Apex Legends: Newcastle’s abilities revealed in detail in Legend Showcase

Season 13 of Apex Legends is almost upon us and it'll be bringing a new legend that promises to shake up the meta. We've seen Newcastle's lore trailer and a glimpse at his abilities in the Apex Legends gameplay trailer. He's only the second support legend to join the Apex Games after Lifeline. It's been a while coming and Apex Legends was in dire need of another support character.

The Apex Legends official YouTube channel showcased Newcastle's abilities in detail in their "Meet Newcastle" legend showcase. He has a great mix of abilities that give him some good defensive characteristics and a strong revive.

At first glance, it looks like Newcastle will have abilities that make him a hybrid of Lifeline, Gibraltar, and Rampart. A lot of his gameplay is based on creating and using cover wisely. He has a useful revive that makes him a prime candidate for the Gold Backpack. His tactical and ultimate allow him to create cover that can make it difficult for your opponents to land lasting hits on him and his team.

Newcastle's passive is called Retrieve the Wounded and it allows him to prop up a shield and revive a teammate while on the move. The shield is limited in terms of how much damage it can block. Particularly, it's based on the level of knockdown shield that Newcastle is currently holding.

There has been some amount of debate on whether knockdown shields are any good with thirsting becoming all the more common. But they're certainly going to be useful for Newcastle players. His passive might make him annoying to deal with on a purple knockdown shield.

Newcastle's tactical is arguably the most interesting aspect of his kit. He drops a shield that can be manually moved around. It looks like it's a great repositioning tool that can allow Newcastle to dictate the terms of a fight and force enemies to move around it. Maggie and to some extent, even Fuse will counter it. In any case, it will certainly force opponents to reposition but it also leaves Newcastle's squad vulnerable to third parties from the rear.

His ultimate is a pretty cool defensive ability that makes him leap forwards and deploy a large wall that his squadmates can use as cover. Think of this wall as a giant Rampart cover, except it doesn't amplify bullets. It's a great ability that makes Newcastle synergize with a number of different legends like Gibraltar, Rampart and Caustic.

Newcastle brings plenty of conversation around whether or not his presence will shaft Lifeline. The community has been debating that Lifeline is in dire need of a rework. So far, she has enjoyed the monopoly of being the only support legend in the game. Newcastle will challenge that monopoly.

However, while his revive does provide an alternative to Lifeline's, it does have its drawbacks. He uses his knockdown shield to block incoming damage while reviving which absorbs damage in a pretty small radius.

Yes, he can move while reviving but he does slow down and it requires multitasking from the player. Finding cover to pull off the revive, pointing the shield in the direction of bullets and firing back can be pretty challenging.

Lifeline can also pull off a double revive, which Newcastle cannot. She can also actively remain in the fight and provide cover fire while her DOC does the reviving. Newcastle offers a great alternative to Lifeline's revive, and that makes him a great addition to the game. Support players will be happy with the availability of multiple options to choose from.

You can read more about Season 13 content in our article covering the preview by Respawn Entertainment.