There are now nine different characters to learn in Apex Legends, each with their own unique and valuable abilities to master. While the game’s tutorial does a good job of teaching you the basics, finer details like the recharge time on each of them isn’t covered in detail, especially when it comes to Ultimates. If you’ve been wondering whether Lifeline or Gibraltar charges faster, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide we’ll detail every Ability and Ultimate charge time in Apex Legends.
All Ability and Ultimate charge times in Apex Legends
Each character’s Ultimate is unique, and to balance out the weak and strong ones they all charge at different rates. Your Tactical Ability (e.g. Lifeline’s D.O.C. Heal Drone) will be available as soon as you land, but your Ultimate will only begin charging from 0-100% the second you touch down from the dropship. This means those who land earlier on the map will charge their first Ultimate faster than those who jump late.
We’ve listed every Legend below, along with the charge times on their Tactical and Ultimate Abilities. Check the table for your hero and take note of the charge time so that you’re aware of this next time you hop into a game.
Legend |
Tactical Ability |
Charge Time |
Ultimate Ability |
Charge Time |
Bloodhound |
Eye of the Allfather |
35s |
Beast of the Hunt |
3m 30s |
Gibraltar |
Dome of Protection |
20s after shield falls |
Defensive Bombardment |
4m 20s |
Lifeline |
D.O.C. Heal Drone |
1m after drone deploys |
Care Package |
6m |
Pathfinder |
Grappling Hook |
15s |
Zipline Gun |
1m 30s |
Wraith |
Into the Void |
20s |
Dimensional Rift |
2m 30s |
Bangalore |
Smoke Launcher |
30s per charge (stores 2) |
Rolling Thunder |
4m 30s |
Mirage |
Psyche Out |
15s |
Vanishing Act |
3m |
Caustic |
Nox Gas Trap |
25s per charge (stores 3) |
Nox Gas Grenade |
2m 30s |
Octane |
Stim |
6s Duration, 2s charge |
Launch Pad |
1m 30s |
It’s worth noting that Ultimate Accelerants will always boost your charge by 20% regardless of the total charge time, so it’s well worth handing them over to those who take longer to built their Ultimate up. As we stated in our Lifeline guide, you should pretty much always be feeding them to her if she’s on your team. Don’t be afraid to make use of Wraith and Pathfinder’s Ultis just for traversal, as both charge very quickly. Caustic's Ultimate should also be used in practically every encounter thanks to its speedy charge time.
Now that you’ve learned all of Apex Legends’ Ability and Ultimate charge times, why not study some other aspects of the game? Over here we’ve got all item and armor statistics, while here we’ve got a guide for how to play Gibraltar well in Apex Legends.