The long-awaited release of a duos mode dropped in Apex Legends this week, and competitive players are already trying to figure out the best character combos to crown themselves Champions of the Arena.
With the release of Crypto at the launch of Apex’s Season 3, Respawn’s battle royale title had its character pool bumped up to eleven. That means there are a whopping 55 different two-legend combinations players can currently take onto World’s Edge.
That’s a lot of different combinations to work your way through, and trial and error is always going to be a little bit tough too — what if you are testing Bloodhound and Lifeline together, and you get knocked in the very first loot-rush?
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Fortunately, we’ve put together what we consider four of the best combinations that you can currently take into the arena, with the legend’s abilities complementing each other just enough to make sure you’ll have the edge against other pairs.
Bangalore & Bloodhound — The Original Duo
Apex Legends has seen plenty of metas come and go since Season 1, but one legends combo has stuck strong through thick and thin: the original pairing of the smoke-wielding, trigger-happy Bangalore, and the game’s deadly tracker Bloodhound.
As well as the pace that Bangalore’s passive gives her to hunt down the enemies that Bloodhound has sniffed out, the duo shine in tight fights where they can drop a smoke grenade, before using Bloodhound’s sensor ability to find their blinded targets.
Unfortunately for Bangalore, her ultimate has been dubbed relatively weak in recent times, and is often out-shined by other barrages like Gibraltar’s, but if you use it as a zoning technique to close the gap before popping a smoke, that’s a job well done.
For Bloodhound, it’s clean up duty. Once the Professional Solider has closed the distance with her bag of tricks, the Technological Tracker comes to play, cracking open enemies in the smoke with their Eye of the Allfather, and their Beast of the Hunt ultimate.
Crypto & Wattson — Control the Map
With so many pacey duos running around, the two-player playlist is a chance for area control to really shine. Crypto and Wattson pull this off perfectly, complimenting each other with zone management abilities, as well as great information gathering special moves.
By using Crypto’s Surveillance Drone, you can figure out exactly where enemies are hiding, and employ that information by guiding them intro traps and dead-ends with Wattson’s powerful Perimeter Security fence.
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Once guided exactly where you want them to go, you can detonate Crypto’s EMP in his drone, drop down one of Wattson’s Interception Pylon’s to charge up her ability and stop the enemy from spamming ultimates and grenades to escape, and get to work cutting them down.
While Crypto and Wattson have the best information gathering in the game, and have strong area control with their abilities, Caustic is also an option to pair with Wattson due to his powerful poisonous traps, though you lose Crypto’s map-covering drone.
Pathfinder & Wraith — Don’t Stop Moving
Running, gunning, and generally never slowing down — that’s the gameplan for Pathfinder and Wraith as they speed across World’s Edge for a duos victory.
There are certainly better synergies ability-wise in the game, with most of Wraith and Pathfinder’s special moves quite self-centered, but there are a few ways the pair can shine in spite of this. With Pathfinder’s passive, you can find out exactly where the circle will be moving, and set up well before other duos make their way to the area.
With zip lines and teleporters-aplenty, you can also cover on the high ground whenever you want, grabbing a sniper rifle or ranged machine gun before stepping out onto a tall building, well out of reach of the enemies below, and pick off a few kills before hightailing it.
- Read more: How to play Duos mode in Apex Legends
Luckily for the pair too, you don’t have to work perfectly as a team if you want to succeed. While some duos rely on each other to make their power work, both Pathfinders and Wraiths can hit the ‘bail-button’ whenever they want, just in case things fall apart.
While Pathfinder and Wraith are the two most popular hyper-mobile legends, Stim-guzzling Octane would certainly fit the go-go-go nature of this duo pairing, so it really comes down to personal preference for these three choices.
Lifeline & Gibraltar — Defense is the Best Offense
Defensive playstyles, or ‘turtling,’ has always been a strong way to win battle royales, even if it’s a little frowned upon by players who are speeding around the map hunting kills, and there’s no better combo for that then Lifeline and Gibraltar.
Between Gibraltar’s Dome Shield passive 25 percent healing boost for legends inside its shields, Lifeline’s famous D.O.C. Heal Drone, and the built-in combat shield she boasts for reviving allies, the pair are always sure to be back on their feet in seconds.
While this slow, methodical playstyle might take a while and means you’ll often find yourself fighting as the final circle closes in, that’s where Gibraltar’s final piece of the puzzle shines.
With your shields and heals keeping you healthy, you should arrive at the final fight ready to go, while others may have dragged themselves right to the final few squads. This is where you drop Gibraltar’s Defensive Bombardment, and clean up for the win.
Of course, you don’t always need to take synergies into your duos games, especially if you’re a Mirage main – the double-trouble trickster doesn’t really have a way to prop up his teammates, making him a poor choice in the two-player playlists.
At the end of the day though, Apex Legends is a well-balanced game, and one that can you see you play nearly any character you want and still claim the crown. Just make sure you’re well versed in which duos do have synergies, because you’ll be seeing them a lot in World’s Edge.