In this guide of Catalyst from Apex Legends Season 15, you'll find a full breakdown of her abilities, along with tips on how to make the most of them.

The new Season 15 of Apex Legends has launched, and it features a new defensive legend who goes by the name of Catalyst. Her real name is Tressa Smith, and she is a trans woman from Boreas who describes herself as an "expert terraformer and defensive conjurer." Although Catalyst is a defensive legend, she draws on elements from other legend classes to enhance her abilities. Catalyst and her allies can build and fortify structures with the help of her malleable ferrofluid, but it can also provide them an advantage in offensive and surveillance tactics. 

Watch our video guide of Catalyst, and read the article for more detailed information on how make the most of her abilities! Before we dive right in, did you know that with G-Loot you can earn rewards while playing Apex Legends? Track your stats, complete daily Missions, and climb our weekly Leaderboard!

Catalyst overview

Catalyst also known as Tressa Smith in folklore, is a terraformer who settled on Cleo to aid in the moon's recovery. In Catalyst's Story from the Outlands video, she and her best friend try to save Cleo, but their scheme fails, and her best buddy eventually dies. Instead of departing, Tressa adopted the alias Catalyst to battle on the moon Cleo and exact revenge on Seer for what had happened to both the moon and her.

Catalyst Abilities and how to use them efficiently

Catalyst’s Passive: Barricade

With the use of this passive ability, Catalyst can fortify doors and effectively block enemy players from entering a space. The door will be reinforced and able to endure greater damage when barricaded than usual. If a door is barred using this ability, it cannot be opened and must be demolished in order for a player to enter the building to which it leads. 

Image Credit: EA

Tips on how to use Catalyst’s Barricade

• The first barricade you place will vanish if you try to place more than two, just like Caustic's gas barrels and Wattson's electric fence pylons. When safeguarding buildings, bear this in mind.

• You have a few more precious seconds to finish popping a shield cell or reloading your weapon because it takes twice as long to destroy a barred door by melee than it does to destroy one that isn't.

• Barricading yourself within a structure won't prevent Bloodhound from scanning the structure and locating your squad unless you also throw down the Dark Veil as soon as you shut the door since the Dark Veil is immune to scanning abilities but the Barricade is not.

• Legend’s ability like Rampart's Sheila can still blast open barricaded doors in just a few seconds, but you can reseal them and give your squad an extra few seconds to reload, regroup, or escape.

Tactical: Piercing Spikes

Catalyst can use her ferrofluid to create spikey traps using her ability, Piercing Spikes. This ability has two charges, and Catalyst can activate up to three patches at once, each of which is 2x11 meters in size. It slows down enemies who walk across it and deals 15 damage each second. The patch can be destroyed if the orb at the patch's center, which has 300 HP is destroyed. Since one strike from Catalyst's Piercing Spikes can deal just enough damage to knock an enemy to the ground, you can use it if you find yourself in a tight situation without ammunition or other weapons.

Tips on how to use Catalyst’s Piercing Spikes

• As a Legend, Catalyst is immune to all Piercing Spikes, whether they were thrown by you or an adversary who was also playing as Catalyst.

• Utilizing the ability in a small area allows you to trap enemies in corners where they will suffer constant damage.

• Although you can generally utilize this offensively to defeat incoming foes, you can also use it as cover while making an attempt to retreat. 

• You can gain crucial seconds to regroup, fight back, or flee by slowing down pursuing attackers with Piercing Spikes.

Catalyst Ultimate: Dark Veil

Catalyst can temporarily obstruct the player's line of sight by building a wall of ferrofluid in a 55-meter-long line in front of her. Any legends bold enough to travel through it will likewise be temporarily blinded and have their movement speed slowed down. However, bullets, explosives, and other non-scan abilities can still travel through the wall unharmed.

How to make the most of Catalyst’s Dark Veil

• In more defensive-focused circumstances when you might need to sneak away or revive some fallen friends, Dark Veil is worth throwing up.

