Want to force your opponents to choke on poison while monologing about how nefarious and evil you are? Enter Caustic, Apex Legends‘ trap and poison-based hero. One of two characters locked at the start, this legend is capable of blanketing an entire area with toxic fumes that can make combat a nightmare. While this legend is quite powerful, he also has a few limitations that can make him difficult to just pick up.
Here are a few tips & tricks to get you started with Caustic in Apex Legends:
1) Understand Your Equipment
Unlike most heroes, Caustic’s abilities completely revolve around a single mechanic – Nox Gas. This means his skills are entirely dependant on his gas being used in fights, otherwise, he won’t contribute much to battles. Because of this, it’s vital to understand how to use and what his gear actually does in combat.
Caustic’s passive allows him to see clearly in his own toxic gas. Enemies will be highlighted with a yellowish-green tint when they are in the poison, making it easy to track their movements. Remember, they won’t be able to see clearly, as Caustic’s fumes are quite thick and can act as a smokescreen if needed. Both your allies and your enemies cannot see through your fumes.
His main ability is the Nox Gas Traps, which can be placed anywhere on the map and are thrown out like a mine. The traps take about a second before they actually become active. You can tell when they are ready to release poison when the center balloons up.
Caustic can have up to six traps out at any time, but he can only store a total of three charges. You can pick up any trap that hasn’t activated and restore one charge instead of waiting for the cooldown. These Nox Gas Traps will either manually activate or can be shot to trigger the gas flow. Remember, unlike Bangalore’s smoke, these will do damage to any enemy that walks into it.
Finally, Caustic’s ultimate is a Nox Gas Grenade which blankets an entire area with poison. This grenade takes about a second to prime and it releases the poison cloud in a very wide area. Caustic can also see through this and the ultimate can be lobbed like any other grenade. These fumes do not do any additional damage, but the poison cloud lasts for a fair amount of time.
2) Get Defensive
Caustic is first and foremost a defense character. While his poison does damage, it’s not a lot and you should use your gas as a defensive tool first. There are a lot of chokepoints, narrow passageways, and cramped buildings in Apex Legends. This is where Caustic shines, as his gas can act as an early detection system or a way to flush enemies out of cover.
When my team is moving through the map, I always like to set one or two traps behind us in key chokepoints. This ensures that we won’t be ambushed by a team behind us and the cloud is thick enough that it can deter attackers. You should also use this gas as a perimeter defense when trying to hold buildings or specific positions in the final circle.
Since his clouds of poison are pretty hard to see in, consider tossing a gas mine on a downed player. Once the trap is primed, shoot it to releases the fumes and then go heal your teammate. It’s not a perfect system, but doing this will provide some cover and ward off enemies from rushing in to finish off your ally.
Another trick is to throw a gas trap right in front of you if you’re about to get knocked down. If you’re right by an enemy this will trigger a cloud of poison that can be used to hide in. Even if the trap doesn’t trigger normally, a teammate can always shoot the mine and release the fumes around you.
3) Pick the Right Weapons
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This legend thrives in close quarters combat, so don’t try to pick weapons that force you to hang back. While you can certainly use a sniper, bringing a shotgun or SMG into a cloud of fumes can prove to be a very potent combo. A Peacemaker is a great choice for those who want to get more aggressive when playing Caustic. Just remember, if you linger near the edges of the cloud than people can see you inside of it. Try to remain in the center or inside a building where it’s hard for your foes to evade.
For those determined to fight at a distance, then the Nox Traps should be used as a way to keep enemies from sneaking up on you. They are terrific first line defenses and I’ve won a few games by setting them up in front of our cover during a firefight. This lets you sit back and snipe since any offensive push will trigger the traps.
4) Disorientate and Dislodge
One underrated quality of Caustic is his ability to craft absolute chaos on the battlefield. Gas mines and grenades can turn a straightforward battle on its head. This is especially crucial if you are on the losing side or have been ambushed by an enemy team. Tossing a gas grenade down and covering the entire area in poison should give your team enough time to strike back or get into cover.
The grenade is also perfect for dislodging foes from their positions. You can throw it a considerable distance, so use this in conjunction with other ultimates such as the zipline or an airstrike to help your team advance. At the time of writing this, most people haven’t caught on that the poison gas doesn’t do a ton of damage, so they will usually run at the first sign of trouble. This is vital, as you want to instill fear in them by constantly flooding areas with poison.
Another trick I have employed with great success is landing on the supply ship and tossing gas traps everywhere. Given how chaotic battles on the ship can get, these poison traps can literally cover the entire top deck in clouds of acidic fumes. Since there are a limited number of guns, these poison traps can help cover your back while you jump off or look for loot.
5) Know Your Counters
Even though Caustic can be a lot of fun, he does have a few legends that counter his abilities. The most obvious is Lifeline since her healing drone nullifies any damage your poison does. If you get into a battle and see a Lifeline, prioritize her first. She can make your life hell and cause a lot of trouble if your gas traps start triggering.
Bloodhound is another strong counter for Caustic since the ultimate allows you to see through the gas. This is also a strong synergy with Caustic if they are your ally. Just keep in mind that Bloodhound players will typically activate their ultimate if you start throwing out clouds of Nox Gas.
So who does Caustic counter?
Gibraltar is certainly one of best legends you straight up counter. Throwing a gas grenade or trap in their shielded dome is hilarious and makes the entire ability useless. Considering most new Gibraltar players throw their shields up when they need to resurrect someone, tossing a gas trap in there can make things quite difficult.
Bangalore is also a pretty weak matchup against Caustic, especially if they are aggressive. A lot of Bangalore users like to smoke grenade either in front of or the enemy’s position. When this happens, toss out either a Nox Grenade or a few Nox Traps. By the time they’ve reached your location, they’ll be charging into a wall of poison, allowing you to turn the tables.
Finally, while you don’t directly counter Wraith, placing a trap next to her portal can yield hilarious results. Nothing is worse than retreating from a battle only to emerge in a cloud of poison.
Caustic is a generally solid legend for those who prefer to play defensively. While his abilities can certainly be offensive, they are best suited in close quarters or as a way to finish off foes during a fight. Remember, you can have 6 traps down and each one is on a 15-second cooldown, so be liberal with placing them. There’s very little downside and having a few traps to fall back too is quite useful.
Just make sure to kill Lifeline first, she will seriously make your poison look like a joke.