Catalyst

Catalyst
	Defensive Conjurer
	Details
Real Name	Tressa Crystal Smith
Gender	Female
Age	30
Homeworld	Boreas
	Gameplay
Class	Controller
Tactical Ability	Piercing Spikes
Passive Ability	Barricade
Ultimate Ability	Dark Veil
	Real-world Info
Voice Actor	Meli Grant

“	Adolescents can be so headstrong. Was it too much or not enough? And even though sometimes it felt like all the forces of the universe were working against us... we had each other. I would do anything for my coven. I still would.

Catalyst is a Controller Legend. She was introduced in Season 15 and is locked from the base game. She can be unlocked using digital currency: either 12,000 or 750.

Abilities

Piercing Spikes

	Piercing Spikes
	Tactical	`Q`///
	Description	Throw out a patch of ferrofluid which turns in to spikes when enemies are near. Catalyst remains immune to enemy spikes.
	Cooldown	25 seconds

Has 2 charges. Can create a maximum of 2 patches. Catalyst can pick up their patch to regain a charge, so long as the patch hasn't been activated.
Holding Tactical button delays the launch. Melee cancels the launch.
- Has a throw distance of ~15 meters when launched horizontally (trajectory can be increased by aiming higher, increase distance to ~40m if target area are at same level as catalyst)
- Can be thrown simultaneously with other actions (firing, reloading, healing, etc.) without interrupting them.
Creates a 2m x 11m patch perpendicular to the point of view.
- Spikes will start moving when enemy player in line-of-sight to the center gets within 10m from the center. It will be considered activated at that stage.
- When an enemy walks over activated spikes, it slows them and deals 15 damage every second. Unactivated spikes will slow enemies, but do not deal damage.
- In the middle of the patch is a glowing orb with 300 HP that appears when enemies get close. Destroying this dissipates the patch. The orb also takes double damage from all sources.
- Patches last until destroyed, either by the Catalyst who created them with the Utility Action button, or enemies by shooting the orb in the middle of the patch.
Patch can travel under closed doors
Catalyst can pick up her spikes and get a charge refund, as long as no enemy player got inside the detection range of the spikes.
Can be destroyed by punching the orb 1 time.
Catalyst is immune to all Piercing Spikes, regardless of who created it.

Can be shot down by Wattson's Interception Pylon.

Starts with only 1 charge; can still bank 2 charges.

When using it to trap a door, aim next to the hinge of the door, so that the core can be protected by the opened door and the wall.
The Piercing Spike also function as an proximity alarm. In tight quarter area, pay attention to your/teammate's spike reacting.
As Opponent: destroy the spike strip as soon as possible, as it will linger until Catalyst death - and it is easy to forget its existence due to tunnel vision. Get close to it, but do not step on it, and destroy it.

Barricade

	Barricade
	Passive	Hold `X`///
	Description	Reinforce doors, strengthening them and locking them to enemies. Spaces where doors have been destroyed can also be reinforced.
	Cooldown	?

Hold the "alternative action" button near doorways for 0.5s to reinforce either existing doorpanes, or build a ferro-barrier if doorpanes are gone
Can reinforce up to 2 doorways.
Reinforced doors takes 4 melee hits to destroy; ferro-barriers takes 2 melee hits to destroy
Doors can still be operated by Catalyst and her teammates.
The ferro-barrier can be broken by Catalyst and her teammates by pressing "interaction" key; Catalyst will need to rebuild the ferro-barrier if needed.
Abilities still damage doors/ferro-barriers as normal.

Grenades such as the Arc Star and Frag Grenade will instantly destroy the barricaded door. The Thermite Grenade will slowly damage the door.
Mad Maggie's Riot Drill and Fuse's Knuckle Cluster slowly damage the barricaded door until it is destroyed.
- Wattson's Perimeter Security fences instantly destroy barricaded doors.
Mad Maggie's Wrecking Ball, Horizon's Black Hole, Gibraltar's Defensive Bombardment, Bangalore's Rolling Thunder, Newcastle's Castle Wall impact, Rampart's Minigun, and Crypto's Drone EMP instantly destroy barricaded doors.

