Right now, there are twelve different playable characters in Apex Legends. Bloodhound is a Legend that has been around since launch, and while they've always been viable, they've recently gotten a small buff that's definitely increased their viability.
They've always been very solid at gathering intel in a variety of different scenarios, but while some of their abilities are passive and don't require any particular skill to use, others can be easily misused and end up not providing you or your team any benefit. Let's take a look at some tips for using Bloodhound, as well as some interesting team compositions to include them:
10 TRACK THEM DOWN
The most immediate and obvious benefit Bloodhound has is their ability to see locations that enemies have recently been in. Bloodhound can see just about every enemy footstep left in the last ninety seconds, as well as doors they've accessed, ropes they've used, and how old an enemy deathbox is. So, if you (and your teammates) can keep on an enemy's trail, they'll never be able to escape you.
9 AVOID AMBUSHES
Going hand-in-hand with that last point, if your team feels ill-prepared for a fight or the enemy seems like they've got a good ambush position, you can always go a different route, or at least better prepare yourself for the impending fight. Sometimes enemies are going to lay a pretty solid ambush and/or have a severe geographic advantage, and avoiding that fight is the wisest choice in trying to win the match.
8 THEY CAN'T HIDE
Bloodhound's ultimate ability has a number of benefits, not the least of which is the fact that it makes everything in the game black-and-white besides enemies and their footsteps. There are quite a few really good hiding spots in Apex, and some enemies see it in their best interest to hide rather than immediately fight.
With Beast of the Hunt active, you'll be able to easily spot those enemies. This can also be a pretty great way to prepare for a suspected ambush, giving you the chance to spot out where enemies lie in wait, or, at least, see their footsteps and see where they might have gone.
7 SCAN HELPS TEAMMATES
Bloodhound's active ability, Eye of the Allfather, not only scans your surroundings for you, but it scans it for your teammates, as well. This ability is a fantastic way of giving a perfect snapshot of the battle to you and your teammates, allowing everybody to maneuver accordingly to give you the best possible positioning and set up the perfect flank.
6 GREAT IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS
Because of Bloodhound's Eye of the Allfather, they're absolutely great in those tight, urban environments, since they force everybody into closer proximity, and so, in range of their scan. In some of those urban scenarios, one scan will likely reveal every enemy that's an immediate threat, as well as any traps that they have set up, giving you the upper hand in the fight.
5 AGGRESSIVE FLANKS
Bloodhound is generally going to be the person on the team with the most intel, which gives them a unique opportunity to be the one to set up the most effective flank. Bloodhound should know, or at least have a good idea of the location of each enemy, and so with a little bit of map knowledge, Bloodhound can take a route than the enemy hasn't taken and/or isn't watching and press them from a side that they aren't going to be able to effectively defend.
4 MOST USEFUL IN CLOSE-RANGE PLAYSTYLE
Since Bloodhound is so good at setting up those flanks, they're generally going to be best-suited to be in the hands of your most aggressive player who's comfortable fighting in close-range.
Bloodhound is definitely going to have to be taking risks in how they engage, generally getting right up on the enemy and putting themselves in precarious situations. But, that close proximity to the enemy is going to keep them inside scanning range, and the more intel your team has constant access to, the better chance you'll all have of coming out on top.
3 THE SCALPEL
Setting up the right team requires more than just getting an interesting team composition together; if you aren't each filling a necessary playstyle, it doesn't matter your Legend selection. Bloodhound is generally going to be the scalpel of your team. They should be good at figuring out where hitting the enemy is going to hurt the most, and then they should be steady-handed enough to go in and apply that hurt.
In order for this to work out, Bloodhound is going to need to be paired with teammates that can be the center of attention for long enough for Bloodhound to execute their flank; usually, Legends like Gibraltar, Caustic, and Mirage can all be effective at this, each in a different way.
2 BLOODHOUND, BANGALORE, CAUSTIC
One really strong team composition including Bloodhound is with both Bangalore and Caustic alongside him. Banglore and Caustic each have abilities that limit the visibility of a location greatly, and while Caustic can see through his own gas, nobody else can; and no one can see through Bangalore's Smoke Grenade.
Bringing a Bloodhound along with these two is going to change that situation. Their scan gives your entire team a snapshot of enemies through the smoke, giving your team an immense advantage in the fight. Plus, Bloodhound's ultimate ability is going to allow them to see through any sort of smoke for a pretty significant period of time.
1 BLOODHOUND, MIRAGE, CRYPTO
Another interesting team composition that includes Bloodhound also includes both Mirage and Crypto. This team composition can be very difficult to pull off, and for some teams, it could be too much of a good thing; intel. All three of these Legends excel at gathering intel in a different way; Mirage can gather intel when an enemy fires at his decoys, and Crypto can mark enemies with his drone.
Between the three of them, they can constantly gather info on the enemy team, but this is going to require a team of at least two aggressive gunfighters to get the most out of it. Crypto can't fight while he gathers intel unless his drone is in a static location where it can see enemies, so both Bloodhound and Mirage are going to need to be able to dispatch of enemies quickly, as soon as they get the relevant intel. All that said, in the right hands, this team composition can be really, really strong.