Caustic

Caustic

Toxic Trapper
Details
Real Name	Alexander Maxwell Nox
Alias	Dr. Mikhail Caustic
Gender	Male
Date of Birth	February 25, 2685
Age	50
Homeworld	Gaea
Gameplay
Class	Controller
Tactical Ability	Nox Gas Trap
Passive Ability	Nox Vision
Ultimate Ability	Nox Gas Grenade
Passive Perk	Fortified
Real-world Info
Voice Actor	JB Blanc
Added	Feb 04, 2019

“	Death stalks the ignorant; intelligence will guide us to survival.

Caustic is a Controller Legend who has been available since launch. He can use his Nox Gas Traps and Nox Gas Grenade to coat a wide area in toxic gas, slowing and blinding enemies while his Nox Vision gives him immunity.

Caustic can be unlocked using digital currency: either 12,000 Legend Tokens or 750 Apex Coins.

Abilities

Nox Gas Trap

	Tactical	Q/ //
	Nox Gas Trap
	Description	Place up to 6 canisters that release deadly Nox gas when shot or triggered by enemies.
	Cooldown	20 seconds

• You can hold up to three charges of this ability, and gain one charge every 20 seconds. Up to six traps can be active on the map at once, and you're able to pick up unactivated traps to regain a charge.
• When an enemy gets close to a trap, it releases a cloud of gas that deals damage per second to enemies caught within, ignoring shields.
  • A triggered trap lasts 11 seconds. After the barrel expires, the gas lingers for 2 additional seconds.
  • Each damage tick deals 4 damage to start, then ramps up by 1 every tick to a maximum of 10. (e.g. 4, 5, 6, 7, etc.)
    • Each additional source of gas damage will only increase the DPS by 1.
    • On downed enemies, this damage rate stays at a flat 4/sec.
  • Bullets striking the top of a trap will also cause it to go off. However, shooting the base will destroy it without releasing gas.
  • Enemies will be slowed inside the gas for 2 seconds after the first damage tick, and are unable to sprint. Squadmates aren't affected by this.
• After being activated, the barrels have 150 HP, and the gas will linger for 2 seconds after the barrel is destroyed.
• If a player is standing on top of an uninflated trap, it will not inflate until the player moves off of it.

• Gas traps are susceptible to friendly damage from both Caustic and his allies.
• Wattson's Interception Pylons can shoot down traps in mid-air if they would have landed inside the range of the pylon, but not traps that are already fully inflated on the ground.
• The gas can damage both Wattson's Pylons and Perimeter Security nodes.
• Mirage's decoys can trigger the traps to reveal Caustic's location to his squad.
• Lifeline's D.O.C. Heal Drone will malfunction while inside of the gas and will not be able to heal anyone.
• Crypto's Surveillance Drone can be damaged by the gas.
• Rampart's Amped barriers can be damaged by the gas.

• Think of the traps as a short range throwable, and throw it like a short range grenade when needed. In heat of battle, an extra distraction for the enemy can be an extra help for you; they have to either shoot you or the gas trap.
  • This is especially helpful when an enemy squad is inside a building. They can be thrown inside through doorways and be very deadly if they are in a small space.
• When outnumbered or in a sticky situation, throw multiple traps around you. The enemy's bullets will hit your traps, setting them off, and allowing you to escape or heal to stay in the fight.
• You can use your traps as smoke bombs, to throw some cover for sniper fire or general confusion.
• A squad that manages to get their Caustic to end game (such as Round 6 as it is almost done shrinking) will have the advantage over other squads that don't have a Caustic. Caustic's abilities increase in utility as the play area shrinks. Furthermore, Caustic can prevent scenarios of Heal Off Victories from happening as it's harder to heal in the gas and ring damage.
• It's good to throw a trap in a smokescreen generated by a Bangalore's Smoke Launcher, especially if enemies are hiding in it. This will also highlight enemies in green due to Nox Vision, and allow you an unfettered view of the enemies.
• When going through Wraith's Dimensional Rift portals, throw a trap at the end to catch enemies off guard trying to get your squad from behind and reveal their position due to your passive.
• Throwing a trap in front of a door prevents it from opening to that side. You can use this to block doors and protect yourself, or to trap enemies inside an enclosed room. If they break down the door, the trap will activate and you’ll be informed of their location.
• COUNTER:
  • When Caustic is throwing a trap, shooting the trap before it activates completely will destroy it.
  • If it's deployed, remember to shoot the base of the trap before it activates will destroy it without releasing the gas.
  • If it's activated, destroying the trap will aloow the gas to disspate in 2 seconds.

