As battle royale sensation Apex Legends continues to pick up steam, the rumor mill has begun grinding away; one of the game’s suspected new Legends, Octane, was recently leaked online in a pair of images. Each can be found below, with one screenshot possibly revealing the Legends’ abilities and another picture showing a frontal view of his character model. So far, this is just a rumor and should be taken with a healthy grain of salt, but it’s a fairly compelling piece of evidence of what Apex Legends players can expect.
The Apex Legends community has collectively latched itself onto this latest rumor, having recently gotten their first taste of post-launch content from developer Respawn Entertainment in the form of the Havoc rifle. Starved for new content despite the fact that the game’s only been out for a little less than a month, dataminers have added ample fuel to the growing wildfire of speculation, having leaked another rumored Legend and their ability and much, much more - from new modes to Titanfall’s signature Titans. However, this latest leak is one of the more convincing and visually immediate that fans have seen so far.
A Reddit post (itself inspired by a now removed Instagram post by an account owned by redditor Childz_pl4y) by user Voeno shot to the top of the Apex Legends subreddit on Feb. 27, consisting only of an image of a Legend whose name has been spotted in the game’s code in previous datamined leaks. Octane, the supposed “high speed daredevil” boasts some impressive abilities, including a passive granting gradual health regeneration, a tactical that bestows its user with greatly increased movement speed, and an ultimate that deploys a Fortnite-like launch pad.
While the combination of Octane’s Swift Mend passive ability and Adrenaline Junkie buff may initially sound too overpowered to possibly be true, it’s actually the balance provided by the considerable health sacrifice that players using Adrenaline Junkie must make that add to this rumor’s plausibility. Whereas many more obviously phony leaks and pranks usually fabricate characters whose abilities would completely break any semblance of balance in an online shooter like Apex Legends, this is either evidence that this is a genuine screenshot depicting a carefully created and play-tested Legend or an unusually thoughtful touch by someone with impressive Photoshop skills.
Even more interesting about the top screenshot is that there’s an additional pane between the currently available Armory and Store tabs, meaning this may be a real look at the game’s upcoming build - one that’s almost certain to add the game’s confirmed Season 1 Battle Pass. Meanwhile, there’s Octane, himself, hazily pictured second. Abnormally well-modeled for a fake, he looks like a more grounded rendition of Overwatch’s Junk Rat. Having already taken clear inspirations from Blizzard’s hero shooter, this character design would be within reason. Additionally, a prominent feature of Octane’s are his robotic legs that appear purely Titanfall in their aesthetic and function - as is Octane’s Adrenaline Junkie tactical ability, which, like most of the other Legends’ tactical abilities, is taken straight from its equivalent Pilot Tactical in Titanfall 2.
Of course, this still is all speculation at the time of writing. So far, Respawn has made no official comment on any leaks, so Octane’s existence is still up in the air. But Apex Legends fans need not wait much longer for new content, as the game’s inaugural season begins sometime this March.
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Source: Voeno and Childz_pl4y/Reddit