Apex Legends The First Piece quest: How to complete the first Hunt

Strategies to get your hands on the first Artefact piece.

Guide by Matthew Reynolds Contributor

Updated on 20 May 2020

The First Piece in Apex Legends is a quest introduced on May 19th, 2020 as part of Season 5.

This quest is the first of nine Hunts which will be available throughout the season, which can be played either solo or with friends, with the goal of retrieving an Artefact piece as part of new Apex Legends character Loba's story.

This page explains how to start The First Piece by collecting Treasure Packs, then how to complete the mission itself.

On this page:

How to start The First Piece in Apex Legends
How to complete The First Piece in Apex Legends
The First Piece rewards in Apex Legends explained

Looking for more advice with the game? Our Apex Legends best guns page can help!

How to start The First Piece in Apex Legends

Every Hunt requires you to collect a certain number of Treasure Packs before they can be accessed.

For The First Piece - which is the first Hunt introduced in Season 5 - you need to have collected 5 Treasure Packs.

With a 24 hour cooldown for each individual Treasure Pack, this means the fastest you can start this Hunt is five real-world days.

Once you have 5 Treasure Packs, head to the 'Quest' part of the lobby, then select the mission in the lower left 'Story Progress' section.

How to complete The First Piece in Apex Legends

The First Piece quest is fairly simple - follow the on-screen markers through the tunnel, past the warehouses on your right to reach a hanger with the artefact. Begin extracting it, defend it until it can be collected, then run back to the first building and head to the drop ship on the roof.

There are, of course, prowlers you must kill along the way. These start appearing halfway through the tunnel, and will come at you en masse when you emerge, as you find the artefact, defend the artefact and then flee to the drop ship.

Here's some advice on how to complete The First Piece:

Though you have to complete The First Piece in eight minutes, that's enough to time to clear each wave until the escape, and search several loot caches along the way.
The most useful loot caches are the two on an upper walkway in the tunnel (giving you some Mozambique weapon upgrades) and the one in the first warehouse when you emerge from the tunnel (featuring a Phoenix Kit) along with some blue armour on the ground.

There's also a loot cache by the buildings behind where you start, though we'd say it's not worth the effort with the limited time you have.

The Phoenix Kit is best used after you clear all the waves once the Artefact has finished mining, as you'll want as much health and shields for the final run to the dropship, which is arguably the hardest part of the mission.

To reach the dropship, it's on the roof of the first warehouse you passed earlier. Sprint there and when you go up the first set of stairs on the far side, take a moment to turn around and clear the prowlers behind you, before tackling on the next floor up. When you're on the roof itself, you're then clear to reach the dropship - no enemies will be up here.

Though the upgraded Mozambique is ideal to take them prowlers in a couple of shots as they approach, the reload time is slow - so be sure to switch to the P2020 until the coast is clear.
The 'molten' prowlers go down in a single clean shot of the P2020, so switch to that when they begin appearing as you defend the artefact. This weapon also works effectively at a distance, so prioritise that for this stage of the mission.
The prowlers can down you in a handful of hits, and their speed means healing is difficult. Prioritise shields as these are faster than syringes, and be prepared to pull out your weapon if a prowler or two suddenly appear.

If you're playing solo, remember you have two respawns if you're overwhelmed - though you'll lose a bit of time having to return back where you left off.
For story reasons, you cannot play as either Loba or Revenant.

Want to know the best Legend for this Season? Check out our Apex Legends Season 16 Legend Tier List that details who's the best for Revelry and why. Our other guides can show you how to make a Private Match and explain what Ring Consoles are. Also, take a look at our Veiled collection event page to learn about the latest limited-time event.