Apex Legend's Octane is an adrenaline-filled, whirlwind of a character played by those who like to be face-to-face with their enemies. His abilities are suited almost entirely towards putting himself in situations to win a gunfight, best-suiting him to be in the hands of your team's top-fragger. Octane is an absolute blast to use, but if used incorrectly, he can be of no benefit to your team, and can actually be a detriment to himself.
Let's take a look at ten tips for using Octane, and look at some fun team compositions to use him in.
10 LOOT QUICK
Immediately upon landing, Octane has an advantage over every other character in the game. He can use his Stim immediately to gain a 30% movement buff, allowing him to loot faster than everybody else around him. In those early fights where nobody has great gear, Octane has the unique ability to be more prepared than most, creating a lot of situations where he can start the match with an easy couple of kills.
9 CLOSE THE GAP
Octane's Stim also allows him to close the gap on a retreating enemy much quicker than they have any hope of coping with. When you have an enemy on their heels, just point Octane in the right direction and let him run them down and finish them. He can also help his team accomplish the same thing with a Jump Pad; put one of those things down on the way and the entire team has a chance to run down whatever poor soul is in your crosshairs.
8 WIDEN THE GAP
On the other side of that last point, Octane can also create a larger gap between him and any pursuing enemies, if he happens to be the one on the back foot. Not every fight is going to go your way, and sometimes the best (and only) move is to cut your losses and head for the hills.
Octane can excel at doing this, though he can't really help his team do the same without giving a Jump Pad for the enemy team to use, too; unless a teammate drops a grenade on it as they jump off to destroy it.
7 PLAY VERTICALLY
Those Jump Pads allow Octane and the rest of his team to play much more vertically than most others, as well. Quite often, if an enemy team is set up on a rooftop that has rope access, they've got those ropes covered. If you still want on that roof, most of them are accessible with a well-placed Jump Pad. Jump your team onto the roof, and fight the enemy from a place that they weren't definitely not expecting.
6 JUMP PAD TRAPS
These Jump Pads can be used pretty creatively as traps, as well. If your team is hunkered down in a building and would rather not be disturbed, Octane can place Jump Pads at various entrances/staircases. When well-placed, enemies can't move around these without wasting a throwable to destroy them, and if they walk into them, they're going to be bounced across the room and likely not at all where they want to be.
5 USE THE RING
Octane's passive health regeneration allows him to use the ring a bit more than other characters can, without having to use any healing items. If you need to take a couple more seconds to loot something, or else want to take a route that cuts off by the ring, it's perfectly viable since the moment you leave the ring, your health will start regenerating at a pretty decent rate. Combine that with a D.O.C. drone from Lifeline, and he'll be in good shape in no time.
4 BE AGGRESSIVE
Octane is at his best when he's playing aggressive; grab your favorite close-range weapon and go to work. He can get himself into positions an enemy isn't going to expect with the Jump Pad, and he can do it with frightening speed.
A lot of engagements in Apex come down to which team is playing with more confidence, and there's no better way to shake an enemy's confidence than by being on top of them before they're ready.
3 IN AND OUT
Octane can also be in and out of a fight before it really has the chance to go too poorly for him, as well. He can employ some hit-and-run tactics that no other character in this game other than Wraith can pull off, and it can create a really uneven situation for an enemy if they're engaged with your teammates from a distance, while you're running back and forth across their team at a Tasmanian Devil level speed.
2 LIFELINE, GIBRALTAR, OCTANE
One cool team composition to bring Octane into brings both Lifeline and Gibraltar along with him. All of these characters have abilities that heal damage, or prevent that damage in the first place: Octane has his passive healing, Lifeline has her D.O.C. drone, and Gibraltar has both his Gun Shield and his Dome Shield. This team should not have to worry about healing much throughout a fight, and instead of spending inventory space on syringes, they can bring some extra throwables, instead.
1 WRAITH, PATHFINDER, OCTANE
This team is all about that aggression. Octane can get on top of enemies and stay on top as long as it takes to finish them. Wraith can get the entire team into a position with frightening speed, provided she's had enough time to get her Portals down safely. Lastly, Pathfinder can use his Grapple Line to get himself on enemies every bit as quick (or quicker) than Octane, and he can get his entire team into a better position in short order with his Zipline Gun. This team is all about moving across the map with speed and confidence, allowing your team to always stay on top of the situation.