• If you throw the trap underneath you, there will still be a hitbox for the trap even though they do not inflate. This may be because traps used to be able to inflate on players, allowing them to sit inside it.
• Throwing the trap under Lifeline's Care Package before it lands will cause the trap to slowly fly away.
• Occasionally if you or a teammate touch a recently placed trap, It will begin to slide away.
• Placing a gas trap right next to a closed-door when the player is right next to the door or when a trap is deploying next to a closed-door that is propped open causes the player located where the trap was deployed to be crushed.
• Gas traps which are deployed on top of Gilbratar's Dome of Protection will stay "floating" at their positions after the shield is gone.
• Throwing a trap on the ground from a high height before the player hits the ground and landing on the trap can remove/reduce the fall stun, similar to Horizon's Spacewalk ability.

Nox Vision

	Passive
	Nox Vision
	Description	You gain threat vision on enemies moving through your gas.
	Cooldown	?

• Caustic is immune to the effects of Nox Gas whether it belongs to him or an enemy Caustic.
• Enemies inside the gas created from your Nox Gas Traps and Nox Gas Grenades abilities are highlighted green, similar to Digital Threat Optics. This vision is obstructed by walls or other obstacles.

• Highlighted enemies can be seen through Bangalore's Smoke Launcher.

• Your squadmates do not share this vision, so be sure to communicate to them the locations of enemies you can see.
• Your threat vision doesn't work against other Caustics, forcing you to prioritize them, as they are immune to all Nox Gas effects and they can see your allies even if they are in your gas.

Nox Gas Grenade

	Ultimate	Z/ + / + / +
	Nox Gas Grenade
	Description	Blankets a large area in Nox gas.
	Charge time	3 minutes

• Lasts 15 seconds.
• Other than the wider area of effect, the gas's function is identical to that of Nox Gas Traps.

• The grenade can be shot down by Wattson's Interception Pylon. However, if the grenade has already detonated, the pylon can't block any of the gas, and will even take damage from it.

• Do not use Nox Gas Grenades and expect them to kill an entire squad. Similar to Bangalore's Rolling Thunder, its main utility comes in the fact that enemies are forced to either evacuate the area or suffer the consequences of damage, the inability to sprint and being highlighted by Nox Vision.
  • Since gas deals damage and slows enemies, use Nox Vision to hunt down and kill them while they are weakened. If you have Grenades, throw them into your gas when an enemy is caught-- this combo has the capability of wiping out full squads if enough players are caught in your gas.
• Using this ability in large, open areas is often a waste. Try to save it for when enemies are occupying a building, a small area, or are hiding behind a cover too dangerous to bypass.
  • You can also use this ability to block chokepoints or cover/punish revives.
• Try saving this for the last few rounds as his abilities increase in utility as the safe area shrinks. Furthermore, he can prevent scenarios of Heal Off Victories from happening as it's harder to heal in the gas and ring damage.

Perks

Perk	Effects
Controller	Can interact with Ring Consoles to find the Ring's next location.
Fortified	Reduces damage taken to the body or legs by 15% and provides immunity to slowness from incoming fire.

Upgrades

Level 2 Upgrades - Unlocked at 450 EVO

• Parabolic Force: Nox Gas Traps can be thrown 75% further.
• Residual Toxins: Nox Vision persists longer.

Level 3 Upgrades - Unlocked at 1800 EVO

• Particle Diffuser: +50% Nox Gas Grenade radius.
• Breathe It In: Regenerate 1 health/sec while inside Nox Gas.

Lore

“

Alexander Nox used to be one of the brightest scientists in the employ of Humbert Labs, the Frontier’s leading manufacturer of pesticide gases. Nox worked day and night developing new formulas for the glut of pesticides needed to protect the crops that sustained the Outlands. But he soon realized that progress was being hampered by his testing methods. He needed to test on more than just inert tissue: he needed living subjects. As he toiled in secret, Nox began to see the beauty in his creations and their ability to destroy anything they touched. But the head of Humbert Labs soon discovered his gruesome experiments, and their confrontation ended with the lab in flames. Now, competing under the name Caustic, he puts his gaseous creations to work in the Apex Games and observes their effects with great interest. However, as much as he's tried to leave his old self behind, the trappings of his former life are squeezing through the cracks. A cop obsessed with hunting him down; a loving mother who has discovered his death was faked; a bitter enemy revealed to be his half-brother; and an encroaching sickness he may no longer be able to evade. Who knows how long he will be able to avoid such confounding variables.

