Octane may not be the most popular Apex Legends character, but in the right hands his aggressive and highly mobile skillset allows him to wreak havoc on enemy teams. Our Apex Legends Octane guide is up to date for Season 7, and will walk you through our top tips and tactics for each of Octane’s abilities.
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Apex Legends advanced movement guide.
Octane’s Stim allows you to move faster with a gun than other characters can run while holstered.
Octane’s Passive will not heal you while you are Stimming, so you’ll need to give yourself time to heal between Stims to replenish your Health.
Make use of the speed bonus. I’ve seen many Octanes Stimming up to reach an encounter, and then more or less standing still during the fight itself. 130% movement speed allows you to dance around and A/D spam like crazy while firing, so take advantage of it.
Octane’s Launch Pad is a fairly straightforward mobility-focused Ultimate; when activated, you’ll throw down a Launch Pad in front of you much like Gibraltar’s Dome (though you can actually throw the Launch Pad surprisingly far), and after that the Launch Pad persists and is useable by anyone, friend or foe alike. Jumping on the Pad will launch you into the air in the direction you were moving, and while in the air you can double-jump once to gain even more distance.
Here are our top Launch Pad Ultimate tips for Octane:
- Placing a Launch Pad on a decline or incline such as a hill or stairs has absolutely no bearing on the trajectory or momentum of your bounce.
- Knocked down players can bounce on Launch Pads, which means you can place one down to help move a knocked teammate out of danger. However, knocked teammates can’t make use of the double-jump functionality.
- Throwables such as Grenades or even Bangalore’s Ultimate will bounce atop these Launch Pads, allowing you to throw them further (if you’re accurate enough with them!)
- When placed below a Wraith portal, players who exit via that portal will actually exit a short distance from the portal, rather than right on the portal as usual. I’m not sure how this is useful, but there you go.
- While the Launch Pad provides a quick and useful team repositioning tool, your arc through the air is fairly predictable and you are therefore easy to shoot if enemies see you jump.
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Apex Legends characters all have differently sized hitboxes, a fact which caused a bit of controversy in the early days of the battle royale. Nowadays, the discrepancies in hitbox size are addressed by two additional Passives shared out among several Legends:
- Fortified is for the larger Legends (Caustic and Gibraltar), and gives them a 15% damage reduction and immunity to slowdown when hit by bullets.
- Low Profile is for the smaller, harder to hit Legends (Lifeline, Pathfinder, Wraith, and Wattson) and makes them take 5% more damage from all sources.
While he hasn’t been bestowed with the Low Profile perk, Octane’s diminutive frame likely puts him along the same scale as Lifeline or Bloodhound. This, combined with his trademark speed, makes him a strong candidate for toughest Legend to land shots on, even giving the slippery Wraith a run for her money. Of course, he’s likely to have a little less Health than most enemies when you first encounter them, so you may not need to land as many shots on him.
Finally, let’s finish up with some more general tips and tricks on winning Apex Legends matches as Octane.
- Don’t be afraid to have low Health. Octane needs to live life on the edge in order to be used effectively. This means a risk/reward playstyle where you may be caught off-guard and die quickly, but other times it could win you the game. But you have to learn not to treat Octane cautiously. Take advantage of his Stim as much as possible.
- Learn to A/D spam effectively while under Stim. With a 30% movement speed increase, your “A/D spam” can soar to ludicrous levels of “impossible to hit” if you’re quick enough. Never stay still while under the effects of Stim, because you’re literally just wasting the ability – and your Health.
- Go for wide flanks when needed. Octane is fantastic at repositioning before your enemies even know what’s happening. And when Stimmed, your teammates won’t be able to keep up with you anyway, so feel free to go on flanks when you want. Again, risk/reward.
- Pair with Pathfinder, Wraith, or Horizon for an incredibly quick and mobile team. At launch, it was mainly Pathfinder who it was difficult to keep up with as a teammate, but he’s certainnly found his match in Octane. Throw Wraith’s Portals and Phases and Horizon’s Gravity Lift into the mix and you’ve got an incredibly quick and versatile team comp.
That’s pretty much everything we’ve got on Octane for now, so hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two about how best to utilise his unique skillset. For full details and opinions on all of the characters together, take a look at our Apex Legends characters guide for fully updated details.
