Apex Legends - Gibraltar Guide: Lore, Abilities & Best Gun Loadouts

Gibraltar Makoa is a defensive player and his main purpose is to protect his teammates while keeping the enemies as far away as possible.

Armed with buffs that give him the biggest survivability from all the other legends, this gentle giant’s purpose is to make sure his teammates do not go down easily.
Because Gibraltar’s nature is to be protective his recommended loadout is long range weapons and short range, preferably shotguns.

His kit is comprised by his two passives which is Gun Shield that allows him to cover his upper body with a shield when aiming with a weapon and Fortified which reduces incoming damage and has no movement speed reduction from bullets.

His tactical Dome of Protection provides safety for him and his teammates, revives them faster, and his ultimate Defensive Bombardment keeps the enemies at bay while damaging anyone who steps inside the drop zone.

All Apex Characters

Gibraltar Lore 

Gibraltar, Shielded Fortress, Apex Legends

Gibraltar is a gentle giant with a wild side. He is the son of two S.A.R.A.S. (Search and Rescue Association of Solace) volunteers, he always had a talent of getting people out of danger, a common thing in the Outlands.

However, he only realized the true value of protecting others when he and his boyfriend stole his father’s motorcycle, took it on a joyride, and got trapped by a deadly mudslide. His parents managed to save them, and his father lost an arm in the process.

Since then Gibraltar has never forgotten that sacrifice and has devoted his life to helping those in danger.

After joining the Apex Games Gibraltar kept his mindset, helping those in need. A lot of his friends and colleagues have competed in the Games for extra money, fame or glory but some never came back home.

Gibraltar joined in order to keep them safe so for the first time in his life, his rebellious and protective nature found their place. He has now become an icon in the Apex Games, putting himself in the line of fire to protect his squad and send his opponents running for cover.

Gibraltar Abilities Guide 

Tactical Ability – Dome of Protection

Dome of Protection		Tactical
	Cooldown	30 Seconds
	Description	Throw down a shield blocking all incoming damage and use consumables faster
Information
Gibraltar throws a large disc ahead of him which projects a barrier dome with a radius of 6 meters and lasts 12 (As of Season 5) seconds. Players can move through it but projectiles and bullets are blocked from in and out. All consumables inside the dome are used 15% faster. Gibraltar revives his teammates faster inside the dome, the normal time is 6 seconds while inside it’s reduced to 4.5.
Interaction
The dome blocks line of sight for things likePerimeter Security or Neurolink.
Advanced
If your team mate has been knocked down and you are being rushed a good strategy is to drop your ultimate first, then the dome shield and then revive your teammate. Can be used as a shield in open areas if you or your teammate are low in health in order to escape. The shield is open from the bottom so be careful when you drop it near rugged terrain or edges. The shield clips through buildings, emits sound and light so it’s best to use it mid fight.

How to Use Dome of Protection

Right now this is one of the best supportive abilities in the game because you can be revived faster, take no damage, you can’t be detected by Crypto’s drone and Wattson’s fence can’t get through it.

Don’t use it when the enemy is near, they can take advantage of your shield, they can jump in and out or rush in and kill you.

And never ever use it when you are fighting an enemy head on to heal even with the reduced time it still takes too long for the consumables to complete, resulting again only in death, if you are fighting up close and you’re losing then use it only for escape and then try to find some place safe to heal.

Passive Ability – Gun Shield – Fortified

Gun Shield		Passive
	Cooldown	N/A
	Description	Deploy a shield when aiming down the sights
Information
You can bring a shield up when you aim down the sights, the shield has 50 health, protects your upper body and you can still shoot normally. By pressing the Character Utility Action you can turn it on or off. You can restoreGun Shield with Shield Cells or Shield Batteries. There are two indicators one left and one on the right that show the recharge rate and how much hp the shield has, however there seems to be a problem with some monitors and optics as they are hidden behind the HUD making it difficult to know. When the shield breaks it takes 9 seconds to be restored. Excess damage after breaking the shield will be transferred to Gibraltar.
Interaction
You can block and deactivateArc Stars with theGun Shield when you put it away.
Advanced
TheGun Shield emits a sound and can be easily seen so it is recommended to turn it off when you are sneaking. When crouching the shield covers more of Gibraltars body making him harder to get hit.

