Apex Legends: Suggestions to buff Caustic
About this post:
I have noticed that several websites have been ranking the legends of Apex Legends already. Although the opinions about the best and worst classes vary considerably, a common theme is that Caustic is quite often near or at the bottom, most notably in these two sites:
https://commonsensegamer.com/apex-legends-tier-list-best-characters-ranked/
https://progameguides.com/apex-legends/apex-legends-best-legends-characters-tier-list/
Why both unlockable classes can be considered to be underpowered:
I agree that Caustic is underpowered at the moment, since all of his abilities are to do with Nox gas and his Nox gas traps almost always require camping to work. And as we all know, camping is no fun for you or your squad. Since he is a premium class, it just doesn't make sense for him to be so weak, and I think it should be buffed. Nobody will buy or unlock Caustic if he is so weak.
Mirage, the other unlockable class, is ranked quite highly on some websites at the moment too, but since his abilities are all to do with turning invisible and making decoys, eventually people will figure out that they just need to keep shooting and look for the real Mirage, a bit like how TF2 players eventually learned the best ways to Spycheck. (Although without a class similar to Pyro to set Mirage on fire, it won't be quite as effective... But an experienced squad with good coordination can still beat Mirage if they know his abilities well.) After that, Mirage will probably become much less useful, except when your squad is fighting against new players.
Suggestions to buff Caustic:
But I can't think of any ways to buff Mirage at the moment, so in this post I will focus on ways that Caustic could be buffed.
Firstly, teammates who stand within a certain distance of Caustic should also gain Caustic's Nox vision. This would allow Caustic to cooperate with his teammates when he is using a gas trap or gas grenade, because they can see who they are shooting at too, not just Nox, This would make Caustic more viable for trapping opponents in the gas while working as a team.
Secondly, the gas traps could be made much smaller so that it is harder for enemies to see them, and you should also be able to attach them to the walls or the ceiling. The current gas trap is so big that opponents can spot them from miles away. The traps would be triggered either by shooting them or when an opponent gets within a certain distance of one. Plus, when a trap is activated, Caustic should be notified and an arrow appears pointing in the direction of the trap that was activated. The arrow would stay there until the gas from the trap despawns, and it means that Caustic doesn't have to be looking at his trap all the time, and can loot the other rooms of a building or an adjacent building while he waits for someone to activate a gas trap. When he gets notified, he can race back to the trap to kill the opponents before they escape or the gas despawns. The gas trap would still be most effective for camping, but it does make Caustic slightly more mobile.
Thirdly, Nox gas is a POISON. So why don't people who breathe it in get POISONED? Rather than dealing direct damage based on the amount of time you spend in a Nox gas cloud, Nox gas clouds should inflict enemies with a 10 second poison effect that resets itself every second that the opponents are still in the Nox gas. It would deal the same amount of damage as before the change, except it lasts for 10 seconds after the opponent leaves the gas cloud. Plus, opponents who are poisoned would be slowed a little bit so it takes them longer to escape the gas cloud and Nox has a chance to catch up with them. Posioned opponents would have green bubbles swirling around them, and their interface would turn slightly green. Possibly the green bubbles would still be visible on an invisible Mirage, which would make it easier for a team to take down an enemy Mirage, but that is debatable because in my opinion Mirage will become less effective over time anyway due to players getting more experience (Like I said in part 2 of this post.)
Also, there is a website which has more suggestions for how Caustic could be buffed and explains why he is so weak a bit better here:
https://www.thegamer.com/apex-legends-best-worst-character-caustic/
Conclusions
Well, that was an extremely long post, but I do think that Caustic (and possibly Mirage) need to be buffed. Feel free to comment about these ideas, and hopefully EA will buff Caustic (with these ideas or similar ideas that also make Caustic better) eventually. After all, it's in their own interest: A stronger Caustic equals more money for them.
Also, if you actually read this whole post through without skipping anything, you are awesome and you really care about this game. If you didn't I don't really care, it's a very long post after all. But remember to read the relevant parts before commenting 😉
