Octane just released along with the very first Season of Apex Legends called the Wild Frontier. Before he was released, he was leaked a couple of times and teased with jump pads surrounding the Market area on the southern part of King's Canyon. Octane is an athletic, high-energy scouting character with insane movement. Now that he's finally been released, we've done some research to bring you the most information that we can and put it into one guide! We'll be covering abilities, playstyle, and synergy with other characters! Without further ado, let's get into it!

Passive Ability - Swiftmend

Octane's first ability that we'll cover is Swift Mend. This allows Octane to slowly heal over time when he's not taking any damage. The cooldown on this passive ability is around 5 seconds and doesn't work when your Tactical Ability is active. This passive ability allows Octane to be a good character in the early game since he uses fewer syringes/medkits.

Tactical Ability - Stim

Before this ability got released, it was rumored that Octane's Tactical Ability, Stim, would make him completely immune to slows. Due to balancing issues, this got readjusted to greatly reducing the effects of slows on him. Stim is a great ability with a two second cooldown that triggers when your Stim state is over, allowing you to almost always buff your movement speed immediately with short breaks. Warning: You'll make a lot more noise when you're using this ability, so don't use this ability to set up an ambush on your opponents.

This movement speed buff also applies to your sliding, usage of ziplines (including balloons), and the Launch pad.

Reduction to slows include:

• Caustic's Gas Traps
• Grenades
• Airstrikes (Bangalore & Gibraltar Ultimate Abilities)

As previously mentioned, this will negate the effect of Swift Mend, so try to use this when you're at least above 50% health and utilize a body shield.

Ultimate Ability, Launch Pad

Launch Pad, as the name suggests, allows you to place down a singular pad that catapults you into the air. When Octane places a Launch Pad somewhere on the map, it'll stay there for the entirety of the match. If you're utilizing this ability, you should always try to place it in certain chokepoints or on spots where you'll use it to your advantage multiple times in one game. Be careful that anyone can use your Launch Pad at any moment!

The Launch Pad will only launch you in the direction that you walk onto it, so you can't use this as a trampoline to launch yourself vertically into the air, but it's a fact that you can jump a much greater distance when you run off a steep cliff right onto the Launch Pad.

When you've used a Launch Pad, you're almost forced to go into the direction for the first half of the jump. After that, you can decide whether to go left or right - but refrain from going back because it'll cause you to come to a standstill. It's quite easy to hide the Launch Pad, you'll always be able to see it when playing Octane and if you throw it under a bush or tall grass, no one else can!

Playstyle

Octane's first impression is that he loves adrenaline. This is accurately reflected in his playstyle. His hitbox isn't that large so you'll definitely be able to push almost any opponent with this character. First off, Octane benefits from utilizing close-range weapons. When you use your Tactical Ability, Stim, you lose very little health to become substantially harder to hit. These weapons are our personal favorites to use when playing Octane:

• Shotguns (Peacekeeper, EVA-8 Auto, Mastiff)
• R-99 SMG
• LMGs (Spitfire M600, Devotion)
• Prowler (Selectfire Receiver preferred)

Secondly, make as much use of your Stim as possible. This ability will require you to at least carry some syringes, but it'll definitely pay off when you get into the fights. Swift Mend's effect is fairly minor when you fight enemies up close, sacrifice as much health as you feel comfortable with but try to refrain from hesitating when using this ability.

Thirdly you can also use the Stim Tactical Ability for your own defensive purposes. While this sacrifices health, it's important to note that movement speed will often be the preferred choice as it's hard to hit moving targets with slim hitboxes.

Last off, we really feel like Launch Pads should be used to reach higher altitudes. It may seem obvious, but if you place a Launch Pad on an unconventional spot it'll throw off your enemy. Learning the layout of King's Canyon is extremely important, similar to Pathfinder.

Synergy

Octane fits in almost any type of team composition, though with his fast playstyle you always need to be wary of your teammates still sticking around you. We've made some of the best compositions that Octane will shine in:

Caustic, Octane and Bangalore

This first composition of Legends is one I've seen in many games already. With Caustic's Gas and Bangalore's smoke hindering opponents' vision, it's a safe bet for both indoor and outdoor conflicts. Two of these Legends, Octane and Bangalore, are also very swift when it comes to moving into the battlefield while Caustic lures enemies towards him with his Gas Traps. On top of this, Octane doesn't fall victim to his own ally when he makes use of Stim.

Bangalore could be replaced by Wraith, who is also a very fast character due to her Ultimate Ability and has the smallest hitbox in the game. When Wraith uses her Tactical Ability (Q) she can also navigate through Caustic's Gas without breaking a sweat.

Bloodhound, Octane, and Bangalore

This is the most aggressive team archetype that's currently available in the game, with Octane being the only one that has an almost permanent movement speed buff. We all know that Bangalore and Bloodhound together are one of the game's most natural combinations, but with Octane thrown into the mix, we really get something going here. If you have a scenario of Bangalore using her Q on top of an enemy group that's shooting at you, all three of these characters will have increased movement speed when Bloodhound activates his Ultimate Ability.

Octane and Bangalore make the most use out of Digital Threats since Bloodhound gains the effect from his Ultimate Ability, Beast of the Hunt. You should always give Bangalore the first Digital Threats that you find because Octane always has the option to flank around the opponent.

Airstrike is also an ability that only hinders Octane's vision when he's used his Stim. If you time it correctly, you'll have little to no problems moving through Bangalore's Ultimate since it also doesn't do any damage to you as an ally. We don't recommend switching out Bangalore for Gibraltar since he's extremely reliant on his Ultimate Ability (which is superior to Bangalore's) and has the largest hitbox in the game.

Conclusion

Octane is brand new, so we don't know everything about him yet. What we do know is that he's a very fun character to play that'll make the lives of defensive players significantly harder. We hope the developers behind Apex Legends will continue to add upon the current roster of Legends and make it even more diverse. For more Apex Legends content, stay tuned with Dignitas!

Like our content? Support us by getting our merchandise in our shop