Apex Legends Ballistic guide – What are his abilities and what’s his story?

Apex Legend Ballistic is one of the fresher faces to appear in Respawn Entertainment’s flagship battle royale, despite, ironically, being one of the oldest participants in the Apex Games. An experienced fighter, he brings a lot of firepower and potential to any team he’s on, so learning everything you can about him is a great way to help decide if he’s right for you and your playstyle.

Here, we’re covering everything you need to know about Apex Legend Ballistic. We’ll explain his abilities, go over his backstory and lore, and analyse how he fits into the game’s current meta. If you’re wondering who his Apex voice actor is, or you’re curious how we’ve ranked him in our Apex Legends characters tier list, check out our dedicated guides after you’re done here.

Apex Legend Ballistic’s abilities and ultimate – What’s he capable of?

Here’s a breakdown of Ballistic’s passive, tactical and ultimate, and a quick overview of how he works.

• Passive ability: Sling. Ballistic’s Sling ability allows him to hold a third weapon at any one time in his inventory, although this weapon can’t take attachment upgrades normally.
• Tactical ability: Whistler. On pressing the tactical key, Ballistic’s Whistler will fire. It’s a small projectile which, when shot, latches onto an enemy’s gun and causes it to overheat. Overheating causes damage to players. The tactical can also lock on to a target by holding and aiming.
• Ultimate: Tempest. When activated, Ballistic’s Tempest ability temporarily grants faster reloads improves and move speed of nearby teammates, while also granting everyone infinite ammo. In addition the Sling weapon will be upgraded to gold attachments.

Apex Legend Ballistic is an assault class Legend, and it’s a category he fits pretty well. He’s all about increasing his own and his team’s firepower and potential. With abilities that give him a wider suite of weapons, reduce the enemy’s combat effectiveness, and provide powerful bonuses to him and his fireteam, he’s a highly versatile Legend and a great fit for aggressive playstyles.

Who is Ballistic? What you need to know about his backstory

August Brinkman may be a new face in Legends, but he’s certainly not new to the Apex Games. A billionaire orphan who lost both parents during his adolescence, August eventually threw himself into the Thunderdome Games, the precursor to Apex. Here his ferocious and selfish playstyle and cocky attitude would earn him fame as one of the game’s first celebrities and later on its first Champion. Here he’d meet his future wife, Sok Leng. Alongside her brother Kit Siang, they’d form a squad and become nearly unstoppable.

Until of course they were stopped. Kit Siang’s death would come during the dangerous Apex Games. He died at the hands of another squad during the match. August blamed himself, his crowd-pleasing attitude having taken away his vital attention from his team. Retreating into himself, he’d grow distant from his wife and their son, Nathaniel, spending the next two decades as a self-pitying recluse.

Then however he’d learn that Nathaniel had joined the Apex Games and passed the qualifiers, determined to live up to and surpass his father’s legacy. In a desperate bid to save his son from the same ruinous path he’d fallen onto, August would make a deal with the Syndicate, and Silva. In return for turning away his son, August would take up the name Ballistic once more, and re-enter the Apex Games in his place.

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Did you know?

Despite his reputation for being an old man, Ballistic isn’t even close to the oldest Legend in the games, at only 63 years old. That honour currently goes to Revenant, who is over 350 years old.

We got a pretty good look at his backstory in the character’s Story’s From The Outlands trailer, Encore, if you’re looking for a more cinematic breakdown.

How does Ballistic fit into the current meta of Apex Legends, and what’s he good at?

As mentioned, Apex Legend Ballistic is an Assault class Legend. This Apex class tend to specialise in raw damage or offensive measures, and while Ballistic fits this description easily, he’s got a surprising amount of versatility, too, making him a great choice in the current Season 19 meta.

A closer look at his abilities and their utilities

His passive speaks for itself – having an extra weapon is useful in any situation, as it gives more flexibility across ranges and offers a quick-swap option in firefights to counteract reloads. If you want to run a Sentinel, a Peackeeper and a Hemlok all at once, this is the character for it.

Ballistic’s tactical is a great countermeasure against enemies, especially against opponents trying to lay down suppressing fire. It can create vital openings during aggressive pushes that you and your team can exploit, or establish an advantage in an attritional dual if you’re fighting one-on-one with another Legend.

Lastly of course there’s Ballistic’s ultimate. While the extra speed and reload buffs are pretty substantial, it’s the infinite ammunition that can really come in handy. This is effectively an equaliser in the early game, gifting a brief window of combat capacity in situations where ammunition may be limited or even non-existent. In the endgame it’s just as useful, granting you the chance to take advantage of every enemy mistake and grind down their reserves and supplies without sacrificing your own.

How does this all serve Ballistic’s playstyle?

Most important to recognise is that these powers are versatile. They’ll serve you very well in solo situations, and in the hands of a skilled player provide a massive advantage in potential when paired with good tactical thinking. In a team setting they’re great for supporting or enabling aggressive plays, such as pushing enemy positions or rushing teams. But they can work just as well in any other team structure. A defence-oriented team suddenly gains an advantageous Legend for counterattacks and the tools to stall or stop enemy advances.

Ballistic’s only real weakness is a lack of massive, dedicated offensive or defensive ability. He can’t construct fortresses or bring down a bombardment. What he can do is fit into any team setup and play off of other Legends perfectly. Paired with control Legends like Catalyst and support legends like Conduit, a good Ballistic player can utilise better tactics and better firepower to counteract enemy strategies on the fly. Think how well he can pair with a Recon class Legend like Bloodhound and it starts to quickly become clear why we talk so highly of him.

That covers everything you need to know about Apex Legend Ballistic, what his abilities are, who he is, and where he excels. A good Legend alone won’t win you the Games though. If you’re wondering what the best guns in Apex are, how to use Apex perks, or even just want to perfect your style first with free rewards from the latest Apex Legends codes, we’ve got you covered.

Apex Legends Ballistic FAQ

When was Ballistic added to Apex Legends?

Ballistic was added to Apex Legends in Season 17: Arsenal.

Is Ballistic a free-to-play character in Apex Legends?

No, Ballistic is not freely unlocked from the start of the game. You’ll need to earn Legend Points or buy Apex Coins in order to unlock him.