Credit: Electronic Arts
Which Apex Legends character should you start with?
While each of the game’s Legends are all pretty approachable, we’d highlight Gibraltar and Lifeline as the best characters for new players looking to pick up the basics. Each Legend in Apex Legends is differentiated by a passive ability, an active ability with a short cooldown and an ultimate ability with a longer cooldown.
Gibraltar - The Shielded Fortress
Credit: Electronic Arts Gibraltar’s suite of defensive abilities make him a great choice for newer or more inexperienced Apex Players.
His passive “Gun Shield” ability allows you to soak a limited amount of incoming damage when you’re aiming down the sights on your gun.
Then, Gibraltar’s active ability - Dome of Protection - allows him to erect a large energy barrier that protects himself and allies from harm. Try to remember that the Dome of Protection will stop bullets and grenades but won’t be able to prevent hostile players from physically pushing through the forcefield to engage you in close quarters combat.
Gibraltar’s ultimate ability, Orbital Bombardment, lets you call in a concentrated mortar strike on a marked position. This can be extremely powerful ability that you can use to lock down an enemy position, force combatants in an open area to seek cover or just cause chaos in the midst of a fight. As the map shrinks in size, this ability actually becomes more and more powerful - since there’s less and less room for enemy players to escape or find cover from it.
More fundamentally, Gibraltar is a good choice for new players because his active abilities allow him to easily contribute in team fights while his passive gives him a little more survivability.
Lifeline - The Combat Medic
Credit: Electronic Arts Lifeline’s array of support skills make her a great pick for newbies. Even if you’re struggling with the shooter part of the Apex Legends experience, her kit makes it easy to be the backline that holds your team together.
Lifeline’s passive “Combat Medic” ability lets her assist teammates that have been knocked down faster than other Legends can and deploys a protective barrier that gives her cover from incoming fire while when she does so.
Lifeline’s active ability - the “D.O.C. Heal Drone” - allows her to deploy a drone that’ll automatically heal nearby players. If you’re smart about how you use this ability, you can cut down on relying on healing items like syringes and medkits and ensure that your squad is always in top fighting condition.
Finally “Care Package”, Lifeline’s ultimate ability, lets her summon a drop-pod full of high-level items straight to the battlefield. The only downside here is that the arrival of this pod might attract the wrong kind of attention by telegraphing your position to nearby enemies.
Lifeline is a good pick for new players because her passive and active abilities add a significant amount of survivability to herself and teammates, tilting the odds in their favor.
Next Page: How do I unlock new characters in Apex Legends?
