This one is pretty obvious, but sometimes you'll find yourself being bonk'd if you're not careful!

Just make sure that you're the first person in your chain of people circling around an object with the tank following you, so you'll be the last one to get oof'd, if any.

OR
You can just dash out to the side, a good distance away from him if you've got some sweaty hands and can't run around in circles or somethin'. This way, your friend(s) will be stuck in the endless loop of running around the object and getting slapped while you sit and watch, profit!(?)

If you don't like getting bonk'd by the Apex... check out my other guide (this is a link!)

Just run behind him and shoot 'im in the back, the lil' red part. Sure, he'll turn around and charge you, so watch out! But don't hesitate to run to the other side and shoot him again.

Once he gets low enough, he'll crouch down, exposing his back.
At that moment, run at full speed to his back and melee to deal crippling amounts of damage to him.

If you manage to do this twice, he'll die on the second mass shanking. (Normie mode only)

Keep in mind that on this difficulty, the smasher does a whopping 60 points of damage when he smacks you 'round the head.

He also has an extra phase, so instead of going from tidy red spot to a bloody mess, he'll stay in tide-pod mode for another round of shooting/stabbing.
(This means if you went pure stabs he'd take 3 stabs instead of 2.)

• If you end up as the last person in the chain, just get out as fast as you can by exting the chain to the side. You can hop back in later once they cycle back around.
  If not done, you WILL get bonk'd for 40 points of health.
  
• About the stabbing the smasher in the back: don't just run up and smack him with the butt of your gun, you have to see the prompt to stab to deal the crazy damage
  
• He can also break through things like desks like swiss-cheese, so don't count on them to circle around!
  
• If you're not quick enough, you'll get to him as a soon as he turns around, and you'll get bonk'd!