• This ability block scans that attempt to see through ferrofluid walls, but it does not prevent preemptive scans.

• Those who successfully use their Eye of the Allfather before going through the Dark Veil can still see their enemies afterward.

• Dark Veil is unable to block abilities like Mad Maggie's Warlord's Ire and Fuse's The Motherlode because they use projectiles rather than players to generate their scans.

Catalyst: Best Team Composition

The top four Legends that players should try to pair with Catalyst are broken down below, even though the Defensive Conjurer should be a solid fit for just about any team composition.

4. Gibraltar

Gibraltar has been a staple in the competitive meta for such a long time for a reason. His bubble enabled his teams to rotate and locate better cover by forming impenetrable spaces in small rings. Catalyst enhances that by summoning a huge wall that not only deflects bullets but also keeps the opposing side from discovering your location.

3. Seer

Seer is an obvious choice because he complements basically every Legend in the game at the moment. The ability of Catalyst to block scans and Seer to scan others allows a team to completely control the information game. 

2. Horizon

Combining Catalyst with a Horizon or Fuse could be a great way to balance out the team composition and enable your team to push back because Catalyst is a character who slows fights and halts pushes. Teams can push out of Catalyst's Dark Veil to get the upper hand on unprepared opponents by using Horizon's Gravity Lift.

1. Caustic/Rampart

Last but not least, Rampart and Caustic are perfect complements to Catalyst's capability to lock down areas. Each of Catalyst's abilities can set up stubborn opponents for swift deaths with Rampart's Sheila, and Caustic's Nox Gas Traps.

Best Weapon Loadout for Catalyst

Catalyst needs a shotgun as her secondary weapon because she specializes in tight quarters and zigzag gameplay around her ultimate. If you want to camp out with Caustic and Wattson frequently, the primary weapon should unquestionably be either a long-range sniper or, for greater versatility, a mid-range weapon like the R-301. You can check out our detailed guide on the top ten weapons in Apex Legends if you'd like to learn the weaponry better.

How To Master Catalyst - Tips, Techniques, And Playstyle

Image Credit: EA

You need to plan a strategy when playing defensively with Catalyst. You should be aware of your opponent's movements and have a clear understanding of their strike range. Locking key checkpoints using Catalyst's Barricade ability can slow down the opposition and give your teammates some time to prepare. 

If you find yourself in range of an opponent strike and a teammate is knocked to the ground, set up some piercing spikes right away because the enemy will eventually run in your direction to finish you off. Dark Veil serves more as a defensive technique that can be utilized to avoid or stop an enemy ambush. 

When you play or face Catalyst in Apex Legends, keep the following tips in mind.

• Make sure to ride Horizon's Gravity Lift and Valkyrie's VTOL Jets as high as they can go before attempting to jump over Catalyst's Dark Veil if you're facing off against Catalyst rather than controlling her.

• Catalyst has a very flexible skill set, so don't be hesitant to try out different playstyles and abilities. She may be known for her defense, but she also has tremendous offensive potential.

• You can use Catalyst's tactical to turn an occupied building into a death trap by placing some thermite grenades inside and barricading the entry door.

• If you're on the defensive and being pursued by an opponent squad, her Ultimate and Tactical blend in perfectly to produce a powerful retaliation.

• In the event of third parties, Dark Veil is essential for slowing down the pace of their assault and forcing them to take a chance on rushing through the wall or dodging it.

That concludes our comprehensive guide on Catalyst, we hope it will help you get better in the game so you can rule all the Maps in Apex Legends. Talking about maps, we have a full guide on the recent maps, Broken Moon also a new addition from Season 15, and Party Crasher: don’t forget to check them out!

If you feel like putting into practice all of our tips and tricks about Catalyst, don’t forget to join G-Loot and gain rewards as you play with Apex Legends. Esports is only one click away with G-Loot!