The Best Characters to Play in Apex Legends

One of the things that set Apex Legends apart from other battle royale games is its unique character abilities. The various playable characters of Apex offer different skills and specializations to fit your playstyle. However, like all hero-shooters, not every hero is created equal. Whether you’re new to the game or just struggling to find success with your main, here are the best characters in Apex Legends, ranked from best to worst.

Update: We have a tier list now that is regularly updated. While these are some of the best legends to play, our tier list goes over the competitive ranked best and the current best in the meta.

1. Octane

Love him or hate him, Apex‘s latest playable character has certainly wasted no time making a name for himself in the meta. His passive ability, which heals one health point every two seconds while not in combat, is unlike any other skill we’ve seen so far. While one health point may not seem like a lot, it certainly comes in handy when healing supplies are low, or when your team is rushing towards the ring after a firefight. Octane’s active ability increases his movement speed by 30% for six seconds at the cost of 10% of your health, which is excellent for flanking enemies or completing the home stretch on your way to the ring. Plus, with your passive ability, you don’t really have to worry about the health cost. Finally, his ultimate ability is a jump pad, which can launch your allies up into the air and away from danger. Octane’s passive healing and ability to quickly navigate the battlefield make him our number one pick.

2. Caustic

Caustic’s abilities make him excel in both offense and defense. His primary ability is a gas trap that activates when enemies get within its proximity, dealing damage over time, and his passive ability allows him to see enemies within that gas. His ultimate ability is a throwable gas grenade, which creates a much larger and much more deadly cloud than the standard traps. The gas can also be used as cover in extremely desperate situations. The fact that you can see enemies within the gas, and that it deals damage, puts it well above Bangalore’s simple smoke grenades. Caustic’s versatility puts him just shy of the #1 spot on our list.

3. Lifeline

Apex‘s primary healing character, Lifeline is an essential part of many squad compositions. Her skills are quite literally lifesaving and can change the course of a match. Her passive ability makes her use all healing items 25% faster. She also revives fallen allies faster and automatically deploys a shield while doing so. Her active skill is a healing drone that can quickly be deployed for mobile healing over time, and her ultimate calls down a care package and charges relatively rapidly to boot. If you’re a beginner looking for a hero to start with, consider choosing Lifeline. Your squad will thank you later.

4. Wraith

Like Octane, Wraith has a number of abilities that provide her and her squad with increased mobility. Upon being targeted by an enemy, or when approaching one of Caustic’s gas traps, players using Wraith are given visual and audio indicators, letting them know to keep their heads down. Her active ability grants her increased movement speed, invisibility, and invulnerability for a short time, but with the drawback of not being able to see other players. It’s best used to get away from combat rather than into it. Her ultimate ability creates two portals that she and her teammates can use to instantly travel from point A to B.

5. Gibraltar

Gibraltar is primarily a defensive hero, but he has the opportunity to deal massive amounts of damage. His passive ability is a shield that provides partial cover while aiming down sights, but it can be toggled off if you’re attempting not to be seen. His active ability is a dome shield that blocks all incoming and outgoing fire for 20 seconds, perfect if your teammate is in desperate need of revival or you find yourself fighting with no cover. His ultimate ability is an airstrike, and while it’s fired in a much smaller radius than Bangalore’s, it deals more damage and there’s no delay between when the missiles hit the ground and when they explode.

6. Bangalore

Bangalore is an offensive powerhouse. Her passive ability increases her sprint speed after taking damage, thought this isn’t quite as useful as Wraith’s indicator. Her active ability is a smoke grenade, but this will increase your visibility as well as you have no way of seeing enemies in the smoke like with Caustic’s gas, so deploy the smoke carefully. Her ultimate, similar to Gibraltar’s, is an airstrike, and while it doesn’t do as much damage as Gibraltar’s, it does cover a wider area. Honestly, we could’ve easily switched Gibraltar’s and Bangalore’s places on this list, and your choice will probably come down to whether you play offensively or defensively.

7. Bloodhound

We want to place Bloodhound higher on this list, we really do. They’re undoubtedly the coolest character in the game, but their skills don’t necessarily reflect that. Their passive ability allows them to see enemy tracks and actions from the last 60 seconds. That might seem like a lot of time, and you could use the ability to plan an ambush. That’s easier said than done, however, and most of the time the tracks you see won’t lead you anywhere.

8. Mirage

On top of being the most annoying character in the game from a personality standpoint, Mirage is one of the most useless characters when it comes to his abilities. All three involve sending out a decoy or decoys, and if you’ve ever run into one of these decoys, you know how ineffective and obviously fake they are. Best case scenario, you buy a couple seconds during an intense firefight. As more time goes on, however, the more people become privy to the decoys’ behavior, and the less effective these abilities become. Respawn seems to know how useless Mirage is, however, because they plan on updating his ultimate in a future patch.

9. Pathfinder

Sorry, Pathfinder fans, but the friendly neighborhood robot just isn’t up to snuff compared to the other playable characters. Considered a healing character yet lacking any healing abilities, Pathfinder comes off as more of a novelty than a serious pick. His first active ability is a grappling hook, which can be used not only on surfaces but on other players. Why you would use this on a player is beyond us, although if you have a good shotgun maybe it’ll work out for you. His second active ability allows him to discover the next circle’s location, and this comes in handy way less than you might think. Finally, his ultimate ability is…another grappling hook. But this time, your allies and enemies can use it. Great. Here’s hoping Respawn decides to make Pathfinder a little more useful in future patches.

What did you think of our list? Did we hit the mark or come up short? Let us know what you think in the comments below.