Character abilities, passives, and ultimates - Apex Legends
Learn the abilities and ultimates of each character in Apex Legends.
There are currently a total of eight legends for players to use in Apex Legends, and each of these characters offers their own unique abilities and playstyles. Winning in Apex Legends takes more than just knowing how to shoot, it requires knowing the ins and outs of each character, their strengths and weaknesses, their passives, tactical abilities, and ultimates.
Character abilities, passives, and ultimates
Six characters are available for players the moment they boot up Apex Legends, with two locked behind in-game currency or premium currency. Whether or not you choose to slowly amass in-game currency or purchase a character outright, it’s worth knowing how each legend works so that you can adequately fight them on the battlefield.
Bloodhound
Bloodhound doesn’t fit into the typical “attacker, defender, support” role that a few of the other characters fall into, his role is more of a scout or “gap closer”. Bloodhound’s abilities allow him to track an enemy’s movement across the battlefield, which makes him useful in an aggressive team looking to secure kills. Liberal use of the Tactical ability will ensure Bloodhound and his teammates are never surprised, while his Ultimate offers rapid terrain coverage.
- Passive: Tracker – Foes leave behind clues for you to find
- Tactical: Eye of the Allfather – Briefly reveal enemies, traps, and clues through all structures in front of you.
- Ultimate: Beast of the Hunt – Transform into the ultimate hunter. Enhances your senses, allowing you to see cold tracks and move faster.
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a defender type legend that excels at protecting his teammate’s and area-of-denial with his ultimate. Thanks to the Gun Shield passive, Gibraltar is fairly well-defended, even during hot drop pistol fights. The tactical ability can be used to hold a position and as a means of blocking damage while running between two locations.
- Passive: Gun Shield – Aiming down sights deploys a gun shield that blocks incoming fire
- Tactical: Dome of Protection – Throw down a dome-shield that blocks attacks for 15 seconds.
- Ultimate: Defensive Bombardment – Call in a concentrated mortar strike on a position you mark with smoke.
Lifeline
Lifeline is the only character in Apex Legends with the ability to heal teammates, making her an extremely valuable pick when selecting a team composition. Her tactical ability sends out a drone that heals all nearby allies, and though slow to do so, it does mean syringes and med kits can be saved for late-game fights. To add to her power, Lifeline can also call down a Care Package. These supply crates can even contain legendary (golden) weapons.
- Passive: Combat medic – Revive knocked down teammates faster while protected by a shield wall. Healing items are used 25% faster.
- Tactical: D.O.C. Heal Drone – The Drone of Compassion (DOC) automatically heals those near it over time.
- Ultimate: Care Package – Call in a droppod full of high quality defensive gear.
Pathfinder
Pathfinder is the other support-type class and although he doesn’t offer medical assistance, his ability to navigate the terrain is second to none. The tactical ability on offer is a grappling hook, allowing him to quickly reach vantage points. The real draw for playing Pathfinder is his ultimate, a zipline that everyone (even enemies) can use. This allows a team to lock down a large area by having immediate access between points.
- Passive: Insider Knowledge – Scan a survey beacon to reveal the ring’s next location.
- Tactical: Grappling hook – Grapple to get to out-of-reach places quickly.
- Ultimate: Zipline Gun – Creates a zipline for everyone to use.
Wraith
Wraith is an odd character to quantify in Apex Legends because although she’s classed as an attacker-type, her abilities lend her to a more defensive role. Wraith is able to quickly navigate the map without taking any damage thanks to her dimensional abilities. Her tactical skill makes her turn invisible, though she does leave a purple trailer behind her, and her ultimate summons two portals for her teammates to move between. Wraith is excellent at repositioning herself and her team.
- Passive: Voices from the Void – You hear a voice when danger approaches. As far as you can tell, it’s on your side.
- Tactical: Into the Void – Reposition quickly through the safety of the ‘void’ space, avoiding all damage.
- Ultimate: Dimensional Rift – Link 2 locations with portals for 60 seconds.
Bangalore
Bangalore is another attacker class that boasts the most straight-forward skills and abilities. If Bangalore takes damage while sprinting, she will move faster. Meanwhile her tactical ability, a smoke screen, is excellent for obscuring critical actions, like reviving a friend or relocating. Her ultimate does take a bit of planning, as the artillery strike carpets the ground with explosions rather slowly.
- Passive: Double Time – Taking fire while sprinting makes you move faster for a brief time.
- Tactical: Smoke Launcher – Fire a high velocity smoke canister that explodes into a smoke wall on impact.
- Ultimate: Rolling Thunder – Call in an artillery strike that slowly creeps across the landscape.
Caustic
Caustic is one of the first locked characters in Apex Legends, available for purchase using the earnable in-game currency or for a small price using a premium currency. Caustic’s main draw is his ability to see any enemy that passes through his Nox gas. His tactical and ultimate abilities both release Nox gas, which means it’s very easy for him to constantly have eyes on enemy locations.
- Passive: Nox Vision – You gain threat vision on enemies moving through your gas.
- Tactical: Nox Gas Trap – Place up to 6 canisters that release deadly Nox gas when shot or triggered by enemies.
- Ultimate: Nox Gas Grenade – Blanket a large area in Nox gas.
Mirage
Mirage is another odd bag in Apex Legends, offering players a potentially high-skill roof. All of his abilities utilize decoys to confuse enemies, so it’s entirely reliant on your opponent’s psychology as to whether or not he’s successful. The tactical ability can be used rather freely to try and bait out enemy fire, causing them to reveal their position by sending out a hologram to run across the field. His ultimate is where he can really make some work, turning invisible and creating a bit of chaos.
- Passive: Encore! – Automatically drop a decoy and cloak for 5 seconds when knocked down.
- Tactical: Psyche Out – Send out a holographic decoy to confuse the enemy.
- Ultimate: Vanishing Act – Mirage deploys a team of decoys to distract enemies, while he cloaks.
The characters in Apex Legends all offer unique abilities, ensuring every gamer has a legend that matches their playstyle. Even if you choose to only play one or two characters, it’s worth knowing the passives and ultimates of the other legends. The reason for this is so that you know exactly what you’re up against when facing off against a character you might have never played. If you're still tossing up as to whether or not this is the kind of game you want to play, take the plunge and download Apex Legends on Xbox One, PC, or PlayStation 4, it's free!
-
Shacknews
replySam Chandler posted a new article, Character abilities, passives, and ultimates - Apex Legends