For more information on Caustic's story, see Caustic (character).

Cosmetic Items

Skins

There are a total of 88 Legend skins for Caustic; 3 Mythic, 31 Legendary, 14 Epic, 26 Rare and 16 Common.

• 

  Apex Contagion
  Tier 1

• 

  Apex Contagion
  Tier 2

• 

  Apex Contagion
  Tier 3

• 

  Sixth Sense
  1,200

• 

  Divine Right
  1,200

• 

  Philosopher's Stone
  1,200

• 

  Blackheart
  1,200

• 

  Third Emperor
  1,200

• 

  Synthesis Chamber
  1,200

• 

  The Trophy Hunter
  Needs Blackheart

• 

  Dark Cloud
  Needs Divine Right

• 

  Prince of Darkness
  Level 25

• 

  The Last Laugh

• 

  Claustic

• 

  Waste Management
  Needs Philosopher's Stone

• 

  Necrosis

• 

  Gasbuster

• 

  Bloodthirsty
  Needs Sixth Sense

• 

  Killing Joke

• 

  Sweet Dreams
  4,000

• 

  Mad King

• 

  Deputy of Death

• 

  Silverback
  2,500

• 

  Inmate Nox
  Needs Blackheart

• 

  Jaeger

• 

  Field Research
  Level 50

• 

  So Serious

• 

  Lion Guard

• 

  Furnace Fury

• 

  Noxious Nobleman

• 

  Toxic Terminator

• 

  Professor Nox

• 

  Primal Rage

• 

  Heat Treated

Note:

Story of Caustic:

• 

  Daemon Hunter
  400

• 

  Fiber Optics
  400

• 

  Illegal Operation
  400

• 

  Heat Sync
  400

• 

  Neural Net
  400

• 

  Barracuda
  400

• 

  Tiger Blood
  1,000

• 

  Barrel of Laughs

• 

  Grave Robber

• 

  Acid Bubble
  1,000

• 

  Boiling Point

• 

  Marine Toxicologist

• 

  Bad Blood
  Level 1

• 

  Twilight Torturer

• 

  Absolution
  60

• 

  Bloodline
  60

• 

  Collider
  60

• 

  Dark Web
  60

• 

  Desert Scorpion
  60

• 

  Green Screen
  60

• 

  Hypnotic
  60

• 

  Interdimensional
  60

• 

  Prehistoric
  60

• 

  Sizzle Reel
  60

• 

  Snakeskin
  60

• 

  Unholy Alliance
  60

• 

  Vicious Cycle
  60

• 

  Volcanic
  60

• 

  Wishbone
  60

• 

  Bloodshot
  Season 2

• 

  Freezer Burn
  Level 37

• 

  Chemical Compound
  October 2019

• 

  Geometric Anomaly
  January 2020

• 

  Cyber Sludge
  Level 60

• 

  Future's Past
  500

• 

  Chilled Out
  Season 8

• 

  Cold Blooded
  April 2021

• 

  Terrestrial Shell

• 

  Black Into Blue
  Level 80

• 

  Fractal Power
  Season 14

• 

  Original
  Default

• 

  Arctic
  30

• 

  Cardinal
  30

• 

  Clearwater
  30

• 

  Evergreen
  30

• 

  Flamingo
  30

• 

  Hydro
  30

• 

  Limelight
  30

• 

  Mandarin
  30

• 

  Midnight
  30

• 

  Orchid
  30

• 

  Rage
  30

• 

  Sahara
  30

• 

  Skyward
  30

• 

  Vino
  30

• 

  Yellowjacket
  30

Finishers

Main article: Finisher

• Parting Gift
  Default

• Last Breath
  1,200

• Strike Three
  1,200

• Toxic Scream

Heirloom Set

Main article: Heirloom

Caustic's Heirloom Set

The set contains:

• A Banner Pose: Hammer Time
• A Melee weapon skin: Death Hammer - A hammer with a skull at the back equipped with Nox gas.
• An Intro Quip: "I look forward to getting my hands on you."

Prestige Skin Set

File:Caustic prestige skin.png

The set contains:

• A skin set: Apex Contagion
  • Tier 1: instantly earned.
  • Tier 2: deal 30,000 damage with Caustic to obtain.
  • Tier 3: deal 100,000 damage with Caustic to obtain.
• A finisher: Toxic Scream, unlocked at Tier 3. Can only be used while Tier 3 of Apex Contagion is equipped.

