Each legend in “Apex Legends” is designed around a specific atmosphere. If a catalyst were in a high school cafeteria, she would be a socially clumsy but self-confident girl that she gives crystal clear readings and talks about the moon phases. Incorporating safety equipment with a new age aesthetic, Neopagan looks like an industrial worker.
“The catalyst is what I would call the kind of big sister,” said Ashley Reed, lead author of the Apex Legends story. “She is not stupid, she does not take tricks from anyone. She sometimes tries to joke with the other legends, but she ends up breaking down in unwittingly funny ways.
In creating the catalytic role, Reid said the team took several steps to make sure she was portrayed as a trans woman “correctly and correctly”.
“We have been saying for a long time how important representation is at Apex, we have a very diverse staff and we especially wanted to have a very diverse staff,” said Reed.
Respawn worked with trans consultants at GLAAD, a media organization that monitors the representation of LGBT people. Respawn also worked with Catalyst voice actress Mellie Grant and the company’s in-house LGBT groups to design Legend’s backstory. The Techno Witch, which became the guiding principle of the team for Catalyst, was proposed by a Trans consultant. This type of input is essential for designing new characters, Reid said.
Catalyst was born on Boris, the same planet as the legend, Outcast Seer. Syr’s birth coincided with a catastrophic asteroid that destroyed Cleo, Boris’s moon, and devastated the planet’s atmosphere. After seeing her best friend Margot sacrifice herself to destroy a facility he suspects is draining Cleo of his resources, Catalyst decides to make the Moon his home and joins the local cleanup team working to repair the damage.
Cleos works in the foundry (which is an a place to play (in Broken Moon) and as a Catalyst he developed his fighting skills. It uses ferrofluid, which is a magnetic liquid metal It actually exists in real life It is commonly used as a seal or insulator for electronic devices. Applications of the ferrofluid catalyst take on the appearance of black magic flowing through his hands.
With his passive ability, Barricade, Catalyst is able to harden doors with magnetizing fluid, making them twice as resistant to engagement damage. Only teammates can open or close Catalyst-enhanced doors. The catalyst can regenerate broken doors.
Its tactical prowess, piercing spikes, throws a ball of magnetized fluid to the ground that explodes into a series of spikes as enemies approach, damaging and slowing enemies. Spikes can only be removed by enemies, so they can be used to start fights or cover bottlenecks.
The ultimate ability that completes the Catalyst set is its final dark veil. The Dark Veil creates a wall of magnetized fluid that blocks vision, but does not prevent you from walking, driving, or shooting through it. Enemies trying to cross the wall slow down and are partially blinded. The wall also obstructs most scanning abilities, such as Bloodhound’s Eye of the Father of All.
“It’s a great tool for splitting the battlefield and gaining additional protection to heal a clutch or redeploy,” said OT Harrison, character designer and chief software engineer at Respawn.
For a better team setting, Respawn recommends pairing Catalyst with legends who also specialize in area denial, such as Caustic and Watson. High-action legends like Octane and Pathfinder can use Dark Veil for surprise attacks. If you are facing an enemy trigger, you can use the same moving legends to take on the Dark Veil. All doors featuring the Catalyst Barricade can still be cut with pistols and ammo.
Catalyst will be playable when “Apex Legends: Eclipse” launches on November 1st. In the game’s current story, Apex Games catches up with Clio after the local government agreed to host the tournament in exchange for financial support. Furious that corporate interests are threatening the landscaping business of her and her fellow settlers, Catalyst plays with cash prizes to help her people. This puts Cleo in direct conflict with the legendary Seer who brought Apex Games.
