Apex Legends Dev Tracker

Thank you! 🙏

I don't have any info about devstreams, but I'll pass long the interest to /u/Respawn_Kalyrical

Thank you, I appreciate it :D I've been in games for around 15 years and slowly just engage less and less online. It's always a little scary to poke my head out of my cage but you all made me feel welcome <3

Ah that's fair. I'm guessing you've come across it but maybe didn't realize? You have your CS terrorist vs. counter-terrorist but it's pretty common to do red v blue and you're always blue as well, ie Control

Doubtful? That is 100% why it's consistent. Easier to learn when you always know what to look for.

EDIT: Except for the 1/4000 chance to be Nessie Squad ;)

It's Bilal. Surprise! He is single-handedly the root structure on which the garden of Apex is supported, the sunlight what lets the flowers of battle bloom, and the irrigation system what supplies the lifeblood of our BR.

All hail Bilal, glorious gardener of Apex Legends. Please upvote if Bilal should become a Legend in Apex.

The hardest to implement buffs/nerfs is a great question!

There are some that are just technically difficult, and involve multiple departments stepping out of their current production schedule to alter something fundamental to how the Legend was originally built. Rampart's change to mobilize Shiela was pretty challenging on this front. Turning it into a (functionally) an entirely new weapon, handling the desire to return it as a placeable or drop it were all really big challenges from an animation and engineering front that required a sizable effort from lots of teams. It also went against the fundamental initial counterplay of having an HMG in the game, and required a lot of iteration to find how to handle movement correctly.
We haven't specifically looked at Weapon-based passives as a means to reinvigorate older Legend's abilities. But as the game grows and playspaces press together, we definitely analyze older Legends for oppotunities to breath new life into, but i...

We absolutely believe it needs the laser tell to let you know you're being targeted by a Vantage Ult.

In early playtests before the laser was added Vantage players could target and oppress players for free at any point in the game.
It was very frustrating. Vantage didn't need to risk going for a care package, loot into the scope power, or even sacrifice a weapon for the long range advantage.
It only finally started to feel fair when there was a chance to know Vantage and her team were near, and it allowed us to balance the power. Like when Rampart pulls out Sheila, it was a warning that the character was using their power weapon Ultimate. This lets players anticipate the ultimate so they can look for cover, move, etc. Without it, there was no counterplay, and abilities need counterplay in Apex to feel fair.

SMG's have been quite a dominate force in Apex for some time. One of the major factors that contributes to this was their ability to use barrels to extend their range giving AR's a run for their money. When they were also the preferred CQC choice it starts to feel like they're a must-pick weapon type. This starts limiting decision making and loadout diversity so we wanted to shake it up and define our engagement ranges a little better this time around. The lasers enhance an SMG's CQC ability while simultaneously limiting their range by taking the place of barrels. Combining this addition with the AR hipfire nerfs creates a more cohesive balance between two weapon classes whose lines have begun to blur.

We're always going to be developing new ways to beam one another. But as the weapons roster continues to grow, its needs begin to change and lessen. Finding the right addition to the game that's not only fun to use but improves the weapons roster by filling in a missing design space or creating new meaningful gameplay becomes harder the more we add, balance, and refine. We're not really interested in slapping a new gun into the sandbox every season unless it's a meaningful addition. So we've slowed down our weapon releases to make sure we're growing at a sustainable pace and the sandbox is healthy and stable along the way.

The Throwing Knife was designed and built specifically for Gun Run. Everything about it from the animation timings, decisions on how ammo works, to the actual model and VFX were designed to support Gun Run and what we needed out of a final hype weapon in Apex- a very different design philosophy than creating something for the core BR. We're not currently thinking about a new class of weapons to enter the BR but as the dust settles and players get to experience and enjoy Gun Run and the Throwing Knife more opportunities might begin to present themselves.

I'm personally super happy with how the Survival Slot turned out, it's one of my favourite additions to the game and we're always prototyping and looking for more interesting ways to utilize that equipment slot. We're not ready to share anything yet but rest assured it's an area we're keen to explore.

This season we swung big at bringing some definition to the weapon classes and engagement ranges. AR's took a hit to close-quarters combat, SMG's were enhanced with Lasers, Marksmans and Snipers get some hop up love and ammo stack increases, and the list goes on. The Skullpiercer and enhancements to the long range weapons are only a part of the meta vision this season. Vantage entering the scene is absolutely something we considered and wanted to make sure players had viable tools to synergize with and combat against our exciting new legend!