In the season 11 gameplay trailer, Respawn Entertainment revealed Storm Point, Apex Legends‘ newest map.
The island joins Kings Canyon, World’s Edge, and Olympus in the battle royale map pool, bringing the total number of the mode’s maps up to four. Dot Esports’ staff were able to go hands-on with Storm Point in a demo, and it’s already looking fantastic.
While Storm Point wasn’t designed with any one legend in mind, there are characters that are likely to perform better on the map than others thanks to their abilities. One of Storm Point’s biggest features is verticality: there are a lot of tall structures and opportunities for long vantage points. Somewhat ironically, another of the map’s biggest features is tight, enclosed spaces that foster tough close-combat fights.
What legends should you pick if you want to excel on Storm Point? Here are the best options.
Horizon
When anyone mentions verticality in Apex, Horizon inevitably comes up. Previously an overly powerful force to be reckoned with, a series of nerfs to Horizon brought her back in line with the rest of the cast. Even when taking her nerfs into consideration, Storm Point’s high ledges and tall buildings—as well as Horizon’s role in this season’s lore—make it seem as though the Gravitational Manipulator could see another rise in power.
Horizon’s strength on Storm Point comes from her tactical ability, Gravity Lift. On a fairly short cooldown, she can lift herself and her teammates high in the air, allowing them to get to one of the map’s many vantage points or pieces of high ground. Though the map has plenty of stairs and ziplines to assist less-mobile legends, Gravity Lift is far more convenient than those.
This could potentially give her team an advantage in a fight. They can see opposing teams arriving, then get the jump on them with Black Hole and other offensive skills. If Horizon needs to make a quick exit during a fight, her Spacewalk passive allows her to move faster after big jumps.
Valkyrie
In terms of verticality, Valkyrie is the other obvious choice for Storm Point. Like Horizon’s Gravity Lift, Valkyrie can use her VTOL Jets passive to lift herself to almost any vertical location on the map. This is especially important in the more mountainous upper regions of Storm Point, where high ground is imperative. Flying freely among these areas of high ground also gives her the ability to use her tactical, Missile Swarm, to deny opposing teams access to those very same areas.
Her ultimate, Skyward Dive, can help get her teammates out of a bad situation. Thanks to the open-air nature of Storm Point and multitude of high points on the map, she can easily reposition her team to a more advantageous spot. Being able to see where enemies are within a small radius is also helpful on a map that’s 15 percent bigger than World’s Edge. If Valkyrie lands correctly, the brush and trees on the ground can help conceal her team’s landing location from nearby teams, allowing them to get away more easily.
Ash
The Apex Games’ newest legend works well on Storm Point for the same reason Horizon and Valkyrie do: maneuverability. Her ultimate, Phase Breach, allows her and her teammates to move quickly through the void to a nearby location. Unlike Wraith’s portal, Phase Breach can be used to move up and off the ground, allowing Ash to safely move to high ground to gain a quick advantage in a fight.
Even her passive, Marked For Death, has utility on Storm Point. The map is huge, coming in at 15 percent larger than World’s Edge, the previous largest map. Marked For Death allows Ash to see the location of recent death boxes. Upon scanning death boxes, she can briefly see where the responsible squad is on the map. In an area as big as Storm Point, being able to pinpoint your enemy’s location grants a considerable advantage. Thanks to her abilities, Ash is sure to be a popular character on the new map.
Revenant
Revenant might just be the sleeper pick for Storm Point. While he doesn’t have obvious flight abilities like some of the other legends on this list, he can just as easily climb up the walls of tall POIs like Barometer to get to high ground and take up a position with his Stalker passive. His faster crouch movement speed also enables him to hide in the map’s many bushes and areas of brush, which can give him the jump on enemies.
This same brush is a huge boon to Death Totem, his ultimate. Generally, Revenant players will hide the totem behind walls or in buildings to stop it from being destroyed by another team. On Storm Point, Revenant can simply place his totem in an area of brush or underneath trees, then use his movement to climb up tall areas and fight other teams. If he’s transported back to the totem, he already has a head start on running, healing, or repositioning away from the opposing team.
Caustic
While the other legends on this list are better suited to Storm Point’s high places, Caustic functions much better in its concealed areas. Storm Point’s POIs are full of constrained, almost claustrophobic rooms that facilitate close-quarters combat. These rooms are sometimes high off the ground, making them less accessible to legends who aren’t as mobile as others. It’s in these spaces that Caustic excels.
While he might not be able to get up to these high rooms easily, once he does, he can entrench himself and his team in an area with his Nox Gas Traps. If an enemy breaks in, he can easily throw a Nox Gas Grenade and make it impossible for the other team to fight or run in these tight areas. Teams who are looking to find a spot to hold and defend on Storm Point might consider adding a Caustic to their lineup to increase their chances of success.
As Respawn said, no one character is the “best” for Storm Point, nor was the map designed for any one character or group of characters. That doesn’t mean that it’s not a great way to try out some new legends who might be better suited to the map’s diverse landscape.
