Wattson has been relegated as a “trash” Legend for several Apex Legends seasons now. Her kit before her rework was considered the worst, second only to Rampart. Rampart had a rework in Season 10. Now, it is time for Wattson to be revised to be viable as a main for so many Apex Legends players.
Who is Wattson in Apex Legends
Natalie “Wattson” Paquette is a well-known Apex Games character, albeit different from others. She read his instructions to be close to her father, the Games’ senior electrical engineer and realized her destiny early.
Though she was entirely distracted one minute and hyper-focused the next, electricity anchored her — its organized, predictable flow made sense in a way that the rest of the world did not. She absorbed every book she could get her hands on on the subject, finally becoming such a good engineer she was commissioned to design Apex Games’ Modified Containment Ring.
Unfortunately, her father died on the day the news was made public, leaving her alone. At her lowest point, a group of competitors invited her back to the arena with them, promising her that she would always have a place to call home.
She now battles with her allies in the arena she helped create, destroying incoming missiles, replenishing shields, erecting walls, and using her pylon to mute raucous conflicts. Nobody understands the arena like Wattson, and anyone who underestimates her is in for a surprise.
Wattson’s kit is the direct opposite of Apex Legends’ core gameplay: mobility. While every Legend out there covers great distances or casts skills that affect an area, Wattson’s strength is being indoors. The less space to play, the better for her. Wattson is unequaled (maybe rivaled only by Caustic) when it comes to fortifying a position, owing to her Tactical, allowing her to create fences that punish opponents who step across them, and her Ultimate, which serves as a counter to grenade spam as well as a potent shield-restoring device for everyone within range.
Playing Wattson: The Basics
Here are the basics of playing Wattson effectively for Season 11:
- Indoors! Indooooooorrrrsss! – Wattson is perfect in Storm Point due to the number of buildings and structures. Rooms and enclosed places are Wattson’s best friends. Erect the fences inside buildings as putting them outside is not effective.
- Put them in their rightful place. You will be rewarded for placing your nodes and pylons carefully. Because both nodes and pylons may be destroyed if the adversary gets a clear shot, you must learn to see your surroundings in terms of excellent and bad placement options. This is much simpler to accomplish indoors, but keep it in mind while you’re out in the open; try to find cover for whatever you put down.
- Team works. Wattson is not a Legend who excels on her alone. She has no escapes, little mobility, and, despite her turtle-centric talents, she may be quickly overrun by a large squad.Work closely with your coworkers and attempt to be flexible in what they want to do. If they want to press, do not back down just because “you are a protective character.”
- Stock up and accelerate. Wattson fully charges her ultimate whilst using an Ultimate Accelerant. Stocking up with Ultimate Accellerants allows you to have 100% uptime with her ultimate. Unless your team composition includes Legends that need their Ultimates all the time, a Wattson player should have the priority with this loot.
- Beef up. Season 11 increased Wattson’s hit box. With her terrible mobility, it is wise to also have the priority of the armors. If there is a Wraith or an Octane, they should get the priority, but if not, Wattson should have it.
How to Use Wattson’s Skills in Apex Legends
How to use Wattson’s Passive Spark Of Genius
In-game Description:
Ultimate Accelerants fully charge Wattson’s Ultimate, and she can carry more Ultimate Accelerants. Wattson slowly restores her shields over time.
Wattson’s Passive ability is similar to Caustic’s in that it just supplements the character’s other abilities. In Wattson’s instance, it allows you to charge your Ultimate totally with a single Ultimate Accelerant. The fact you may stack two Accelerants in the same inventory slot makes it worthwhile for her to take them compared to other Legends.
Wattson will also passively replenish one shield every two seconds. Think of Octane, but instead of health points, it is the shield with a caveat that it only replenishes if she has not been harmed in the previous six seconds. It may not appear to be much, but it means you can store Shield Cells and Shield Batteries until you truly need them (i.e., during fights).
Below are some tips on how to take advantage of this Passive skill:
- Do not rely just on your Passive shield recharge as it is painfully slow. Use a Shield Battery if you do not feel completely safe. In Storm Point, there can be significant downtime of fights if you manage to traverse in conflict-free areas after a fight. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended to keep your shields up.
- Ultimate Accelerants are far more important to Wattson than to anybody else, so feel free to gather and stockpile them, especially early on. An early Interception Pylon can help reverse the tide of a difficult battle.
- There are exceptions to Wattson’s top priority with the Accellerants. Some instances may need that other squadmates must have it, like if you are reaching hard to reach places because of the shrinking circle. This makes Wattson a valuable Ultimate Accelerant mule.
How to use Wattson’s Tactical Perimeter Security
In-game Description:
Create electrified fences by connecting nodes: fences damage and slow enemies.
Wattson’s very unique skill is Perimeter Security. Wattson can erect up to 12 nodes on the map at once, and the oldest will disappear if you install more, similar to Caustic’s Nox Gas Traps. When you complete a chain of nodes, they will transform into fully electrified fences that will delay and damage enemy squads traveling through them – much more so following the Season 11 adjustments – but will not affect you or your friends if you step through them.
Below are some tips on how to take advantage of this Tactical skill:
- Fences are highly visible from a distance, hence they should not be employed as a surprise trap like Caustic’s Nox Gas Traps. Instead, utilize Wattson’s Tactical to zone regions, prevent chokepoints, and protect your flanks. This is another reason why you shouldn’t install these fences outdoors as it will signal opponents of your location.
- Any opponent that passes over the node will be stunned/slowed for 3 seconds and will take 20 damage.
Because most opponents will not want to push through the barriers, they become an effective zoning weapon. - Each fence post, or node, has 25 Health and may be destroyed, so attempt to arrange them in out-of-the-way places where they will not be readily shot.
How to use Wattson’s Ultimate Interception Pylon
In-game Description:
Place an electrified pylon that destroys incoming ordnance and repairs damaged shields. Standing near a Pylon boosts Wattson’s tactical recharge rate.
The Interception Pylon was designed to eliminate the threat that frequently surfaces when there is a fight. It is a Lifeline Drone, but instead of health, the shields get replenished over time. Before they land, it also destroys any grenade, Arc Star, or ordnance from Gibraltar’s or Bangalore’s ults. Furthermore, standing near a Pylon increases Wattson’s Tactical recharge rate, allowing you to utilize and replace fences more quickly. This combination provides Wattson a lot of strength in protecting a site, especially hallways, rooms, and other enclosed places.
Below are some tips on how to take advantage of this Ultimate skill:
- The Pylon will intercept both your team’s and adversaries’ grenades and projectiles, so do not squander your grenades or abilities when near a Pylon.
- Wattson’s Interception Pylon recharges 5 shields every second, evenly distributed among friends and opponents in range.
- Because the Pylon may be rapidly destroyed by shooting it, you should keep it out of plain lines of sight.
Wattson versus Other Legends
Wattson is exceptionally effective against those who have Ultimates that utilize canisters and grenades like Bangalore, Gibraltar, Caustic, and Fuse. She negates their strengths when Wattson successfully plants her Interception Pylon. Hence, the constant need for Accelerants is again emphasized.
As to teammates, Wattson greatly benefits from allies that provide mobility in low cooldowns for the squad like Horizon, Pathfinder, and Octane. Having another slow Legend like Rampart, Caustic, and Gibraltar will have an adverse effect. If someone else already picked a slow Legend, do not pick Wattson anymore since she will be much slower.
