Octane is Apex Legends’ first new character: Here’s what he can do

Apex Legends is getting a new character named Octane, developer Respawn Entertainment announced on Monday. The character — Apex Legends’ first post-launch Legend — will be released alongside the game’s season 1 “Wild Frontier” battle pass on March 19.

While Octane’s abilities aren’t yet visible on the game’s official website, Sony’s PlayStation Blog gave us a preview of what the character can do. Most of Octane’s abilities are built around his health. His tactical ability allows him to move faster than normal, but costs a percentage of his health to activate and only lasts a few seconds. To offset this, Octane’s passive ability grants him healing whenever he isn’t being shot at, allowing him to slowly gain back the health he has either lost or spent.

Octane’s ultimate ability is called Launch Pad. He can throw launch pads on the ground that allow anyone to boost into the air. You can even get an early preview of the launch pads by checking out the ones that Respawn placed just outside of the Market location late last week.

It’s unclear how players will be able to unlock Octane. Previous Legends were available for 12,000 Legend Tokens each, or around $8.50 if you’d rather use real money. However, it’s possible that Octane will be given to everyone as soon as the new season launches.

Octane will be released along with Apex Legends battle pass on the first official day of season 1, March 19.

Update: According to a tweet from Jay Frechette, community manager at Respawn Entertainment, Octane will be available to unlock for Legend Tokens or 750 Apex Coins (about $7.50). In other words, he works the same way that Caustic and Mirage do; Apex Legends players won’t need to purchase the battle pass in order to use Octane.