Octane was the first new legend added to Apex Legends and remains one of the most fun to play to this day. However, it is also very easy to lose with it. One of the common sights in the arena is a reckless Octane player, jumping to death and dooming the rest of his team. Octane is considered a liability in terms of ranking, and absolutely unnecessary at a competitive level.
That said, like any other legend who was once considered unnecessary, Octane has the ability to dominate fights and win matches. Let's go over the most important things you need to know about playing Octane in Apex Legends Season 5.
Kit d'Octane
Passive:
Rapid Repair: Octane automatically regenerates health at a rate of 1 HP every 2 seconds. Swift Mend intervenes after 6 seconds without taking damage.
Tactical:
Stim: Octane takes 10 HP of damage and instantly cleans up any slowing effects he takes, and increases his overall movement speed by 30% and his run speed by 40%, for the next 6 seconds. While boosted, other slowing effects applied to it are less effective.
Latest:
Launch Pad: Deploy a Jump Pad that any player can use; 60 second cooldown. After bouncing off a Jump Pad, players can jump a second time in any direction. Octane can have a maximum of 4 Jump Pads deployed at any one time and they can be destroyed. The Jump Pad has 200 HP and takes increased damage from Nox Gas (including that from a friend Caustic!). Note that map-generated Jump Pads, like those in Octane's Gauntlet, work identically to those deployed by players.
Use your brain
Succeeding with Octane in Apex Legends in Season 5 is always about dealing with your extremely aggressive kit and the trends it promotes. The trap for Octane players at all levels is how flammable his kit is. You can in principle always Stim, and almost always drop a Jump Pad. New players take this as a sign of getting damaged multiple times in a row, then launch into enemy fire. It is far from ideal.
Stim would really work a lot better if it didn't cost health and had a longer cooldown to compensate - this is how other movement abilities in Apex Legends work. Respawn's intention with Octane was different, however, and they wanted it to be a risk / reward ability, instead of an ability that works well.
This brings us to my first and biggest tip - use your tactics sparingly. Using Stim creates inconvenience for you beyond minor health damage. When stimulated, you are more prone to stretching too much or positioning yourself incorrectly. The wide flanks are cool, but if things go south, your party mates won't be able to join you in time, and your only option to get back there will be back to Stim, taking more damage.
Stim can be used very effectively in battle… once you've had hundreds of games with Octane and understood its limitations. Limits that he does not understand himself, in terms of traditions. Until you get there, treat Stim as a final bar.
The Jump Pad is also very spammable, but this time it's a good thing. As well as quickly covering a lot of ground, Octane can be used to help his entire squad reposition themselves, or reach high ground, or even to block a door or help a squad mate escape. The Jump Pad can even do something Pathfinder's zipline can't: refuse a high ground position. Just jump, then turn around and pull the Jump Pad into pieces or have Caustic on your team drop a Nox can on it. The only thing the Jump Pad is nearly useless, just like an escape tool - this is where Stim comes in.
Ultimately, Octane has all the tools to be a top tier Apex Legends contender - it all comes down to not constantly using those tools, or at least not in a self-destructive way. By exercising some self-control, you can harness Octane's strengths and make some amazing plays, and maybe win a match or two. Good luck and break a leg!