Skydive Emotes

Main article: Skydive Emote

• Feel the Power
  Level 30

• Knox Powered
  Level 30

• Chemtrails
  Level 92

• Unstable Footing
  Level 73

Emotes

Main article: Emote

• Noxious Discovery - 1,200
• Take Notes - 1,200
• Reluctant Celebration
• Eau de Nox
• Design Flaw - 400
• Knockout Gas - Level 75
• Waltz for One
• Once More With Apathy
• Sample Testing - Default

Banner Frames

• 

  Biochemical Romance
  1,200

• 

  Corrosive Agent
  1,200

• 

  Cruel and Unusual
  1,200

• 

  Hard Nox Life
  1,200

• 

  Method in Madness
  1,200

• 

  Double Feature
  400

• 

  Gassed Out
  Level 61

• 

  Failed Emissions
  Level 36

• 

  Research Grant
  Level 60

• 

  Gas Powered
  Level 16

• 

  Ghost in the Gas
  Level 11

• 

  King of the Jungle
  2,500

• 

  Pressure Paranoia
  Level 83

• 

  Venom Eggs
  Level 89

• 

  Chaos Theory
  Level 55

• 

  Noxious Waste

• 

  No Solace
  Level 75

• 

  Midnight Meltdown

• 

  Robo Sapien

• 

  Breathe Easy
  60

• 

  Fuming
  60

• 

  High Pressure
  60

• 

  Skullcracker
  60

• 

  Spine Chilling
  60

• 

  Ocean's Deep
  60

• 

  Slaughterhouse
  Level 88

• 

  Battle Royalty
  Level 58

• 

  Nerve Striker
  Season 2

• 

  Last Rites
  Level 68

• 

  Crystal Core
  Season 8

• 

  Pulp Friction
  Season 14

• 

  Rookie Card
  Default

• 

  Biohazard
  30

• 

  Chemistry
  30

• 

  Noxious
  30

• 

  Watcher
  30

Banner Poses

• 

  Hammer Time

• 

  Hard Reset
  400

• 

  Morning Brew
  400

• 

  Peacekiller
  400

• 

  Think Tank
  400

• 

  Bad Listener
  60

• 

  Bad Medicine
  60

• 

  Last Rites
  60

• 

  Mad Scientist
  60

• 

  Nevermore
  60

• 

  Not to Be
  60

• 

  Unstable Genius
  60

• 

  Surgical

Holosprays

Main article: Holospray

• 

  Join My Experiment
  1,200

• 

  A Man Of Science
  400

• 

  Breathe It In
  400

• 

  Evil Laugh
  400

• 

  My Favorite Part
  400

• 

  The True Test
  400

• 

  You Are The Nail
  400

• 

  One More
  Level 74

• 

  Close Encounter

• 

  Death Inspires Me
  Level 78

• 

  Cut Them Down
  Level 52

• 

  Beg For Mercy
  Level 74

Voice lines

See: Caustic/Voice lines

History

Patch notes 

May 07, 2024 Patch

• Gas damage and slow now stops immediately after Caustic's squad is eliminated
• Gas damage ramps from 4 → 10 max (was 5 → uncapped), damage on knocked players down to flat 4 (was 5)

March 26, 2024 Patch

• Gas Damage now increases by 1 each tick (was 5/5/6/6 etc.)
  • Downed players still only receive 5/tick
• Gas Slow effect now only applies on first damage tick for 2s
• Upgrades
  • Particle Diffuser: moved to Level 3
  • Residual Toxins: moved to Level 2

August 09, 2022 Patch

• Fixed gas ramping bug where transitioning from friendly to enemy gas would initially damage for more than intended.

May 10, 2022 Patch

• Fortified
  • No longer reduces headshot damage.

February 08, 2022 Patch

• Nox Gas Trap
  • Nox Gas Traps are now destroyable after detonation:
    • The Barrels now have 150 hp.
    • Gas effects will now linger for two seconds after barrel destruction or expiration (gas particles still linger a bit longer as they dissipate).
    • Detonated traps will now expire at 11 seconds (+2 second gas lingering) instead of 12.5 seconds (no lingering).
  • Fixed issue where barrels that are still being deployed (mid-throw) were not being deleted after Caustic dies.

August 03, 2021 Patch

• Gas damage starts at 5, increases by 1 every other tick indefinitely.
• Nox Gas Trap: Reduced cooldown from 25 to 20 seconds.
• Nox Gas Grenade:
  • Reduced cooldown from 3.5 to 3 minutes.
  • Reduced duration from 20 to 15 seconds.

