This article concerns the subject and the content related to it in the main game. For the background of the subject in Apex Legends universe, see Wattson (Character).
“
After the funeral, I stood in our kitchen, and it was so... quiet. I had dreamt of quiet like that, but now that I had it, I was terrified. And alone. I sat on the floor, and I know how silly this sounds, but I hid under the table. That was where they found me. Anita. Makoa. Ajay. Even Dr. Caustic and he hates everybody. They’d just as soon stab each other in the back. Or the front. But they put that all aside. To support me. The electrician’s kid. I thought I knew what family was. But my equations were incomplete. My family is here. At the Games. And now it’s my turn to support them. With every last charge in me.[1]
Wattson is a Legend introduced in Season 2 that is locked from the base game. She can be unlocked by using digital currency; either 12,000 or 750, or by buying the Champion Edition.
Wattson is an electricity-based DefensiveLegend. Her tactical ability Perimeter Security places fence poles with connecting beams of electricity that damage and stun enemies that pass through the beams. Her passive ability Spark of Genius causes her shields to slowly regenerate over time and causes an Ultimate Accelerant to fully recharge her ultimate ability. Her ultimate ability Interception Pylon destroys all grenades, missiles, and other throwables when they get near, and will also recharge all players' shields within a certain radius.
You gain one charge every 15 seconds, and can pick up unused nodes to regain a charge.
Up to 12 nodes can be active on the map at once
Deploying a new node at the max amount will destroy the oldest node.
Nodes must be within 30 meters to be able to create a fence between them. A node can be connected with up to 2 other nodes at the same time.
Fences damage and slow enemies passing through them, and pings the breached fence's location on the screen and map. The damage is 20 for each tick and the slow lasts roughly 3 seconds.
Fences will temporarily disengage when Wattson or her squadmates pass through them.
Each node has 25 health.
Doors that get in the way of a fence will shatter.
Wattson can connect her nodes to nodes placed by enemy Wattsons. The fence in between will belong to the Wattson who linked them.
Tridents passing through fences will be disabled for 5 seconds.
The fences are NOT traps. Like the name implies, the fences are to guard your flanks and alert you to enemies, slow them down or force them to a choke point your squad is guarding.
Most of the time, your goal is not to get enemies to run into your fences. It's to scare them into avoiding a particular route.
Fences are only effective defenses if you or a squadmate is present to punish enemies that walk through them. An unattended fence is barely a threat.
Hide the nodes behind cover and close to your Interception Pylon so enemies must approach to destroy the fences.
The best spots to place fence nodes are spots where an approaching enemy can't easily shoot them without leaving themselves wide open. This includes:
Placing wide fences across narrow doorways.
Placing fences at the top of a ledge an enemy might climb.
Placing nodes behind railings, planter boxes, or other existing cover on the map.
Placing fences at the end of a zipline, especially a vertical one.
If a fence spot is really effective, use a third node to turn it into a triangle. This way, enemies will be hit multiple times if they go through it. This is especially effective at the top of vertical ziplines.
Don't just use fences on the inside of buildings to keep enemies out; also use them on the outside of buildings to keep enemies in.
Stand in the way of fences to disengage them and trick enemies into thinking it's safe to rush you down.
Be careful using fences near destructible doors. If the doors open into the fence, they'll break, and you won't be able to use them for cover anymore.
When defending an area with a larger, indestructible door, place fences through the door so they'll deactivate when the door is closed. If an enemy opens that door, the fences will reactivate, and could catch them off guard.
The fences don't require solid ground between nodes, so you can place them over gaps like stairways or vertical ziplines.
Remember that you can 'select' an unconnected node to make the next node you place connect to it. Use this to quickly place a fence without having to cross dangerous areas to place both ends.
Place fences in front of hallways like ones in the Pit, Bunker, etc so if an enemy squad is escaping the Ring, they will likely panic and run through them, slowing them and may result in a kill because of fatal damage involving the Ring. Extremely effective in later rounds.
Don't place your nodes in a hallway unless you are forced to, as they can be easily shot by enemies.
When working with a Wraith, place fences through her Dimensional Rift to instantly electrocute enemies that chase you through it.
On very rare occasions, enemy Wattson fences can be invisible to certain players.
On very rare occasions, placing too many fences in a certain area can cause the game to crash.
Spark of Genius[]
Passive
Spark of Genius
Description
Ultimate Accelerants fully charge Wattson's ultimate and she can carry more Ultimate Accelerants. Wattson slowly restores her shields over time.
If you find an Ultimate Accelerant at the start of the match, use it as it'll give Wattson much more potential.
It's best to carry at least one stack of Ultimate Accelerants in your Inventory at all times.
Try saving an Ultimate Accelerant for the last few rounds (especially on Rounds 5 or higher) as her abilities increase in utility as the play area shrinks.
This ability can allow you to save up on shield cells and shield batteries.
Just like Octane's Swift Mend, this ability will take a very long time to fully recharge your shields, so it should only be counted on when you only have a few shields to heal.
