How to provide your team with the tank they need.
Our Apex Legends Gibraltar guide contains tips and strategy advice on how to play this Legend.
If you like nothing more than providing your teammates with nothing but the best in defensive support, then Gibraltar is without doubt the Apex Legends character for you to main.
Pick this Legend and you’ll be able to throw a dome-shaped shield on the floor that provides space for your teammates to shelter in, or activate an ultimate that calls in a mighty airstrike against the enemy.
This Legend doesn’t just provide team support though. For personal survival, Gibraltar packs a shield that projects ahead whenever you aim down your sights. This ensures that you live long enough to provide your friends with the extra help they need, while providing Gibraltar with extra support for adding to the kill tally.
Fundamentally though, Gibraltar’s about tanking damage for his buddies and ensuring their survival in the long-game. As a result, it’s already clear that this Legend is going to be an important part of the game’s long-term meta.
There are downsides to playing this Legend though. Whereas most other Legends possess bonus mobility skills, Gibraltar does not. Neither does this character provide much offensive support, beyond helping the team live longer to dish out their damage.
You can’t have everything, but if someone on your team hasn’t already picked Gibraltar, and you’re feeling up for the task, you should definitely consider taking on this role. The advantages are clear, and your flexibility in picking the Legend will be greatly appreciated by the team.
In our essential Gibraltar guide we’ve highlighted how each ability works, and also provided tips to make sure you use them efficiently too. As with all of our Apex Legends articles, we’ll be updating this one continuously as we gain more hands-on experience!
Legend Guides
- Apex Legends: Bangalore Guide – How to play Bangalore
- Apex Legends: Bloodhound Guide – Tips for mastering the Legend
- Apex Legends: Caustic Guide – How to play the toxic Caustic
- Apex Legends: Gibraltar Guide – How to play the defensive powerhouse
- Apex Legends: Lifeline Guide – Help playing the support Legend
- Apex Legends: Mirage Guide – Getting started with Mirage
- Apex Legends: Pathfinder Guide – Tips for grappling with Pathfinder
- Apex Legends: Wraith Guide – How to play the stealth-focused Legend
- Apex Legends: Octane Guide – Tips to help you master the Adrenaline Junkie
Passive – Gun Shield
As we mentioned in the introduction, Gibraltar gains a passive ability which projects a shield in front of him whenever he aims down his sights. Although this shield can be chipped away at by the enemy, it will recharge if you wait long enough.
As has been discussed extensively elsewhere, this adds a surprising amount of offensive potential to this very tanky character.
Consider a situation where you’re wielding a sniper rifle, for example, and can take a little more time to rattle off a well-aimed headshot without being instantly taken out yourself.
Do keep in mind, however, that the shield is front-projecting and so you’re still vulnerable to attack from the back and the sides. It’s not some all-enveloping protective bubble – that would be a bit too overpowered.
For that reason, you might want to consider positioning yourself with your back to a wall or other environmental object whenever the opportunity presents itself.
That way, you guarantee that no-one can fire at you from the rear, and you only have to worry about the side shots while you’re shield’s being projected forwards.
Tactical – Dome of Protection
Dome of Protection is a deployable defensive tool which is thrown into position. Once it’s been dropped in place, a protective dome will spring up, allowing you and your teammates to take shelter within its radius.
You can use the dome to effectively isolate a single enemy and ensure that you can shoot each other inside the dome, but any of their teammates bullets will not enter.
It goes without saying that if you go down this route, you can expect your target’s friends to show up in very short order…
Something else to consider is that if you’re being attacked from distance, just throwing the dome ahead of you will put out something of a defensive wall.
You’ll still want to get inside, but depending on the angle of fire it may still give you a safety barrier while you travel towards its interior.
When using the Dome of Protection, be extremely conservative with the cooldown at all times.
If you’re about to engage the enemy, it’s essential that you have this available – if you popped it needlessly a moment before then you’re really going to regret it.
It’s also enormously helpful when you’re ambushed, buying your team some breathing space to gather themselves and mount a counter-offensive.
Ultimate – Defensive Bombardment
Your airstrike Ultimate has to be directed with a grenade throw. The potential to do damage here is huge though, especially if you can catch an enemy team clustered together.
That’s the big downside to it really. Smart players are not going to hang around long, just to get hit in the head with a barrage of missiles!
Alternatively you can use this pre-emptively to make sure any ambushing players are delayed in closing the gap to you and your team mates.
If your team has become a little fragmented, this also buys you a very brief opportunity to gather everyone together to take the fight straight back to the enemy.
