Caustic Guide: The most toxic defensive Legend in Apex

A tried and true defensive legend, Caustic can make certain pushes impossible. Unlike some of his offensive counterparts, Caustic's specialty lies in hunkering down and holding POI's. His tactical "Nox Gas Trap" can truly be one of the most frustrating abilities to face in the game. A good Caustic main will make any team think twice before attempting to take your position. While Caustic's pick-rate has somewhat dwindled as of late, he has seen wide use in the competitive scene. While Caustic can be some-what situational, he is best in tight areas with defendable POI's.

Caustic is absolutely considered a niche character. Utilizing Legends with big hitboxes like Caustic is no easy feat. Players who are using big legends firstly have to be able to use the environment around them to ensure they aren't the focus of enemy fire. Furthermore, those who choose to use Caustic have to be able to lure players into their traps. Most of the time Caustic players are more defensively minded players that are not looking to W key every fight nearby. They just want to take good ring position and wait until they can pull players close enough to gas them out.

While learning to be successful with this legend will be more difficult than some of the smaller more user-friendly legends, the payoff can be huge. Having a seasoned Caustic late in the game is an enormous advantage. His ability to hold closed off areas is only rivaled by Wattson players. High level Caustic players can be some of the most devastating opponents in the game.

Caustic's tactical is a gas trap that can be placed at the player's discretion. With up to six traps available, Caustic players can fortify POI's with deadly and disorienting traps that deal damage directly to enemy player's 100 hp. Damage ticks do 5 damage initially but then ramp up 1 damage every other tick (5,5,6,6,7,7 etc.). The traps are triggered when an enemy player walks close to the trap or the top of the trap receives any kind of damage. Shooting the base of the trap will destroy the trap without emanating any gas. The barrels can be shot and destroyed if they are set off and they have a total of 150 hp.

Be strategic with the placement of your traps. If you are holding a building and don't want opponents entering, place traps on the doors. This ensures the opponent must break the door to enter. Additionally, they will have to deal with your trap upon entry. Equally important is making sure your traps are placed so they can do their job.

Do not place the traps behind doors or objects that opponents can easily get by. First and foremost you must make sure you're getting the most out of your traps with their placement.

Use traps to aid in reviving your teammates. If you have a downed teammate that can make it to cover, drop a trap nearby and activate it. The gas will not only deter enemies from pushing closer to you, it will make you and your teammate more difficult to see. This has the potential to give you enough time to get the rez off and reset.

If all else fails, use traps as cover. Although they are not very large, traps can provide a minimal amount of cover in desperate situations. The traps have 150 hp so if you can toss a trap down and take a little space with it by staying behind it, you may be able to stay alive.

Caustic's ultimate not only adds to what makes him such a great defensive legend, but also adds some offensive and repositioning prowess. Nox Gas Grenade blankets a large area with his noxious gas. Enemy's are dealt damage while inside the cloud and also have slowed and disoriented movement. This ultimate is remarkably effective with clustered end games.

Much like the rest of this defensive legend's kit, Caustic sees the most success with his ult when opponents are in close quarters. Use your ult on opponents when they are close together and don't have anywhere to go but into your LOS. For instance, throw the Nox grenade into a building to drive a team out. This can create the opportunity to shoot them or to take their position if it is an advantageous one.

Use your ult to buy you and your teammates time. If a team is focusing you and is within range, the Nox Gas Grenade can be a perfect tool for distraction. Buying yourself some time by making enemies hunker down away from the grenade can be the difference between life and death.

Similar to the technique discussed in tip #2 for his tactical, use Caustic's ult to revive downed teammates. Throwing your ult on a downed teammate will make the two of you very difficult to see which can give you the time needed to get a crucial rez off. Knowing how to use his ult both defensively and offensively is what makes for a good Caustic main.

Caustic's passive aids in making him a great defensive legend. Nox Vision gives you the ability to see highlighted versions of your enemies when they are in your gas. Whether they are in your tactical or your ultimate, enemies in your nox gas will be highlighted light green. This gives you that much more advantage over your opponents when they are in your gas.

While this is a relatively self explanatory tip, always take advantage of opponents in your gas. Even if you are wounded, opponents in your gas are at a huge disadvantage so make sure to strike using your vision and their lack of mobility and vision.

While too much of one style of legend on a team can become redundant, at least one other defensive legend on a team with Caustic can be exceedingly difficult to deal with. For instance, Caustic and Rampart or Caustic and Watson can ensure that a building or POI is essentially impenetrable.

Having traps coupled with fences or walls can mean that breaking into an area is next to impossible. An interesting combo that has been seen in the competitive scene in the past few seasons has been Caustic Valkyrie and Gibraltar. The defensive prowess of Caustic and Gibraltar paired with the offensive and repositioning capabilities of Valkyrie has made for a lethal combination.

We hope this guide has provided you with some unique insights into playing the toxic trapper. For more information on Caustic's kit and his lore, visit his Fandom Wiki page.