As of the 12th of March, 2020, we welcome a new Legend to Apex: Loba! Here’s an overview of Loba’s abilities, good team comps, tips and tricks for Loba and insight into her backstory.
But first an answer to the age-old question: Is Loba OP?
Nope. On release she’s strong but not unbalanced. Well done, Respawn!
Loba’s abilities
Tactical
Her tactical ability, Burglar’s Best Friend, allows her to teleport by throwing her bracelet and teleporting to its location. It is thrown similarly to a standard throwable, the distance is shown in meters. During the travel time Loba is slowed and can’t shoot. There’s also a delay when you port, so don’t throw the tactical right into the enemy team! Throw it behind cover, or further away from the team if you’re a scaredy cat (burglar).
Ultimate
The most interesting part about Loba’s abilities is her ultimate ability, Black Market Boutique. She places her staff which turns into a death box of sorts, allowing you to loot everything within a 80 meter radius. This 80 meter radius ignores hight, so you can for example be up in cage in King’s Canyon and loot everything below you. The range is shown on your minimap. Each player, including enemies, can loot up to two items per boutique, so sadly you can’t start hoarding all of the loot. Death boxes and closed supply bins can also be looted with the Boutique, be aware that this does open the closed supply bin! A supply drop or care package can be looted with the Boutique once it is opened. The item list of the Boutique is “live”, meaning if a new item is dropped within the radius it’ll show. Can’t wait for train to come by in World’s Edge and see what happens. The Boutique can be destroyed by shooting or punching it, if it’s your own it can be collapsed. After you’re done with the Boutique always remove it so hostiles can’t use it to their advantage!
Passive
Loba’s passive ability, Eye for Quality, allows her to see purple and gold loot through walls and obstacles. The range is 80 meters around her, just like the Boutique. In casual or lower rank play this means Loot Goblina.. I mean Loba will run around fully geared up, while you’re left picking up blue armor and a 1x holo. If you’re with an actual teammate it can be very useful to quickly scope out valuable loot in the area and communicate it to each other. You can ping these items through walls!
Comps with Loba
Loba, Wattson, Gibraltar OR Wraith
Set up base in, ideally a high loot area, and use the boutique to loot the best items from a safely fenced up position. The Boutique forces you to stand still near it, so placing it near Wattson’s Ultimate ability will allow you to heal up those shields simultaneously. Hooray for multitasking! Furthermore Gibraltar matches with Wattson’s basebuilding, while Wraith is simple great in fights.
Duos? Loba and Wattson have the most synergy from an ability perspective, while Wraith is probably better for a more aggressive playstyle.
Loba, Revenant, Crypto
Loba’s tactical allows for aggressive plays, which complements Crypto’s and Revenant’s synergy. You can find more about this synergy in this article.
Duos? Go for Revenant. Not only do Loba’s and Revenant’s abilities match up better than Crypto’s, the hostile banter between the two is fantastic. For example, the exchange between Loba and Revenant when she thanks him for loot:
Loba: “I hope you don’t expect me to thank you.”
Revenant: “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”
I read the patch notes, but nowhere did I see that they turned on friendly fire.
Tips and tricks for Loba
Tactical
Throw your tactical through a window, thereby getting yourself quickly behind cover.
You can’t throw your tactical into the direct range of a hostile Watton’s ultimate. You can throw it past it, though. To clarify, the tactical won’t be destroyed during travel but it will if it lands within range of Wattson’s ultimate.
An enemy Loba’s tactical can be shot midair, causing it to land immediately. So if you’re a perfect shot (ahem aimbot) you can halt it’s trajectory.
If you melee an enemy Loba the moment she teleports, not during the delay or wait before, you are teleported with her. I doubt Loba will be expecting that!
The tactical can bounce off of Octane’s ultimate, the Launch Pad, to cover more distance. Be careful though, as this is quite finnicky.
The tactical thrown on top of Crypto’s drone causes you to port into mid-air. Not sure how that is helpful but it’s interesting.
If you throw your tactical on an “unlandable” surface it will bounce off.
Just like you can slide down a hill and use a consumable in the meantime, thereby not being slowed, you can do the same for the time between throwing the bracelet and actually porting.
Ultimate
When you use the ultimate it throws out a pulse. This pulse can be spotted by enemies!
When an item is looted through the Boutique a trail, similar to wraiths tactical-trail but white and more short-lived, can be seen from the looted item towards the Boutique at the moment of looting. Keep an eye out for this if you see loot disappearing!
Passive
Not seeing loot through walls can be just as informative as seeing it. Keep an eye out for loot disappearing, with a range of 80 meters you can spot loot disappearing before you hear the enemies. At least if there’s walls between you or you’re not the best listener.
If you’re interested in more Apex tips and tricks check out this article!
Backstory
Loba’s real name is Loba Andrade. When she was nine years old Revenant murdered her parents. In the Season 4 “Assimilation” trailer you can see what what happens:
The little girl is Loba. If you’re a fan of knowing the lore, the best you can do is head over to EA’s website.