Fortified		Passive Perk
	Cooldown	N/A
	Description	Damage received is reduced by 15%
Information
You get 15% reduced damage from every attack. Legends with this passive perk are immune to slow effects from weapon fire.
Advanced
15% is not a big reduction it only offers you a chance to survive one shot Gibraltar’s Gun Shield and this Perk make him the most tanky character in the game yet.

How to use Gun Shield

This ability can be a deciding factor between who lives and who dies, it offers enough protection to soak up damage especially from long ranges, that gives you enough time to place your shots, so be patient with Gibraltar and be always on the lookout for any dangers lurking around.

You are your team’s protector so you will be the focus of every enemy when they see you, in other words never take away your eyes off your opponents and always use your shield when they start shooting at you.

When you are running around the map, if you want to look through your scopes or simply aiming down on your sights to get a better view of the place, it’s best to have your shield disabled, if not you are at risk of being spotted easier that way, and the enemies might take you by surprise, but don’t forget to enable it once you engage your opponents.

Ultimate Ability – Defensive Bombardment

Defensive Bombardment		Ultimate
	Charge Time	270 seconds
	Description	Call a mortar strike that deals damage in the selected area
Information
Throw a red smoke grenade that marks an area with a radius of 24 meters. A mortar strike will fall in the selected area that lasts 6 seconds, each hit deals 40 damage and creates a shell shock effect on players. The area where the strike will be dropped will be marked with red circles.
Interaction
Wattson’sInterception pylon can counter both the grenade and the mortar strike.
Advanced
You can also be damaged by this ability so use it with caution. This attack can be used in three ways, to flush enemies out of cover, to attack them, or keeping them away defensively. You can use it while inside buildings or yourDome of Protection to give you a quick rest point so you can heal, revive, reload, or run away. This ability is useless when theInterception pylon is nearby so be sure to destroy it first before deploying your ultimate.

How to Use Defensive Bombardment

This one is a good all around ability with only a few but serious setbacks, for example when you use it everybody around will know you are there and you take damage from it.

It can be easily countered with Wattson’s Interception Pylon so make sure you destroy that first.

You can use it as an offensive tool to get enemies out of their hiding spots, attack them directly or in combination with Dome of Protection to offer you time to heal, revive or run away.

This ability makes too much noise so you and your teammates can use it to your advantage and cover your footsteps to get close to the enemies and finish them.

As of Season 6 Gibraltar’s Ultimate has been nerfed a lot, from 3 minutes (180s) to 4.5 minutes (270) that means that Ultimate Accelerants should be prioritized for him.

Best Weapon Loadouts for Gibraltar

M600 Spitfire, Apex Legends

Gibraltar’s main purpose is to keep the enemy as far from him and his team mates as possible and that’s why his main weaponry must consist of instant high damage and suppressive fire.

EVA-8 Auto/Peacekeeper& M600 Spitfire

This loadout is perfect for protecting and supporting your team with suppressive fire.
Spitfire with any Extended Heavy Magazine and a Shotgun is a fearsome combo in the hands of Gibraltar.

The light machine gun can keep the enemies busy allowing your team to get the chance and attack or withdraw, while the shotguns provide immediate assistance in close quarters, the EVA-8 is a bit favorable because of the “Double Tap” Hop up, but the Peacekeeper can also be a fearsome weapon as well, with or without the “Presicion Choke” Hop up.

Since the Peacekeeper has entered the Care Package rotation you can switch it up with Mastiff Shotgun It’s a fast semi-auto weapon that although it’s underpowered now it can still rival the Peacekeeper and it has no leg damage reduction.

Since Season 6, Devotion  has returned to Ground Loot so it is a good alternative to Spitfire.
The Devotion can use Extended Energy Magazines and the “Turbocharger” Hop Up.

NOTE: The “Double Tap” Hop Up has been removed from the loot pool for Season 8.

Havoc/G7 Scout& Longbow/Sentinel

This is a mid to long range combo and mostly appropriate for situations where you can poke your enemies and get some kills. The G7 Scout and Longbow are the main poke weapons and the Havoc works as a suppressive weapon as well as a fast damage dealer.

Havoc is very reliable in the hands of Gibraltar, it has low recoil and a good enough rate of fire but needs a moment to reach it and can also equip the “Select Fire” Hop up making it a strong beam weapon. It is recommended to use the 1x HCOG and 2x HCOG, the 3x HCOG Ranger is a good option too if you have “Select Fire” equipped but its better to use them on the G7 Scout or the Longbow.

