The Apex Legends Season 13 update is almost upon us and Newcastle, the Apex Games’ newest face, is shaping up to be a meta-changing addition to Respawn Entertainment’s battle royale. Ahead of the Apex Legends Season 13 release date, we have a good idea of what to expect when it comes to Newcastle’s kit, but did you know that he also has a secret second passive ability? Speaking to The Loadout, senior game designer Devan McGuire was kind enough to reveal that Newcastle actually has something of a second passive ability – something that makes him even more effective at protecting his team… and himself.
When we asked McGuire about Newcastle’s passive ability and its relation to his Knockdown Shield, he revealed that “Newcastle has a secret passive that allows him to revive – or recharge – his Knockdown Shields” while out of combat.
Why is this a big deal? Well, at the moment, a Knockdown Shield is only recharged when the player using it is no longer down – whether that is them being revived, or them being killed. However, Newcastle is going to be the only legend who actively uses his Knockdown Shield while alive – through his Retrieve the Wounded passive.
Newcastle’s Retrieve the Wounded passive allows the player to drag downed allies and protect them with a wrist-mounted shield – which is powered by his Knockdown Shield. Without a way to recharge his Knockdown Shield, Newcastle would only be able to use this passive ability a handful of times in a game – and it would only be effective if he got downed in-between each use.
So, as McGuire explained, if Newcastle is out of combat and not using his Knockdown Shield for a while, it will recharge and be ready again for his next encounter.
With Newcastle’s Retrieve the Wounded passive increasing in effectiveness with the increasing levels of the player’s equipped Knockdown Shield, this sounds like it’s going to make Newcastle the ultimate support legend with Apex Legends’ Smart Supply Bins offering an easy way to improve your loot. However, McGuire made sure to highlight that this isn’t an instant process.
“ It won’t come back right away”, he expressed. “You’re going to have to play around a little bit before [the Knockdown Shield] comes back.” At the moment, we don’t know how long it’ll take to trigger the recharge, but players are going to need to be wary of this if they’re jumping into the firefights to revive their downed squadmates.
Newcastle isn’t the only exciting new addition to Apex Legends this season, Respawn Entertainment are also introducing a new Storm Point map feature: IMC Armories. Apex Legends’ IMC Armories are third party proof, and the IMC Armories are one use per game. It’s also worth checking out our Apex Legends tier list ahead of any major changes – it’s always handy to know who’s on top.