Respawn is adding the Titanfall 2 character Ash to Apex Legends as a playable character. While some fans may recognise Ash from her last outing, the deadly assassin’s new set of tools aren’t quite the same – here are her abilities and how she plays.
Respawn first introduced Ash in Titanfall 2 as a boss that players had to defeat. In that game she had a Ronin titan, which was armed with a giant sword. It also had abilities such as a Phase Dash and an Arc Wave. Five years later, Ash has finally made it into the Apex Legends area as a playable legend – bringing a set of abilities closely tied to her Ronin Titan of old.
Ash’s first ability is her tactical. The Arc Snare is a thrown device that lands on the ground and then tethers the first player to walk through it. While tethered, a player can either push as far as possible to break out earlier or accept their new position and fight it out. The unique ability works like Fuze’s tactical, except it is far more satisfying, especially when you catch an Octane in the radius or stop a Wraith disappearing into her portal. While the Arc Snare can be used as a trap, it won’t last very long if it doesn’t catch someone.
Ash’s passive ability helps her hunt down and find other players. Anytime a player dies, their death is marked on the map briefly. She can also use her pilot’s knife to scan a death box, which allows her to locate the killer anywhere on the map. All of Ash’s scouting abilities are very brief, though still provide the longest-range scouting of any character in the game. Rather than providing information during a gunfight, Ash’s skills are much better suited at seeking out opponents to fight.
Finally, Ash’s ultimate is directly inspired by her Ronin Titan. She can use her sword to tear a gap in reality and teleport to a location she can see. The range of the ability is quite far, though makes a lot of noise when used. While similar to Wraith’s portal, Ash’s ability is one way, with no easy escape options once through to the other side. Friend and foe alike can follow Ash through the portal, but they must be quick as it doesn’t last very long. This also makes the ability less useful for escaping combat than Wraith’s portal.
In general, Ash plays as a fairly aggressive hunter who looks to get into fights often. Her passive ability allows the player to locate foes by following the signs of previous combat. Once contact is made, she can deploy the Arc Snare to isolate an opponent before using a portal to close the distance in an instant and pick through foes.
Outside of the battlefield, there’s already some insight to be gleaned on the character’s lore and personality. Ash is a simulacrum, just like Revenant – a robotic body with human consciousness. However, while Revenant has multiple chassis that he can move his consciousness between, Ash only has one. To make things worse, Ash was convinced she was a human until her recent resurrection. Since then, her original human personality has begun to creep to the surface, creating an internal conflict between who Ash was and who she is now.
Ash will be available to purchase as soon as the new season goes live. For those who have been saving up, Ash will cost the usual 12,000 Legend Tokens. The other option is to buy 750 Apex Coins from the store. This will be a minimum spend of £7.99 and will leave you with 250 coins left over.
Apex Legends Season 11 will be live on 2 November.
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