The best characters to use with Newcastle in Apex Legends

With his array of shields and ability to move around, Newcastle can sometimes feel like a one-army in Apex Legends. Like any other character, however, he won’t get very far in most games without a team around him to help him out. 

With his large character model and his shields being susceptible to damage coming from above him and his team, Newcastle needs other characters’ abilities to perfect his defenses. Similarly, there are other characters in the cast that can drastically benefit from a Newcastle alongside them.

Here are some of the best legends to pair with Newcastle in Apex.

Best characters to use with Newcastle in Apex

Wattson

The most obvious character that can help turn Newcastle’s defenses into an impenetrable fortress is Wattson. While the newest defender in Apex comes with a kit full of protective abilities, all of his shields lack protection in one crucial direction: above. Where Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection creates a shield that can protect his squad from ordinance raining from the heavens, Newcastle’s doesn’t and as such is susceptible to ultimates from enemy Gibraltars, Bangalores, and even Caustics.

Wattson’s Interception Pylon changes that, deleting all of the aforementioned ultimates before they can damage Newcastle and his squad. It will also come with all the standard benefits of Wattson’s ultimate, dispatching enemy grenades and other ordinance while passively healing her squad’s shields. Worried about Newcastle’s ultimate not extending far enough, or covering a team’s backside from someone sneaking up behind? Extend your security with some Wattson fences. Newcastle isn’t a complete defender all by himself, but with Wattson, a team can protect themselves from almost everything.

Gibraltar

A different option for buffing Newcastle’s defenses is by simply adding an extra shield character. Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection can protect Newcastle from the ordinance-based abilities that his walls are weaker against. Newcastle can help Gibraltar, too. While Gibraltar’s tactical ability is deleted by Crypto’s EMP, Newcastle’s ultimate remains in place, and only its electrified stunning property is shut down. 

The pair of Gibraltar and Newcastle is also incredibly powerful in fights. Since both characters receive the Fortified perk to reduce incoming damage, they’re a difficult duo to defeat in a straight-up gun battle. Add to that Gibraltar’s gun shield and the array of other defensive options the pair brings to the table and their sheer ability to stay alive longer than most legends while under fire can give a team enough of a health advantage to win any fight.

Valkyrie

Valkyrie pairs well with almost every character in the game right now. Her Skyward Dive ultimate allows for fast rotations that are impossible for every other character. So instead, let’s talk about how Newcastle helps Valkyrie out.

One of Valkyrie’s biggest problems is how vulnerable she is while her ultimate is in its charging stage. She hovers above the ground in the open, and if she takes any damage whatsoever while in this stage, her ultimate gets canceled and reset back to 75 percent. This can spell death for teams on the edge of later zones. And if you do manage to get her ultimate off cleanly, it’s now easier than ever for a Valk team to take damage while rocketing up into the sky, since she was nerfed in season 13 to prevent her from freely spinning while in this stage of her ultimate. This makes landing a riskier proposition since teams have to deal with their landing animations, and also the fact that their flight path is easily noticeable to any other teams that might be in the area. All of these reasons made Gibraltar a great pick to run with Valkyrie since his dome shield can give an ulting Valk the cover she needs while taking off or landing. But how does a team choose between using the shield when they’re taking off or saving it in case they need it when they land?

With Newcastle, you don’t have to choose. He can throw out his Mobile Shield to block incoming damage when Valk’s ultimate is charging, preventing enemies from canceling the ult. And he can save his ultimate for when he and his team land, creating fast cover if his team needs to heal up or avoid enemy bullets in the open. Having multiple shields to work with means he can protect his Valkyrie both before and after the ultimate when her and her team are most vulnerable.

Rampart

Want to turn Newcastle’s Castle Wall into one of the most dangerous bunkers imaginable? Try pairing him with Rampart.

While the Castle Wall and Rampart’s Amped Cover seem to serve similar purposes, the two abilities can be paired to create deadly windows of fire in the gaps of the Castle Wall. Newcastle’s ultimate has two gaps where the wall is much lower, providing spaces for teammates to fire through. These gaps can provide cover for Rampart’s Amped Cover in its animation stage, while the wall is still being built, and helps prevent enemies from more easily destroying the cover in this phase.

Once the Amped Cover is fully built, watch out: the top portion of the Amped Cover will peek out above the gaps in the Castle Wall, providing even more shields for the squad while also amping the team’s gun damage at the same time. For maximum damage, throw a Sheila into the mix and start filling the air with lead. The combination of the two defensive legends can create one mean offense, in the right situation.