows Loba to access the Jump Drive, so never forget where your teammates are. 

Speaking of teammates, you can have more impactful mobility as a team if you bring an Octane along as well, or even a Pathfinder.

You’ll often see top Apex Legends streamers using Octane’s Launch Pad to reach even further distances even faster, since Loba can throw her Jump Drive further when in the air. A Jump Drive can also be thrown while on Pathfinder’s Grappling Hook. 

The goal when choosing where to throw your Jump Drive should be finding cover or taking the high ground. This is a way to reach buildings through windows or breezily make your way to a rooftop. Start sprinting before throwing your Jump Drive to have better accuracy and speed.

You can also throw Jump Drive out of and through windows!

Keep in mind that you will be vulnerable for two seconds after throwing your Jump Drive, so try tossing it once you’re out of sight of enemies. You might want to take cover while waiting to teleport. 

This is what Loba is known for — looting. Prepare to line your pockets with Black Market Boutique, allowing everyone on your team (as well as enemies) to grab up to two items that are within 112.5 meters. Loba will place a portable device that accesses nearby weapons, armor, and other useful items. 

You’ll be able to access: 

Loba’s ultimate charge starts at 50% at the start of each match, meaning you’ll be able to access the Black Market Boutique pretty quickly. You can grab any two items and as much ammo as you want, giving you an advantage early on. 

When choosing the two items, don’t forget to communicate with your teammates. Ask them what they need and help coordinate between everyone to ensure everyone gets what they need.

Loba is part of the Support Class, which grants her a couple of extra abilities that she shares with Gibraltar, Newcastle, Lifeline and Mirage.

The Support Class has two passives:

Loba is a particularly strong legend in the Support Class. Her 'Burglars Friend' ability allows her a quick getaway if a fight goes south. Plus, if you do bring back your dead teammates, her Black Market allows you to quickly loot and get away from the location of your revival. After all, we know how much people enjoy chasing down respawns!

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

If you’re a Loba player looking to rush into the action, you probably want to grab a Mastiff Shotgun or EVA-8 Auto. Your secondary weapon can be a Volt SMG. Having a powerful shotgun allows Loba to wreak some havoc in the early game before rushing to safety with Burglar’s Best Friend. 

The Havoc is another popular choice for Loba. Use Loba’s Eye for Quality to find the Turbocharger Hop-Up faster, equipping it to remove the weapon’s wind-up.

A Loba equipped with a sniper is also a powerful option. After using Burglar’s Best Friend to get high ground, you can hit unsuspecting enemies from surprising angles if they aren’t paying attention. 

When you have a Loba on your team, here are some other legends to bring into the gauntlet with you for better strategy: 

There is no denying that Loba is a fashionista. She is always dressed to impress, looking as sultry as she is dangerous. Distract your enemies with these skins. 

This is a really unique look for Loba, with blood-red hair and horrifying eye makeup. Her sleek black outfit has Loba looking like a mafia boss from an apocalyptic fantasy world. This is definitely a very intimidating look that will have your enemies scared to engage. 

Noir fans will immediately be drawn to this fashionable look, complete with white hair, red stripes, knee-high boots, and a cute little hat. A blend of wild west and 1920s realness, Apex's Loba looks like she just opened up her own speakeasy and is ready to take down any competition.

If a sea goddess warrior and gladiator had a baby, this would be its outfit. The contrast of green and gold has created a strong look that immediately grabs everyone's’ attention. The helmet and shoulder pads make Loba look ready for war. This legendary skin was part of the Season 8 Chaos Theory Collection Event.