Apex Legends’ newest hero, Newcastle, is a departure from previous legends in two areas: First, that he is a defensive legend, a type that currently outperforms 2: 1 offensive types on the Apex roster. And second, that the protection he provides is less for his personal protection and more for keeping his team safe.
Devan McGuire, designer of Respawn Entertainment, responsible for the Newcastle kit, explained in a media deep dive last week that Newcastle evolved from a prototype that the team outlined in 2020, realizing that their lineup does not have many protective types. But this kit, called the Axiom, stayed on the drawing board because the developers thought it was “a pretty selfish kit overall and didn’t really take into account any aspects of the team.”
But when the writing team reached out on plans to bring in Jackson Williams, Bangalore’s brother, as a playable character, McGuire saw an opportunity to rework this Axiom Legend kit and infuse it with a little more purpose.
“Jackson should have been a defender of his family, of his squad, of bringing them home,” McGuire said. “And this aspect of valor and heroism from this defender, mixed with the shielded elements of the set that was on the table, created this fantasy that really, really clicked, and the idea of a knight in Apex was something we realized just made so much sense. . “
All this informs the passive, tactical and supreme skill that Newcastle carries in Apex Games. Fans have already watched the movie “Alien Stories”, explaining the personal origins of Jackson Williams and how he accepted the mantle of Newcastle and why he is in the arena. McGuire’s preview session explained what he would do there.
“This man had to be someone who could heroically jump into battle to defend the team,” McGuire said. “He is someone who will lead this attack, defend their progress and be a man who will not leave a man behind.”
With that in mind, Respawn’s designers started with a Newcastle liability called Retrieve the Wounded. This is the wrist-mounted Revive Shield he wears that can protect him and his teammate from incoming fire while he revives them. Retrieve the Wounded goes even further, allowing Newcastle to pull the downed teammate while reviving, moving both to better cover, if available.
“Being able to get your teammates out of the fire and hide while reviving them has great potential,” McGuire said. “No other character could do that in Apex. And the shield you have to protect them gives you the confidence to make these games, to take those risks, not just throw yourself in there and do nothing while you’re being shot. “
During the game, Revive Shield is powered by the personal Knockdown Shield that Newcastle wears, which means that Newcastle players who find knockdown shields from a higher level of the playing field will increase their passive effects. “We found that it actually breathed new life into an underutilized and underrated element in the game, like prey,” McGuire said. For a team with Newcastle in it, “pinging is very important; you can invest in your potential safeguards in the future. ”
Newcastle’s tactical ability is its mobile shield. This energy field is a mobile and highly efficient coating. McGuire emphasized his tactical flexibility in helping players move forward together safely; to cover a retreat; to prevent a surprising flank maneuver.
“While outdoors, Newcastle can press this tactical button again to reorient its position to a new position on the map,” McGuire explained. “This means you can turn a corner in a building, you can retreat if you’re outdoors and you need to retreat back to cover or a third party appears in motion, you can rotate the shield around to protect that open flank “Because Mobile Shield is energy – based, it deflects fire but allows the team to charge through it.
The mobile shield is destructive in some way, as there are upper and lower halves that can be removed separately from each other. “[That gives] “a situational choice for opponents who think they need to burn the shield to get to Newcastle,” McGuire said. “So you can burn the top and go to those pictures of the head and body, or you can burn the bottom and go to those exposed legs that will do less damage overall, but [they] he may be forced to abandon the shield in the open. “
Finally, Newcastle’s Ultimate, Castle Wall, is where Newcastle’s screenwriters’ motivation and personality really unfold. With Ultimate, players can jump long distances and then hit Newcastle’s shield on the ground, raising a massive energy barrier that repel enemies. In addition, if they try to break it, they slow down and suffer damage.
But it’s this jumping ability that really expresses Newcastle as a hero, McGuire said. “When you take off the helmet visor and pull the Ultimate, you have this mechanic to automatically lock your allies,” he said. “You can lock them up, as long as they’re not buried in a bunker or anything like that. Jumping to a locked teammate locked in a goal gives Newcastle jumps more height and more distance.
“You can imagine a hero in the open […] you can react to that, save them, get in there and give them a chance to fight to get them back in the game, and that’s exactly what this heroic movie is about, “McGuire said, referring to the ENT trailer for season 13, which dropped out last week.
Newcastle will be the fifth defensive legend (up to nine offensive) and McGuire said he is crossing the line with the two support class legends: Lifeline and Loba. McGuire and the designers felt that this kind of imbalance on the list made Season 13 the right time to bring a versatile, defense-oriented character to the game to keep players engaged in something other than an attacker.
“Perhaps the Internet has seen some of these prototypes that are being studied [new] spaces, see the list that is on the table, see the offensive legends that exist, and we want to bring [Defensive and Support] class structures up, ”McGuire said later. “We want to have players who will play on these fields. This is our first step in tackling this particular problem as a whole. “
Newcastle will be available when Season 13: Lifeguards kicks off on May 10, and can be unlocked from the main game with digital currency, or 12,000 Legend Tokens (won in the game), or 750 Apex Coins, which can be purchased in a package from $ 9.99 1000, the smallest amount sold in the game.
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