Dark Veil

	Dark Veil
	Ultimate	`Z`/+/+/+
	Description	Raise a permeable wall of ferrofluid. Enemies who walk through it will be slowed and partially blinded for a brief time.
	Charge time	2.5 minutes

Create a permeable wall of 40m in length and 8m in height in line of Catalyst's reticle.
Takes 1 second before the first veil section rises, and takes additonal 3 seconds maximum to build the complete veil.
The veil will keep travelling until one of the following:
- It reaches a wall that is greater than a climbable height
- Its height reaches 2x a climbable height.
The Dark Veil lasts 15 seconds.
Enemies that try to cross through the wall will be slowed by 15% and blinded for 7 seconds.
Does not block bullets, ordnance, or abilities.
Most scanning abilities will not apply scans to players on the other side of the wall.
Catalyst is immune to the blind effect and slow of the Dark Veil, regardless of who created it.

Scanning abilities will only be blocked if the scan itself tries to go through the wall. If an enemy is already scanned, moving behind the wall won't remove it.
- Bloodhound's Eye of the Allfather, Crypto's Neurolink, Seer's Focus of Attention and Heart Seeker, Valkyrie's VTOL Jets HUD, and Vantage's Spotter's Lens will not work through the wall.
Crypto's drone can fly through the wall without experiencing any debuffs.
In non-BR game modes, the wall will disappear when the Catalyst who created it dies.

It can be deployed horizontally to acts as cover or when holding a choke point.

The veil can currently be built on top of Gibaltar's

Dome of Protection, Mirage's decoy, Crypto's

Surveillance Drone, and Vantage's Echo. For the latter three, a section of the veil will be on top of them as they move around.

Legend Upgrades

Main article: Legend Upgrades

Legend Upgrades are special perks introduced in Season 20 to all Battle Royale modes. These add upgrades to a Legend's abilities as you level up your Evo Armor. Only one option may be chosen per level-up for a maximum of two perks total.

Level 2 Upgrades

Sister Spikes Increase max number of active Piercing Spikes to three
long cast Increase Spike throw distance by 40%. (Season 20) ||| Long Veil moved to Level 2 Upgrades and "long cast" integrated into base kit in Season 21

Level 3 Upgrades

resilient veil Increase Dark Veil length to 180 feet
long veil Increase Dark Veil duration to 20 seconds (Season 20) ||| NEW Upgrade : Ferro-Door - Fully build and reinforce missing doors with Passive

Lore

Main article: Catalyst (character)

“

Tressa Crystal Smith isn’t everyone’s cup of tea–an elegant, standoffish woman, she likes crystals more than she likes most people. She grew up on Boreas, a faltering planet with a deteriorating moon. Conformity and efficiency were necessities there, but that never suited Tressa. Instead, she was more at home with fellow misfits who spent their time on crystal readings, moon rituals and personal witchery–they made her turbulent teenage years (and simultaneous gender transition) easier and less lonely. But when her closest friend went to extreme lengths to save their moon from corporate encroachment, Tressa was caught in the middle. Ultimately, she ran away from home, finding solace in the one place her friend cared about most: their moon, Cleo.

There she joined the terraforming crews hired to repair and rejuvenate the celestial body. She learned to work with ferrofluid, and use it with a certain witchy flair. She grew attached to her new community and, when the heat on Boreas died down, brought some of her old friends back into the fold. She found a place to call her own–just in time for the Apex Games to arrive and sweep it out from under her new family. But Catalyst won’t disappear so easily. If the Games are going to get in her way, she’s going to turn them to her advantage, putting the prize money to use supporting her family. She sees a win in her future, and she’ll rise to the occasion.

Cosmetic items

Skins

There are a total of 48 Legend skins for Catalyst; 9 Legendary, 8 epic, 15 Rare and 16 Common.

Blood Moon
Celestial Protector
Legacy of the Ancients
Violet Sands
Suns Up
Technowitch
Stellar Swimmer
Crimson Goddess
Gorgon's Glare

Daemon Hunter
Fiber Optics
Hack the System
Heat Sync
User Friendly
Archon
Level 1
Natural Essence
November 2022
Rune Goddess Catalyst.png

Rune Goddess

Alpha Royal
Arachnophobia
Bloodline
Dire Wolf
Disruptor
Formal Finery
Labyrinth
Prowess
Racing Stripes
Snakeskin
Super Rad
Unholy Alliance
Volcanic
Wallflower
Wishbone

Original
Default
Amethyst
Arctic
Cardinal
Clearwater
Evergreen
Flamingo
Hydro
Limelight
Mandarin
Midnight
Orchid
Rage
Sahara
Skyward
Yellowjacket

Finishers

Badges

See: Catalyst/Badges

Emotes

Lunar Lounge - 1,200
Fit For a Queen - 400
To Your Health - Level 12
Go With a Smile - Default

Skydive Emotes

Banner Frames

Guru Meditation
1,200
Lunar Reading
1,200
Motion of Change
1,200
Project Firestart
1,200
Zen Garden
1,200

