Just How Powerful is Apex Legends' Newcastle?

If you’re looking to jump back into Apex Legends with a fresh attitude or switch up your playstyle, this week could be a great time to do so.

With Season 13 set to begin on May 10, the Apex community is abuzz with activity as players prepare to dig into a bunch of new features.

In the case of players on Reddit, a major component of this preparation has been intense discussion about the abilities of Newcastle, the new legend who’s set to headline the update.

Apex Legends Players Evaluate Newcastle's Abilities

Posting at the beginning of the thread, user XThejw asked a simple question regarding Newcastle’s passive, tactical and ultimate abilities: “Op or balanced?”

Opinions in the thread were varied, with many users being more hesitant than usual to judge how effective Newcastle will be before encountering him in-game.

For example, user AverageGamer2607 explained: “defensive characters like Newcastle and Rampart rely on how players utilise them and their abilities”, before concluding: “I believe Newcastle will (be) balanced, but as people begin to learn how to play him he will become harder and harder to deal with. More so than other legends”.

User CommanderSabo suggested they’d have to play as Newcastle to get a better idea of his abilities but did say of his passive ability, which involves dragging a stricken ally to safety while reviving them: “It takes one person out of the fight, so if the enemy still has two or three people up it might be hard to pull off.”

On the other hand, a different user suggested that Newcastle might not fit the preferred playstyle of most Apex players, saying: “The more a character's kit is designed to be stationary (like Rampart/Wattson) the less people want to play them. I expect Robocop to be no exception.”

Meanwhile, user SaltySnowman8 joined a few others in comparing Newcastle’s abilities to those of another legend, Lifeline, before an unpopular nerf which has seen the latter character become much less effective to play.

User MJR_Poltergeist took this point further, saying: “His entire kit is made of things that could've been used to improve both Lifeline or Rampart, and they just decided to go on ahead anyway”.

While it remains to be seen how Newcastle will actually fit into the Apex landscape, user Loliknight felt secure enough to make a bold prediction, saying: “someone’s gonna post Newcastle getting krabered during his Ult jump animation within a week of season launch”.

Follow us for more updates on Season 13 of Apex Legends as it kicks off this week.