For Gibraltar the G7 Scout with the“Double Tap” Hop up is pretty much essential for dealing maximum damage so the enemy is dissuaded on pursuing you, as for the Longbow you should at least have a 2x HCOG on it so you can aim and hit your enemies because this weapon will not forgive you if you miss your shots.

The Sentinel is also a really good choice for Gibraltar because it has the option to use 2Shield Cells to charge it up and fire a shot with increased damage 70 -> 88. You can use Sentinel naked but it’s best to have a 3x HCOG Ranger or longer scopes on it.

As of Season 5 the “Skullpiercer Rifling” Hop Up is back and deals 2x to 2.25x Headshot Damage for the Longbow.

Note: The “Turbocharger” Hop up is back in the loot pool for Season 8 and can be used on the Havoc and the Devotion.

R-301 Carbine/VK-47 Flatline& Triple Take/Charge Rifle

Long distance and high damage is a game everyone can play but with Gibraltar you have the edge of taking more damage and survive the fight, that is if you aim your shots better than your opponent.

The assault rifles in this case work in good favor for our polynesian friend and the reason is the “Anvil Receiver” Hop Up which can fit in both the R-301 and the Flatline allowing them to deal higher single shot damage at the cost of fire rate.

Of course the energy sniper rifles are the most efficient ones for the longest ranges since they have little to none bullet drop. You must have a 2x HCOG or a longer distance scope, as for the Charge rifle the best scope you can get is the 4x-10x Digital Sniper Threat.

The Triple Take comes with two fire mode the one is using the “Presicion Choke” Hop up and the other is without the barrel choke.

NOTE: The “Anvil Receiver” Hop Up has returned to the loot pool for Season 8.

NOTE: The Triple Take has been entered in the Care Package Rotation a good weapon to replace it is the newly added Bocek Compound Bow (Which can take two Hop Ups, “Shatter Caps” allowing your weapon to work like a shotgun and “Deadeye’s Tempo” that increases the rate of fire of your weapon when you firing at the perfect moment.

NOTE: The “Anvil Receiver” Hop Up is vaulted for Season 10.

How to Play Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a character that has the most survivability in the game but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is going to win all the fights, a lot of other things play part in how a player will be better, like aim, weapons and attachments.

If you are a player who prefers to play passively but want to protect your team then you should try out Gibraltar, his kit is perfect for people who care about their team and the Defensive Bombardment provides enough offensive capabilities that make Gibraltar a hero that’s worth playing even for more aggressive players.

First of all the Gun Shield can be turned on and off, this is very important when you are out of fight but want to survey the area better through your scopes, the reason for that is the sound and light your shield emits. An enemy that might have not noticed you otherwise will definitely see you if you have your shield on even from far distances, this legend has the biggest hitbox in the game yet, why make it even harder for him to survive ?

Only enable your shield when the enemy starts shooting at you or you start engaging them, and last but not least keep in mind that when you crouch with your shield on you are harder to hit, so make it a habit and engage the enemy crouched first.

The tactical ability Dome of Protection is very useful when being used far away from your enemy, because when you drop it near them everybody will start rushing you and use it in their advantage, so be sure to use it when the enemy is far and mostly utilize it to heal and revive team mates.

Another use for it is to use it on choke points so you can escape but don’t forget, the enemy can still get through it, and that’s why a good idea for a character like Gibraltar is to have some Thermite Grenades with you and drop them right outside the dome so you can block the enemy’s path.

When you are in open spaces it’s better to drop the Dome of Protection down and then call Defensive Bombardment, thus forcing the enemies to go around the danger zone giving you more time to escape.

The most recommended way to use Defensive Bombardment is when the enemy is least expecting it like when they think they can knock you down or when they think you are solo, and some times you can find a perfect moment to third party two or more squads that are already fighting, this skill hurts only you and not your teammates, but they still suffer from the effects that’s why it’s best to use characters like Wraith or Octane because they are fast and can deal with the debuff easier than some other legends.

Gibraltar’sDefensive Bombardment is easily countered by Wattson’s Interception Pylon, make sure you have destroyed that first before you start throwing your ultimate.

You can also help your teammates heal or revive them inside Dome of Protection while Defensive Bombardment is active, just enough for a Medkit to be used but for a Phoenix Kit you will need 1.5 seconds more.