Released back in Apex Legends' third season, Tae Joon Park a.k.a. Crypto is a recon legend who specializes in surveillance. Unlike Bloodhound, Seer, Valkyrie, and Pathfinder (all of whom are recon legends), Crypto's abilities all revolve around his surveillance drone, Hack. This puts him as more of a legend with a tactical playstyle than a reactive one.
While in his drone's manual control mode, he can do a variety of things. The drone can locate enemy positions. It can see how many squads are within a 200m radius of Crypto, ping loot for squadmates, and scan beacons to find the next ring. It can interact with doors, supply bins, and care packages. It can also pick up dead squadmates' banners from their death boxes and respawn them remotely by interacting with a respawn beacon. Best of all, the drone can send out Crypto's EMP ultimate ability, which deals 50 shield damage and slows enemies (as well as Crypto), disabling traps and technology in the surrounding area. With all these skills in his arsenal, Crypto should be a very strong legend. However, all his abilities being tied to his drone makes him quite possibly the hardest legend to learn in Apex Legends.
The Two Methods of Drone Deployment
As of right now, Crypto has two ways of using his drone. The first and original method of drone deployment sees Crypto manually controlling his drone. This is where he is strongest; as direct control allows him to duck, dive, and weave the drone past enemies and into ideal vantage points where intel can be gathered and the EMP can be best utilized. Drone view also allows Crypto players to see things effectively out of the drone's scanning range, as they'll be able to see what's going on around them with their own eyes.
The second method of drone deployment for Crypto is the one that was recently introduced in Apex Legends' current season, Defiance. Instead of forcibly entering drone view, tapping the tactical button now allows Crypto to throw his drone out 25m in front of him. If thrown in the right direction, Crypto players and their squadmates can get immediate information on their enemies' locations, which is the main use of the drone. This quick drone deployment was implemented to make Crypto more useful during tense situations, as going into manual control mode would effectively remove him from the fight.
Using The Drone Is The Key To Good Crypto Plays
Knowing when and how to use the drone is what Crypto players have to learn to make full use of their abilities. Spending too much time in drone view leaves not just Crypto players vulnerable, but their squadmates as well. While a Crypto is out gathering intel, they are effectively depriving their squad of a third squadmate and some much-needed firepower. There comes a time when Crypto players have to stop gathering intel and act upon the information they have gathered. Likewise, not using the drone puts Crypto squads at a similar disadvantage, as they don't make use of his intel-gathering abilities.
Since Crypto's tactical, passive, and ultimate abilities all rely on his drone, this means that Crypto users have to take extra care of it. The 50-health point drone is very fragile, and considering how easy it is to spot and how much noise it makes, players can easily gun it down with any Apex Legends weapon at a moment's notice. If destroyed, Crypto players have to wait 40 seconds for the ability cooldown to wear off before they can use the drone again. That's 40 seconds where Crypto is a legend without any abilities.
Mobility is another issue aspiring Crypto players have to think about. As Apex Legends is a movement-based shooter, staying still to use the drone puts Crypto at a severe disadvantage. With this in mind, it is always better when Crypto players coordinate with their squad to let them know when they are droning, what intel they've gathered, and most especially when they are about to use the EMP ultimate ability. Well-coordinated Crypto squads can get the drop on their enemies and finish a fight just as fast (if not faster) than an Octane or Bloodhound squad would, and the added security the drone provides helps ready them against possible third parties.
Crypto can be strong, but he needs a more tactical mindset to be played effectively. Players need to constantly gather intel before, during, and even after a fight, and coordinate with their team to let them know what is going on in their vicinity. If players don't mind slowing down the pace of the game every now and then to get the lay of the land, then Crypto is definitely a viable option both in casual and high-ranked Apex Legends gameplay.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and mobile devices.