Newcastle in Apex Legends: Abilities, Tips, and More!
Season 13 of Apex Legends kicked off on May 10, 2022, and it brought in a lot of new content for the players to enjoy. The new season is titled “Saviors” and this new update featured a monstrous map update, a brand new Legend and a lot of fixes and improvements to the game in general. However, the star of the show was the latest addition to the Apex Legends character roster, Newcastle. Let us dig deeper into who this new Legend is, what his abilities are, and how to utilize him in your gameplay.
The Heroic Defender, Newcastle
The newest Legend in the game, Newcastle, fit the theme of the season perfectly. The Frozone lookalike with a glorious beard is currently a top contender for the best supporting Legend in the game. According to the game’s lore, his name is Jackson Williams, and was born in 2964. He is part of the Williams military family and Anita Williams, a.k.a. Bangalore, is his younger sister. The recent season launch trailer confirms this fact, and even previous trailers have mentioned Newcastle. We recommend watching all the season launch trailers to get a better understanding of the lore in the Apex Legends universe and the story so far.
Newcastle’s ability kit revolves around shields and support for his team. He is a mobile defensive specialist that specializes in moving while providing cover instead of camping out in corners and buildings. His abilities can also be used creatively to make offensive plays, allowing your teammates to rotate around enemies or to push toward them. The new Legend is available to play and can be unlocked using either 12,000 Legend Tokens or 750 Apex Coins.
Abilities
Newcastle has 2 active abilities alongside a passive ability and a perk. A breakdown of each ability is shown below.
Retrieve the Wounded | |
| Type | Passive |
| Description | Allows you to drag downed allies as you revive and protect them with your Revive Shield. |
| Cooldown | n/a |
| Additional info | The health of the revive shield is determined by the level of Newcastle’s knockdown shield. |
Mobile Shield (Q) | |
| Type | Tactical ability |
| Description | Throw a drone that generates a moveable energy shield. |
| Cooldown | 15 seconds |
| Additional info | The shield lasts 20 seconds unless it is destroyed. The shield’s movement speed is as slow as when you crouch-walk with a weapon out. The shield consists of an upper half and lower half, each consisting of 350 health. |
Castle Wall (Z) | |
| Type | Ultimate Ability |
| Description | Leap to an ally or a target area to slam down and create a wall facing the direction in which Newcastle is looking. |
| Cooldown | 2 minutes |
| Additional info | Newcastle can leap up to a maximum range of 35 meters and can be extended up to 75 meters by targeting a teammate or teammate's Death Box. The wall consists of 9 total segments, each having 750 health. |
- Apart from the above main abilities, Newcastle also has a special perk called “Fortified” that reduces all incoming damage by 15% and not slowed be by bullets.
Tips for playing Newcastle
Newcastle might just be the overall best-supporting champion in the game, also while being a bit broken right now. Even though his ability kit sounds simple and workable at a glance, you will still need to practice him a lot before fully utilizing him. His abilities have unique interactions with different other items, maps, and scenarios, so knowing all of these will help you get good at playing Newcastle quickly. Here are some tips from us to help you improve with the new Legend and get more Apex Wins;
- The first thing to keep in mind is that Newcastle is a large Legend just like Gibraltar and his hitbox is comparatively bigger. Therefore, he comes with the special Fortified perk. However, do not overestimate this ability because the 15% reduced damage roughly converts to just an additional shot or two in a gunfight.
- His passive ability, Retrieve the Wounded might seem like an overpowered ability on paper, and it kind of is. However, Newcastle uses a knockdown shield while doing it so reviving allies might is not exactly stealthy. It often attracts the enemy’s attention, so make sure you have a cover or make sure they have disengaged first.
- A knockdown shield needs to recharge first before it is used again. However, a quick simple get-around for this is to drop it and re-equip it back to instantly recharge it.
- Having Wraith on your squad alongside Newcastle can be a powerful combo. Even though you can’t use Wraith’s portal while using your passive ability, you can still drag them towards a portal safely for an easy getaway.
- The tactical ability, Mobile Shield is not an ability that you should always rely on. It is good for a quick cover to confirm enemies’ positions. Since its mobility is really low, make sure you also have cover if it gets broken.
- The Mobile Shield is often useful in offensive plays rather than defensive ones. The shield can be a great tool to securely push enemies since it is mobile.
- The ultimate ability is by far the most useful in his ability kit. You can leap onto allies or their Death Boxes even if you don’t have a direct line of sight. As long as there is a viable path for Newcastle to leap to, he can jump onto anywhere, even allies far above you.
- Another thing that most players often forget is that you can turn around mid-flight to change the direction of the Castle Wall.
- The wall also has an animation that takes some time for it to fully go up. This short period can be utilized with his passive to safely revive enemies while also having a proper cover.
