How to play Catalyst in Apex Legends: Abilities, tips, more

Catalyst is a Defensive character capable of manipulating ferrofluid to shape and mold powerful abilities in Apex Legends, but you’ll need to master her kit to maximize her potential.

Tressa Crystal Smith, otherwise known as Catalyst, is the latest character to join the Apex Legends roster in Season 15.

Harnessing the power of ferrofluid, the Defensive Conjurer is capable of setting up battle lines and thwarting aggressive pushes from enemy squads.

If mastered, Catalyst’s kit will allow you to take skirmishes on your terms, forcing foes into uncomfortable positions and giving you the upper hand.

However, Catalyst’s abilities have to be used and positioned correctly, or they can be easily navigated by a smart set of opponents, so here’s a breakdown of her kit and a few tips you can use to become a top-tier Catalyst.

Contents

• How to use Catalyst’s abilities in Apex Legends
• Catalyst tips and tricks in Apex Legends
• How to unlock Catalyst in Apex Legends

How to use Catalyst’s abilities in Apex Legends

Passive: Barricade

Catalyst’s Passive ability Barricade allows her to reinforce and rebuild doors with her ferrofluid by using the “alternate action” button. It’s worth noting that a lot of players do not have this bound, so make sure to check in your settings that a function is assigned so you can utilize this ability.

The Defensive Conjuruer can reinforce up to two doors at a time and these sealed structures take four melee hits for enemies to break them down.

Keep in mind, Catalyst and her allies can still open these doors, so don’t be afraid to catch foes off-guard by aggressively pushing before they have a chance to breach.

Tactical: Piercing Spikes

Catalyst’s Tactical ability Piercing Spikes allows her to place down a patch of ferrofluid which turns into spikes when enemies are nearby.

The ability has two charges which can be shot in succession and has a rather long cooldown of 25 seconds.

Opponents who stand on the spikes take 15 damage and are slowed, making them vulnerable to gunfire or throwables.

It’s worth noting that the patches last until destroyed, activated, or retrieved by Catalyst herself, so they’re perfect for locking down an area.

Ultimate: Dark Veil

Catalyst’s Ultimate ability Dark Veil creates a permeable wall of ferrofluid in the height line of the Defensive Conjurer’s reticle.

This wall is 55m long and blocks out any enemy scans utilized on the opposite side of the veil. This does not apply to Seer’s Ultimate which arches over the top of the wall, rendering it useless.

Any enemies who walk through the wall will be temporarily blinded, making it difficult for them to land precise shots.

Dark Veil has a cooldown of 2 minutes and can either be extremely useful or pointless, depending on its position in a gunfight.

Catalyst tips and tricks in Apex Legends

1. Mask your Piercing Spikes with Dark Veil

While Piercing Spikes will always be useful for blocking pathways or corridors, the ability is extremely obvious and easy for foes to avoid if they’re concentrating.

Luckily, Catalyst’s Ultimate is the perfect mask for these spikes and if placed correctly, foes will unknowingly walk through the wall, get blinded, take Tactical damage, and be hit with a slow-to-boot.

This makes them extremely vulnerable to gunfire and is a solid counter to aggressive opponents who are always looking for kills.

The combination of her Ultimate and Tactical makes for a straightforward punish and is especially useful if you’re on the back foot and being chased by an enemy squad.

2. Opt into gunfights near doors or buildings

As simple as this tip seems, Catalyst’s Passive can quickly become an afterthought for a lot of players, resulting in the ability being heavily underused.

Doors are incredibly powerful tools in Apex, especially during intense gunfights where an extra Shield Battery or Med Kit can be the ultimate difference-maker.

Taking skirmishes near a door or at least knowing exactly where doors are located is essential. With Catalyst’s reinforced structures taking four melee attacks to destroy, it gives you a huge amount of time to heal or just reposition.

Not only that, her ability to rebuild doors opens up big outplay opportunities, particularly on foes attempting to chase you through a building.

3. Use Dark Veil to counter third-party pushes

Third parties are a major point of frustration for a lot of Apex Legends players and luckily, Catalyst’s Ultimate is capable of stopping them in their tracks.

If you hear an enemy squad barreling in after you’ve just finished a set of opponents, Dark Veil is invaluable for slowing down the pace of their push and forcing them to risk rushing through the wall or navigating around it.

Whatever choice your enemies make, it puts you in control of the situation, allowing you to heal or capitalize on them being blinded.

As a Defensive Legend, Catalyst is looking to gain control of skirmishes, and force her opponents to take fights on her terms, so ensure you’re Ultimate is placed correctly and don’t waste it unnecessarily.

4. Catalyst is immune to her own abilities

This is just a reminder for those playing Catalyst that enemy Catalysts are immune to your Tactical damage and Ultimate blindness.

While this is unlikely to affect you regularly, it’s worth knowing as it gives you the option of aggressively pushing opposing Catalysts, easily catching them off-guard.

This can of course be used against you as well, so be aware that Catalyst is extremely strong when facing herself in the Outlands.

How to unlock Catalyst in Apex Legends

As with any Legend in Apex, Catalyst can be purchased with 12,000 Legend Tokens or 750 Apex Coins. So, if you want to obtain Catalyst for free from scratch, you’ll need to level up 20 times.

Hopefully, this guide has given you plenty of tips and tricks to completely master Catalyst. Before long, you’ll be dominating your enemies with ferrofluid and delivering your squad to victory.

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