Crystal Cored
Level 32
Celestial Beatdown
Level 79
Ritual Ascension

Blood Infused
30
Celestial Doom
60
Dark Throne
60
Verdant Takeoff
60
World Breaker
60
Autumn Winds
November 2022

Rookie Card
Default
Celestial Canopy
30
Cosmic Starlight
30
Lunar Summit
30
Soul Syphon
30

Banner Poses

Child's Play
Empath
Not Today
Play It Cool
Transfixed

Aggressive Negotiation
Divination
I Arise
Misfortune Awaits
Mystic Crystals
Resistance
Star Gazing
Surprising Read
Tea Time

Regal
Default

Holosprays

Main article: Holosprays

For Hope
1,200
Death
400
Double Double Here's Some Trouble
400
It's The Witching Hour
400
Let's Work Some Magic
400
Seeing Stars
400
The Stars Didn't Align
400
We Are All Made of Stardust
400
Wining Takes An Iron Will
400
Everyone Deserves The Chance to Rise
400
Let's See What the Crystals Say
Level 35
Guardian Angel
Double Double Toil Trouble
Level 58

Music Packs

Main article: Music Pack

Catalyst
Level 50

Transitions

Main article: Transition

Voice lines

See: Catalyst/Voice lines

History

Patch notes

January 09, 2024 Patch

Piercing Spikes
- Now require line-of-sight to an enemy player to activate.
- Spikes that have not been activated will still slow players.

October 31, 2023 Patch

Piercing Spikes
- Core no longer blocks projectiles, allowing bullets to pass through
- Max in-world count reduced to 2 (was 3)
- Throw range decreased by about 50%
Dark Veil
- Cooldown now starts after the wall comes down
- Reduced lifetime to 25s (was 30s)

November 30, 2022 Patch

While in Phase, Wraith will now see doors sealed by Catalyst's passive.
While in Phase, Wraith will not be affected by Catalyst's ferrofluid.
Crypto's drone will no longer be able to open doors sealed by Catalyst's passive.

November 01, 2022 Patch

Introduced.

Development

Catalyst was created to be "inescapably" transgender, with the help of transgender employees at Respawn, a transgender representative at GLAAD, and the character's voice actor Meli Grant, who is transgender herself. Her neopaganism also comes about from research regarding the community.^[2]

Teasers

On October 13, 2022, the Apex Legends Twitter account posted an image that showed Catalyst's Tablet.^[3]
On October 17, 2022, "Last Hope" was released.
On October 20, 2022, the Season 15 Launch Trailer was released, which confirmed Catalyst being released for Season 15.

Datamined and Leaked Data

Catalyst was leaked as a Defensive Legend whose character subtitle was "Creative Builder" on March 22, 2022. Her concept art is a copyright-free placeholder titled "The Witch".^[4] A low-resolution holospray that might possibly be Catalyst was datamined after the release of Season 14. Her abilities revolve around ferrofluid, noticeable especially when using her Ultimate.

Leaked abilities

Passive - Reinforce

Standing near your ferro fluid structures, doors, and other Legends placeables will strengthen their integrity and allow them to take significantly more damage.

Tactical - Ferro Shot

On impact the shot creates a ramp of hardened ferro fluid that can be extended with more shots. Can also be used to create platforms on walls. (Max 3 structures)
- Structures can be instantly destroyed by a punch.

Ultimate - Iron Tower

Ferrofluid rises up from below, pushing you upwards while creating a tall solid column under you.
- The column can be instantly destroyed by a punch.

Among these, the finalized version retains her neopaganism, the use of ferrofluid, and her passive.

Trivia

Catalyst is transgender.^[5]

Gallery

Concept art for Catalyst.
Concept art for Catalyst's Blood Moon skin.^[6]
Catalyst's Moon tarot card, depicting Cleo
Catalyst's Sun tarot card, depicting Wattson and Crypto
Catalyst's Magician tarot card, depicting Seer
Catalyst's Twins tarot card, depicting Lifeline and Octane
Catalyst's High Priestess tarot card, depicting herself
Catalyst's Death tarot card, depicting Revenant
Catalyst's Devil tarot card, depicting the Apex Predators

References

[1] Meli Grant on Twitter

[2] ttps://www.gamesradar.com/apex-legends-catalyst-trans-representation-interview/

[3] ttps://twitter.com/PlayApex/status/1580645731139846145

[4] The Witch - Yang J on Artstation

[5] Stories from the Outlands - Last Hope

[6] Rachel Gagner on ArtStation

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