March 09, 2021 Patch

• Nox Gas Grenade: Increased cooldown from 2.5 minutes to 3.5 minutes.
• Gas damage is now a flat 5 rather than 6-12.
• Fixed a bug that was causing the gas to flicker for some players affected by it.
• (Undocumented) Reduced the amount of particles from the gas, effectively providing less cover from the outside.

February 04, 2021 Patch

• Nox Gas Grenade: Fixed an edge case where the gas would persist even after his squad was eliminated.

February 02, 2021 Patch

• All gas now dissipates as soon as Caustic's team is wiped.
• Nox Vision: Sonar abilities no longer stop Caustic's highlight vision.

November 04, 2020 Patch

• Nox Gas Trap/ Nox Gas Grenade: Nox Gas no longer causes a blur effect. Damage increased from 4–10 to 6–12.

October 06, 2020 Patch

• Fixed Caustic barrels from being placed at an angle on shipping crates.

September 03, 2020 Patch

• Removed an inappropriate Caustic voice line.
• Fixed an issue where Crypto’s Surveillance Drone in Caustic gas would play to the whole server.

August 18, 2020 Patch

• Fixed an issue with Nox Gas Traps clipping to Mobile Respawn Beacons.
• Fixed an issue with Pathfinder and Revenant taking less damage from Nox gas.

June 23, 2020 Patch

• Nox Gas Trap:
  • Can now be destroyed by shooting the bottom before it fully inflates.
  • Teammates can now ping a friendly trap.

May 12, 2020 Patch

• Nox Gas Trap:
  • Friendly gas no longer slows teammates.
  • Traps no longer triggered from the other side of a door.

July 02, 2019 Patch

• Fortified:
  • Damage reduction increased from 10% to 15%.
  • Now immune to slow effects from weapon fire.
• Nox Gas Grenade: The magnitude of the slow is reduced by 50% when affecting teammates.

June 04, 2019 Patch

• Nox Gas Trap:
  • Caustic barrels can now be triggered or disabled by friendly teammates.
  • Fixed a rare issue with using consumables while having a Caustic gas canister out.

May 20, 2019 Patch

• Fortified: Fixed issue where damage would be taken through shields.

April 16, 2019 Patch

• Fortified Passive Perk added which reduces damage taken by 10%.
• Gas Damage per tick increased from 1 to 4
• Nox Gas Grenade: Throw distance increased from 28 meters to 33 meters.

March 19, 2019 Patch

• Adjusted hitbox to better align with shape.
• Nox Gas Trap:
  • Reduced cooldown of Traps from 30 to 25 seconds.
  • Increased radius and proximity radius by about 10%.
  • Removed a 1-second delay on the smoke dealing damage to players.
• Nox Gas Grenade: Reduced cooldown from 2:30 to 2:00 minutes. (This change was listed in the patch notes but never shipped.)
• Fixed ADS view being blocked when using Caustic legendary skins with certain weapon/ optic combos

Trivia

• For some reason, Caustic's eyes previously appeared to glow in the dark under certain circumstances. It is currently unknown why, but it could have had to do with his Nox Vision passive ability.
• As explained by writer Tom Casiello, the Nox Gas is a corrosive gas, that eats through clothes, skin, and metal, unless countered by a chemical compound only he possesses so it doesn't affect him, which explains why the gas still affects Pathfinder, Bloodhound, Revenant, and Ash.
• An inappropriate voice line between Caustic and Crypto was removed in the September 03, 2020 Patch; where Caustic says as thanks to Crypto, “You’ll regret the day you crossed me, gutter rat,” due to the word “rat” being a derogatory term towards Asians.
• During the 3rd Anniversary collection event, two skins were released based on Caustic's Blackheart skin - Golden Guardian for Gibraltar and No Chill for Revenant.

Gallery

Videos

Images

• 

  Caustic killing Dr. Franklin Humbert.

• 

  Death report for Alexander Nox. of Caustic.

• 

  Early concept art of Caustic.

• 

  Concept art of Caustic.

• 

  Model of Caustic's head, showing his face.

• 

  Concept art of the Nox Gas Traps.

• 

  Concept art of Caustic's Prince of Darkness skin.

• 

  Concept art of Caustic's The Trophy Hunter skin.

• 

  Concept art of Caustic's Killing Joke skin.

• 

  Concept art for Caustic's Necrosis skin.

• 

  Concept art for Caustic's Gasbuster skin.

Merchandise

• 

  A Funko Pop of Caustic released on November 2019.

• 

  Action figure released by Jakks Pacific.

• 

  Plush of Blackheart skin.

See Also

• Caustic (Mobile)