Apex Legends has spawned enough surrounding work that the ordering question comes up constantly.
Short answer
The short version: it is canon where the developers say it is, and enjoyable regardless.
Canon status is decided by the developers rather than by the adaptation's writers. Release order and chronological order are different, and both have their advocates. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.
Where it fits with the game
Fan work is frequently better than official work and is not the same thing. Assets circulated online are often ripped rather than released, which affects what you can legally do with them. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Adaptations take liberties, and the interesting ones take them deliberately.
Licensed soundtracks are the most likely part to be missing from a re-release. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Official art books contain material that never appears in the game itself.
What exists officially
Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.
- Check whether something is official before treating it as canon.
- Buy from the publisher's own store where one exists.
- Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.
- Play first if you mind spoilers — adaptations rarely respect them.
- Credit fan artists if you reuse their work.
- Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.
What is fan-made
None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.
Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.
Where to find it legitimately
Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.
Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. Everything below is framed around the current state of Apex Legends rather than a launch-week impression. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.
Whether it is worth your time
If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Apex Legends is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.
Where people go wrong
- Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
- Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
- Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
Apex FAQ
Is it any good?
The reception is mixed and depends heavily on what you wanted from it. The section above sets that expectation honestly.
Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?
No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.
Where can I get it legally?
Publisher stores and licensed platforms carry all of it. Anything circulating as a free file is a rip.
Is it canon?
Where the developers have said so, yes. Adaptations produced under licence are frequently their own continuity.
Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.