There are few characters in Apex Legends that can have as debilitating an effect on the enemy team as a good Caustic. He may seem like a one-trick pony at first, but once you start coming up with some abnormal uses for his gas, he can have a real myriad of benefits. Caustic can simultaneously be used as a trapper, gain a surprising amount of intel, and be an up-in-your-face, aggressive style of character.
Let’s take a look at some tips for getting the most out of Caustic, as well as some interesting team compositions he’s a part of.
10 AREA DENIAL
The biggest and most obvious benefit of Caustic is going to be his ability to deny a large area to an enemy team unless they’d like to take constant damage, be unable to see much of anything, and move at a snail’s pace. Each of his Gas Canisters has a pretty wide radius, and since they can be activated by proximity, they’re pretty difficult to simply sneak past. These can be useful in just about any kind of geography, too; buildings and open areas both are going to massively benefit from a healthy use of Gas Canisters.
9 SNEAKY PLACEMENT
That said, just placing these Gas Canisters out in the open isn’t usually going to get the best results. Shooting the very bottom of the Canister detonates it without incident, so putting them in locations that are either impossible to see until it’s too late, or difficult to get a good shooting angle on, is going to be your best bet. Luckily, most objects in the game are big enough to entirely (or at least mostly) cover a Gas Canister, so you’ll have plenty of options when it comes to creative placement.
8 PROXIMITY ALARMS
One of the ways in which Caustic is able to gather a decent bit of useful intel is in this sneaky placement. There are going to be plenty of narrow lanes that you and your team are going to be traversing through, and it’s always going to be of benefit to know if someone else is coming through that lane behind you.
All of these lanes have at least one or two rocks, supply bins, or something else to throw a Gas Canister behind. This’ll create a nice little jump-scare for an enemy running through while also letting you know that someone’s on their way, provided you’re paying attention.
7 BLOCK DOORS
These Gas Canisters are sturdy things, and because of this, they can block doors from opening on one side. This is only going to be a temporary obstacle to an enemy since they can either kick down the door in a couple of blows or bust the door open with a grenade, but it’ll delay them. Plus, regardless of which of those two options they choose, the Gas Canister is going to detonate, blocking or severely impacting their entry in that direction for a short while.
6 TOTAL CONFUSION
Speaking from experience (on both sides of this scenario), Caustic’s Gas Canisters can be agents of complete and total confusion. Once an unsuspecting enemy detonates the Canister and is stuck in the cloud of gas, it can be monumentally difficult to tell what on earth is going on. Caustic has the unique ability to move unimpeded through the gas, and so this cloud of death acts as his own domain, where he can dole out death and destruction at his whim to enemies that are going to be blindingly confused and largely unable to fight back.
5 PUSH AN ENEMY OUT
There’s going to be plenty of scenarios you’ll run into in which enemies are going to be bunkered up in their own building, and you may think that this negates most of the benefit that Caustic provides the team; after all, arguably his greatest strength is holding his OWN building.
But that isn’t necessarily the case. In just about every case, it’s possible to toss in Caustic’s ultimate ability through a window or a broken door, filling a huge portion of the building in toxic smoke and pushing the enemies out into your, and your teammates, crosshairs.
4 MOBILE VISUAL COVER
Caustic can be used in a very similar way to Bangalore, as well. While his Gas Canisters may not be nearly as easy to use as Bangalore’s smoke in terms of visual cover, it is by no means impossible. Caustic can toss his Canisters a pretty healthy distance, and firing anywhere above the very bottom of the Canister releases the gas. Set up one or two Canisters in a path you plan to run, and you’ve got yourself some nice visual cover that’s going to make it pretty difficult for enemies to track you through, much less shoot you.
For that matter, that makes these Gas Canisters great tools to help in reviving teammates, especially when the aggressors are at a distance. In a pinch, it might be easiest to use his ultimate ability for either of these scenarios.
3 GREAT FOR CLOSE-RANGE
Since, like mentioned above, Caustic’s gas is largely his domain, this makes him most suited for close-range engagements. Saddle Caustic up with something like an R-99 or a shotgun, and let him go to work on enemies that aren’t easily able to fight back. Caustic is especially dangerous in an urban environment, where it isn’t nearly as easy to escape his gas. If Caustic can get between you and the door, you’re in for a bad time.
2 BANGALORE, BLOODHOUND, CAUSTIC
One interesting team composition involving Caustic makes heavy use of both his and Bangalore’s gas. While teammates can’t move at full speed through friendly Caustic gas, Bloodhound can still scan through it, same as he can scan through Bangalore’s smoke. With both Bangalore and Caustic blanketing a huge area in visual confusion, an enemy team isn’t likely to have a clue what’s going on. Activate Bloodhound’s ultimate ability, and he can see the whole area in perfect clarity, allowing him to slice through the enemy team with ease.
1 WATTSON, LIFELINE, CAUSTIC
If trapping is more your team’s forte, throw a Wattson and a Lifeline into the mix. Between Caustic and Wattson, they can utterly lock a building down with traps, plus stop any incoming ordinance from destroying the traps. If enemies want to push you, they’re going to have to sift through a LOT of easy damage, and with Lifeline’s D.O.C. drone, your team isn’t going to be at any shortage of easy healing.
NEXT: Apex Legends: 10 Little-Known Facts About The Protector, Gibraltar
