- All leaks Catalyst abilities in Apex Legends so far
- Passive: Reinforce
- Tactical: Ferro Shot
- Ultimate: Iron Tower
- All rumored Catalyst lore in Apex Legends
Image via Respawn Entertainment
While season 14 of Apex Legends is still relatively young, that doesn’t mean it’s too early to look forward to season 15. With a new character all but guaranteed to come to the game alongside the customary addition of content that comes with every new season, it’s always a good time to look forward and see what we might glean from whispers and rumors that came in the past.
For season 15, that points to Catalyst, a legend that we still don’t know all that much about. There are, however, a good amount of leaks that point to Catalyst as the next legend to enter the Apex Games in season 15—and those same leaks give us a glimpse into how the character might play out. There’s even extra character information we can try to extrapolate from data-mined information about the character’s design and backstory.
Here’s everything you need to know about Catalyst in Apex.
All leaks Catalyst abilities in Apex Legends so far
The following abilities are taken from the character leaks that occurred prior to season 13. This means that the version of Catalyst that appeared in these leaks was still quite far from finished and they didn’t even have their own character model at the time. As such, all of these abilities are subject to change and should be viewed as a picture of what the character might be like when they officially make their way to the game.
Passive: Reinforce
Catalyst’s abilities, according to leaks, revolve around the use of ferrofluid, which Catalyst can use to create solid, physical structures. This passive ability allows Catalyst to make destructible objects close to them take significantly more damage. This includes structures in the world, like doors, as well as placeable objects that other legends put down, like Newcastle’s Castle Wall. When Catalyst is near those objects, they’ll be able to withstand more damage before they are destroyed.
Tactical: Ferro Shot
Catalyst will also potentially be able to create their own structures out of ferrofluid and they can place up to three Ferro Shot structures at a time. These structures resemble ramps and they can be connected to one another to form one long ramp that goes up at a slight incline. Notably, this ability does not need a ground surface to work since Ferro Shot structures can also be used to create platforms that are attached to vertical walls.
These Ferro Shot structures can be destroyed by enemy damage, as well as by Catalyst’s own friendly fire. It remains to be seen if Catalyst’s teammates can damage friendly Ferro Shot structures.
Ultimate: Iron Tower
This ultimate ability also makes use of Catalyst’s ferrofluid to create a large tower underneath Catalyst’s feet. This ultimate ability serves the dual purpose of creating cover for Catalyst and their squad, while it also can be used by Catalyst and their squad to boost upward and gain a vertical height advantage or to traverse to even higher ground.
Like the Ferro Shot ability, the Iron Tower is also strengthened by Catalyst’s Reinforce passive ability and is another destructible structure.
Again, these leaks came when Catalysts was clearly in an early state of development. The video leaks feature no character model, placeholder character artwork and voice lines, and animations taken from other legends (by the looks of it, Mirage’s animation for sending out decoys for the tactical and Wattson’s animation for placing fences for the ultimate ability). But it seems clear that in this early state, Catalyst is Respawn’s attempt to introduce a legend to the game that can build structures.
All rumored Catalyst lore in Apex Legends
There are no solid leaks as to who Catalyst is or how they fit into the Apex universe yet. There are rumors and theories about Catalyst from several different sources, however.
Based on the placeholder art that has been used for Catalyst, most seem to think that Catalyst will be a woman. As Apex insider ThordanSmash notes, this placeholder artwork is called “The Witch,” and features a woman dressed in all black with a somewhat creepy aesthetic.
The dark placeholder art also matches up with early data-mined files of the season 15 battle pass. The battle pass is currently codenamed “Magic Goth,” according to the files found in the game by data miner KralRindo. Magic Goth sounds a whole lot like a battle pass that would match a character whose current placeholder art is a woman dressed in all black named “The Witch.”
But who, exactly, is Catalyst? Well, no one really knows at this point outside of Respawn. It’s not even a sure bet that Catalyst will come to the game, even though she comes from the same leak that accurately showed off Newcastle and Vantage (albeit with changes that occurred to Vantage’s abilities), as well as the Valkyrie heirloom that was released in season 13.
One theory that’s been making the rounds in the Apex community is that Catalyst will actually turn out to be Mila, Crypto’s sister.
Mila was presumed to be dead when Crypto first entered the Apex Games, before teasers that players could find on Kings Canyon revealed that Mila was most likely still alive and leaving messages for Crypto. Mila was confirmed as still being alive by the season 14 Quest episode “Web of Lies,” where she spoke with Wattson and forbade her from revealing to Crypto that the two were in contact with one another.
While it remains pure speculation that Catalyst could end up being Mila, it is interesting that she has returned to Apex lore very recently and so soon after the season 14 launch trailer made mention of the prediction algorithm, the code found by Crypto that originally got him and Mila into trouble with the Syndicate in the first place. Mila’s character design would also not feel out of place in tandem with the “Magic Goth” battle pass codename. While she does have vibrant red hair that she dyes different colors, unlike the black hair featured in the placeholder art, the Stories from the Outland episode “Forever Family” features Mila with a black streak in her hair, plenty of black clothing, and her fingernails painted black. It might not be a truly “goth” character design, but it doesn’t feel too far off, either.
Regardless of the Mila teasers that have floated around Apex this season, this is still firmly a theory and should not be taken as confirmation that the next character to join the Apex Games will be Crypto’s sister. Players will just have to wait for further confirmations and game updates if they want to get the inside scoop on who Catalyst really is.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.