At first glance, Apex Legends' upcoming hero Catalyst doesn't look like a defensive legend. She's not big or bulky, nor does she carry some form of shield like Gibraltar, Newcastle, or Rampart.
However, she is very much a defensive character similar to Wattson or Caustic. She excels at locking down areas and impeding enemy advancements, with her kit potentially pushing her to the top of the Apex Legends meta.
Apex Legends: Catalyst Abilities
Catalyst's abilities revolve around being able to blind, slow, and potentially even damage enemies. Using Ferrofluid, she constructs defenses, barriers to block pathways, and more. Passing through a Wattson fence is almost always a bad decision, and it seems to be the same with regard to Catalyst's tactical and ultimate ability in Apex Legends.
- Passive: Barricade - Catalyst is capable of reinforcing or building doors with ferrofluid. These doors take twice as long to destroy, but she and her team can open them. Furthermore, she is capable of having two doors reinforced at once. After the second, reinforcing another door will remove the barricade elsewhere, assuming it hasn't yet been destroyed.
- Tactical: Piercing Spikes - Catalyst lays out a layer of ferrofluid that turns to spikes when enemies step on them. Piercing Spikes slows and damages enemies. It also has a special property that means anyone attempting to destroy it has to be close to it; it cannot be simply sniped by a character like Vantage or anyone with a sniper for that matter.
- Ultimate: Dark Veil - Catalyst summons a wall that zones off an area. Enemies attempting to pass through it are partially blinded and slowed. It also blocks scanning abilities like Seer's Ultimate.
Respawn Entertainment also spoke briefly as to synergies and counters with Catalyst. For example, using her walls in conjunction with Caustic's gas traps or Wattson fences is a good way to take advantage of her slow and blind abilities, while movement-focused characters like Octane can quickly get her to an area to lock it down. Of course, her defenses are not impenetrable. Mad Maggie is a hard counter to Gibraltar and remains the same way for Catalyst, while a character like Horizon can use her tactical to get over the wall. It remains to be seen, of course, how exactly she fits into the meta, but she'll no doubt be a popular character in the first few weeks of Apex Legends season 15 (beginning November 1).
Apex Legends is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.