Crypto is Apex Legends’ second recon character. In this regard, his role on the battlefield is similar to Bloodhound: hunt down and identify enemies. However, unlike Bloodhound, who’s an aggressive tracker that seeks out squads to kill, Crypto places less emphasis on being on the frontline, as he’s better suited at finding enemies while remaining hidden.
Surveillance Drone — Deploy an aerial drone that allows you to view the surrounding area from above.
Crypto’s drone has a variety of uses. It can open and close doors, crack open loot bins, and retrieve fallen teammates’ respawn beacons. Point the drone’s camera at any of the Champion Squad banners throughout the arena and it will show you how many squads are in your immediate vicinity. Although Crypto has an unlimited supply of drones, he can only summon one drone at a time. However, once a drone is destroyed there’s a 40-second cooldown before he can summon another one.
Neurolink — Enemies detected by the Surveillance Drone within 30 meters of your position are marked for you and your teammates to see.
Though you can tag enemies with your drone, marking them with Neurolink is what best helps your squad. Doing so highlights the enemy for your entire team, allowing allies to see targets through walls or smoke.
Drone EMP — Your Surveillance Drone sets off an EMP blast that deals shield damage, slows enemies, and disables traps.
Crypto’s ultimate ability does 50 shield damage, outright destroying white body armor and slows all enemies with an effect similar to Wattson’s Perimeter Security fences. Like other Legends, Crypto is affected by his own ultimate ability, so make sure you’re not in the blast zone when you activate the Drone EMP. The EMP blast is not limited by terrain, allowing you to use the attack as a bunker buster to hit a team hiding in a building.
Because of how dependent Crypto is on his drone, his main weakness is actually just going up against someone who’s a good shot. The drone has one HP, so any attack from any gun, grenade, or ability will destroy it. You can’t really be sneaky with the drone either. Not only does it make a ton of noise, but enemies are alerted to when Neurolink has marked them. However, there are a few things you can do to hide your drone and make it more difficult to destroy.
Bangalore, Caustic, Lifeline, and Gibraltar can all hide the drone with their abilities. Bangalore’s Smoke Launcher and Caustic’s Nox Gas Traps create a smokescreen that hides the drone if you’re in an enclosed space, and positioning your drone behind a Lifeline’s Combat Medic shield gives you just enough time to mark enemies before the forcefield goes down. Even after the drone has been destroyed, Neurolink lasts a few seconds, giving you time to emerge from cover and fire on the enemy. Gibraltar’s Dome Shield provides a longer solution of the same strategy.
The Legend that best counters Crypto is Bloodhound, as the technological tracker can sniff out the hacker’s hiding spot while he’s piloting the drone and unaware of his surroundings. There’s no way to directly counter this yourself. You’ll just have to trust your team to watch your back. If you don’t, we suggest exiting your drone view the second you spot a Bloodhound, unless you’re very confident that you’ll get the drop on them before they get the drop on you.
You definitely need a long-range weapon since you’re by definition — a scouting legend. Whether it’s a Sniper, Anviled R-301 or even Wingman. When you detect enemies with the drone, you’ll want to be able to capitalize on it.
The secondary weapon should be mid-range, like an R-301 or Hemlok, but playing a secondary close range weapon like the R-99 or a shotgun is fine as well.
Finally, let’s finish up with some more general tips and tricks on winning Apex Legends matches as Crypto:
- Cover and hiding spots are your friends when using Cryptos abilities.
- It’s all about planning. Crypto, as I said, lives for the moments just before each firefight. When he’s actually fighting, he’s no more special than anyone else — in fact, he’s at a disadvantage compared to those whose abilities benefit them during fights. Where Crypto excels is in scouting, discovering the whereabouts of nearby enemies, and planning the perfect initiation and attack to take them down with minimal fuss.
- Learn to use the drone as well as the Legend. The drone takes some getting used to, but you’ll need to be able to pilot it properly and confidently if you’re to make good use of Crypto’s skillset. It doesn’t matter if your drone gets shot down (it’ll respawn in 40 seconds anyway); the main thing is to use it to discover everything you can about the enemy’s location and status.
- Communicate with your teammates. While the drone will automatically highlight enemies that it spots, it’s up to you to ping them to alert the rest of your team. While communication has always been an enormous aspect of Apex Legends for any character, it’s especially so considering Crypto’s role as the strategist and initiator of the squad.
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