Apex Legends: Newcastle Leaks, Abilities, and Lore

Time stands still when you have to wait for another season of your favorite game to release. What can one do after they’ve finished the battle pass, the weekly challenges, the daily challenges, and everything else? Wait, wait, and wait. At last, after yet another excruciatingly long wait, we have what we wanted. Apex Legends patch notes for Season 13: Saviors are out. These patch notes will expand Apex Legends’ lore further with the introduction of a brand new legend. Newcastle is Apex Legends’ newest legend and his kit looks bomb.

Apex Legends launched way back in 2019 with just 8 legends to choose from. The gamers instantly loved this game and now we have over 20 different legends to choose from. With the start of this season, Newcastle joins Apex Legends and increases that number to 21. Many fans are speculating that Lifeline could soon become obsolete. Lifeline mains are sweating like pigs and the Pathfinder mains are still waiting for a passive. We can’t really blame them because Newcastle’s kit does look like it’s got some serious pull (pun totally intended). So let’s find out who Newcastle is, where he comes from, and who needs to worry about him.

The Lore Behind the Newest Apex Legend: Newcastle

We should’ve known when Respwan was teasing us with all the Bangalore lore recently. Jackson was a central character in her story and that was done for a reason. The reason that’s plenty clear now – to bring him to the games! The story behind why Jackson joins the Apex Games is not quite what you might imagine. Nope, he didn’t come for his little sis Bangalore!

Lamont Craig is a typical suburban dad from a typical suburban town. Except, that Lamont isn’t really Lamont. His real name is Jackson Williams of the IMC. After Jackson disobeyed a direct order which was practically suicidal, he didn’t have much choice. He moved into Harris Valley and started a new life for himself. Tries marriage, starts a family and plays House for a little while.

Once a soldier, always a soldier. That’s what gets him into trouble as he tries to help his new home. The person wearing the Newcastle mantle sold off the entire town to a gang called the Forgotten Families. These thugs threaten to burn down Harris Valley and kill the old Newcastle. Jackson does what he does and he becomes the mantle of Newcastle. To win the prize money from the games and pay off his town’s debts, Newcastle joins Apex Legends.

What’s He Got (From Apex Legends: Season 13 Patch Notes)?

Now, these are the juicy bits of the entire article. The Season 13 Apex Legends patch notes indicate a lot of incoming changes. However, we’ll only be focusing on Newcastle only. In this section, we’ll understand Newcastle’s kit and all of his three abilities. Newcastle is the game’s third support legend and it was something that was a long time coming. Disguising himself as a defensive legend, Newcastle can make plays that are highly offensive in nature.

First and foremost, Newcastle’s passive. It’s called Retrieve the Wounded and it drags Newcastle’s downed allies with him. Meanwhile, they’re also protected while they’re being revived with the Revive Shield. This means that it’s not just a single passive ability either. Newcastle has two passives and the first one allows him to drag and protect a teammate. The second one is reviving the teammate which is something that only Lifeline could do earlier. This means that Newcastle is a blend of Gibraltar and Lifeline as this passive takes a little bit from both of them.

The second ability that we’re going to talk about is his passive. It’s the soon-to-be-OP Mobile Shield and it involves a controllable drone that creates a mobile energy shield that Newcastle controls. This mobile shield will be far more useful than Gibby’s stationary shield. If the player wants to push into the enemy team or cross open ground without taking much damage, this tactical is the one to use. Not implementing this ability properly can even break and overpower it. In such a case, we might see plays that were only possible when Seer was initially released. Respawn has been alleged of making new legends overpowered many times and it’s easy to see why.

Finally, it’s time to see what makes Newcastle an Apex Legend – his ultimate. The ultimate’s called Castle Wall which makes Newcastle leap into an area and slam his shield. It creates a fortification of sorts where players can take cover or make interesting plays. This ability is a better version of Rampart’s Amped-Walls with additional crowd control. The trade-off with Castle Wall will be in terms of recharge time but the ability can be OP if properly timed.

Adios Lifeline?

Many people are speculating that Lifeline is a dead legend the moment that Apex Legends patch notes introduce Newcastle. He’s all that Lifeline mains wanted Lifeline to be. Lifeline had a similar mobile revive shield in her prime back till season 8. After that, Lifeline got a major rework, and boy, it wasn’t great at all.

To be honest, these fears aren’t just baseless accusations or unjustified either. Newcastle gets something that Lifeline fans have been asking for a long time now. Even the Pathfinder and Mirage mains who want a rework of these extremely outdated legends are feeling invisible. With such a long backlog of legends due for reworks, it’s not the best idea to add even more legends. Maybe, Apex Legends Season 13 should’ve just been a quality of life update. R6 tried this tactic and they saved their game.

We’re not saying that Apex is dying or needs saving. However, why wait for the worse when you can fix it up now? And no, we don’t think Lifeline is going anywhere anytime soon. Sure, her pick rate might decline for a few weeks till Necastle’s hype doesn’t wear out. Respawn has learned how to make balanced legends – the majority of the time. So, it doesn’t seem like Newcastle will launch overpowered as Horizon or Seer did. Lifeline has her own role and Respawn wouldn’t just kill one support legend for another one.

Hi! I'm Arvyn, and I'm an English teacher from the UK. I've been teaching English online for over 4 years to students from all across the world and all ages. Outside of work, I'm a huge fan of reading, video games, and playing with my adorable kitties. See ya!