Catalyst Guide and Tips - Apex Legends Guide - IGN (2024)

Catalyst is a tour-de-force Defensive Legend added to Apex Legends in Season 15. This page has everything you need to know about Catalyst's backstory, her abilities, and how to use those abilities to lock your opponents out of large areas of the map.

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• Catalyst Character Description and Lore
• Catalyst Abilities

Catalyst Character Description and Lore

Tressa Crystal Smith isn’t everyone’s cup of tea–an elegant, standoffish woman, she likes crystals more than she likes most people. She grew up on Boreas, a faltering planet with a deteriorating moon. Conformity and efficiency were necessities there, but that never suited Tressa. Instead, she was more at home with fellow misfits who spent their time on crystal readings, moon rituals, and personal witchery–they made her turbulent teenage years (and simultaneous gender transition) easier and less lonely. But when her closest friend went to extreme lengths to save their moon from corporate encroachment, Tressa was caught in the middle. Ultimately, she ran away from home, finding solace in the one place her friend cared about most: their moon, Cleo.

There she joined the terraforming crews hired to repair and rejuvenate the celestial body. She learned to work with ferrofluid, and use it with a certain witchy flair. She grew attached to her new community and, when the heat on Boreas died down, brought some of her old friends back into the fold. She found a place to call her own–just in time for the Apex Games to arrive and sweep it out from under her new family. But Catalyst won’t disappear so easily.

If the Games are going to get in her way, she’s going to turn them to her advantage, putting the prize money to use supporting her family. She sees a win in her future, and she’ll rise to the occasion.

Catalyst Abilities

Catalyst as a defensive Legend centers around the use of Ferrofluid to help reinforce, block, and control chokepoints on the map. Her Passive, Barricade, acts as a way to lock and strengthen doorways/openings, trapping enemies inside and forcing them to break through to get in/out. Her Tactical, Piercing Spikes, creates a floor trap that slows and damages enemies that get too close. Her Ultimate, Dark Veil, creates a huge wall of Ferrofluid, blocking sightlines and enemy scanning abilities, whilst also blinding and slowing enemies that attempt to pass through.

• Catalyst Passive Ability - Barricade
  • Tips for Catalyst Passive
• Catalyst Tactical Ability - Piercing Spikes
  • Tips for Catalyst Tactical
• Catalyst Ultimate Ability - Dark Veil
  • Tips for Catalyst Ultimate

Catalyst Passive Ability - Barricade

Catalyst's passive, Barricade, can lock doors with Ferrofluid, preventing them from being opened and forcing opponents to destroy them. With the Ferrofluid reinforcement, they will also require more damage to be destroyed.

Tips for Catalyst Passive

• Catalyst can use Barricade to reinforce openings where doors have already been destroyed, so keep your eyes open for all opportunities to create a tactical advantage.
• This is a great Ability to use to trap unsuspecting enemies in a small room, particularly effective if a teammate of yours is playing as Caustic and throws in a Nox Gas Trap or Gas Grenade.

Catalyst Tactical Ability - Piercing Spikes

Catalyst's Tactical, Piercing Spikes, allows you to place Ferrofluid on the ground that will eject sharp piercing spikes whenever an enemy comes near. The effect this has will slow them down and deal damage.

Tips for Catalyst Tactical

• This, similar to Barricade, can be particularly effective on chokepoints. Try to place Piercing Spikes in a point that opponents will have a tough time getting an eyeline on until it's too late.
• Though you can usually use this in an offensive manner to eliminate incoming enemies, you can use it as cover while you attempt to retreat. Slowing down pursuing enemies can provide you vital seconds to recover and fight back, or slip away.
• Catalyst as a Legend is immune to all Piercing Spikes, whether it be those that you have placed down yourself, or by an enemy also playing as Catalyst.

Catalyst Ultimate Ability - Dark Veil

Catalyst's Ultimate, Dark Veil, has Catalyst raise a giant wall of Ferrofluid. This obscures the view on either side and slows down the movement of anyone that tries to pass through it. Passing through also causes brief blindness, further disincentivizing those trying to cross.

Tips for Catalyst Ultimate

• Other Legend's scanning abilities, from those like Seer and Bloodhound, cannot penetrate through a Dark Veil wall. As such, this can be worth throwing up as often as possible if there are a number of those Legends on the opposing team.
• Noticing a trend here? Dark Veil is excellent at controlling chokepoints on the map. Completely negating enemy eyelines and delaying a potential push from the opposing team can be particularly valuable.
• Dark Veil is also worth throwing up in more defensive-centric situations, where you might need to escape undetected or revive some downed teammates.

Looking for more? Check out our Tips, Tricks, and Strategies page for all the best suggestions to ensure victory over your opponents, time and time again!