Place an electrified pylon that destroys incoming ordnance and repairs damaged shields. Standing near Pylons boosts Wattson's tactical recharge rate. (Max: 1)
The Pylon recharges 250 shields, seen as a countdown around the base or by hovering over the placed Pylon's ping.
The Pylon has 150 health.
The Pylon is neutral and therefore can recharge enemy shields and shoot down your squad's ordnance. The shield recharge effect doesn't stack if there are other Pylons nearby.
The Pylon won't protect you from any ordnance or airstrike if it hasn't got clear sight or if the ordnance has already landed.
The Pylon can be destroyed by shooting it. It can also block doors and is climbable.
Perimeter Security charges have 3-second cooldowns instead of 15 when near an Interception Pylon, made by either you or another Wattson.
The Pylon can only target things "above" it. Thus, if placed under a ceiling (eg. beneath the pipes of Hydro Dam) despite having the sides opened, Bangalore's missiles can still land to the pylon's side.
The Pylon can be damaged by an enemy Caustic’s Nox Gas Trap.
Hide the Pylon into a place where it cannot be shot like building corners.
While fighting and behind cover and you're in need to heal, you can place a Pylon nearby and while using a consumable, you'll be regenerating shield health at the same time. This can also be done if you need to recover some shield health while reviving a teammate at the same time.
Try saving a Pylon for the last few rounds (especially on Rounds 5 or higher) as her abilities increase in utility as the play area shrinks.
Try to always have at least one available, so the second you hear an airstrike, you can place it on your position and it will intercept every explosive, and you can stay right where you are.
Don't be afraid to use this ability. Anytime you and your squad are holding down any type of cover, any ordnance an enemy squad throws to force you out of cover will ineffective. Be careful, however, as any ordnance you or your squad throws will be intercepted if close enough to the pylon.
Natalie “Wattson” Paquette is a familiar face in the Apex Games, though for a different reason than most. Daughter of the Games’ lead electrical engineer, she studied his manuals to stay close to him, and discovered her calling at a young age. Though she could be completely distracted one moment and hyper-focused the next, electricity grounded her – its ordered, predictable flow made sense in a way the rest of the world didn’t.
She devoured every book she could on the subject, and eventually became such a skilled engineer that she was commissioned to build the Apex Games’ Modified Containment Ring. Unfortunately, her father died the day it was revealed, leaving her alone. At her lowest moment, a group of competitors invited her to return to the arena with them, assuring her she would always have a home. She now fights alongside her friends in the arena she helped build, destroying incoming missiles, recharging shields, creating fences, and using her pylon to silence fights that get too loud. Nobody knows the arena better than Wattson – anyone who underestimates her is in for a shock.
Cosmetic Items[]
Skins[]
There are a total of 67 Legend skins for Wattson: 19 Legendary, 10 Epic, 22 Rare and 16 Common.
Reduced the number of active Pylons Wattson can place from 3 to 1.
The Pylon now lasts forever (instead of timing out after 90 seconds).
The Pylon now has a pool of 250 Shields that can be distributed to nearby players, instead of effectively infinite Shields.
Increased the Pylon shield recharge rate by 150%, and smoothed regen rate. (2/second -> 5/second, or more accurately: 1/0.5 seconds -> 1/0.2 seconds)
When a Pylon is out of Shields, it no longer recharges players' Shields, but can still zap incoming ordnance.
Taking damage while regenerating Shields via the Pylon delays continued regeneration by 1 second.
The UI on the ground and HUD elements now displays the amount of Shields that remain in the Pylon.
Pinging a friendly Pylon will now display the percentage of Shields remaining in the Pylon.
Pylon ordnance-zapping has been moderately reworked.
Ordnance is now zapped when the Pylon detects that it would hit any surface within range and line of sight of the Pylon, instead of being zapped as soon as it comes within range.
As a part of the changes, current issues where the Pylon doesn't reliably zap ordnance (particularly concerning airstrike abilities, and ordnance that bounced off surfaces near the Pylon) should now be addressed.
Interception Pylon: The Pylon is now significantly more aggressive in the way it shoots down grenades. Rather than just identifying between incoming and outgoing projectiles, it now predicts the trajectory of grenades thrown within the interception zone and intercepts them if they will land anywhere within that zone. This means that no grenade can contact any surface within the interception zone regardless of the team, but players can fire grenades outwards from anywhere within the zone.
Wattson is one of three Legends to have a unique animation for reviving a squadmate, the others being Gibraltar and Newcastle. She uses her equipment like a defibrillator.
In early concept art, Wattson had a cybernetic arm. That idea got scrapped but it occasionally returns in non-canon skins. The real Wattson has both her arms.[3]
Wattson and Wraith are same height (5' 4") and they are the shortest Legends in the game.[2]
Though people say the Meltdown Launch Trailer portrays Wattson as taller than Wraith (timestamp 1:47) , this is just a matter of perspective and posture. A much more accurate height comparison between Wattson and Wraith can be seen at timestamp 0:51.
Wattson was unlockable for free between February 15-22, 2022, in celebration of the 3rd Anniversary.