Daniel Klein, lead game designer at Respawn Entertainment, has suggested that a Loba buff could come soon to Apex Legends, but that the High Society Thief is currently in a “pretty good” spot.
Added back in Season 5, Loba has perhaps had less of an impact on the Apex Legends meta than some of her counterparts. She’s not necessarily underpowered, but it’s hard to really class her as a game-changing legend in Apex’s Season 7 meta.
The buff to Black Market Boutique enabled her to become a significant contributor to her teams, pulling her out of the dwindling period she found herself in during Season 6.
However, her relative mediocrity when compared to some of the game’s stronger characters – Wraith, Gibraltar, and Bloodhound – has naturally led to her fans asking for a buff.
One Redditor, ‘ApexFan12′, suggested a small Loba buff to Daniel Klein, Respawn’s Lead Game Designer. Klein can be found frequently active on Reddit, interacting and replying with fans of the battle royale.
“You know how Pathfinder’s cooldown is based on how far he goes,” the Redditor said, “I was wondering if there’s any way you can do the same thing with Loba, where her tactical cooldown is based on how far her bracelet goes… There’s been many times where I’ve accidentally thrown it right in front of me and then have to wait 30 seconds for it to recharge.”
The suggestion seemed to appeal to Klein, who replied: “Definitely could do that! Could also just shave off time in general. I think the animations pre and post use could also do with some tightening. Thing is, she’s pretty good right now. Will let her rest for a patch or two.”
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Responding to another user about simply making the bracelet travel faster in the air, Klein described that buff as a “last resort”.
“It would require some work on the visual effect to make it look good and it has the highest risk of negatively impacting combat legibility,” he said. “Point taken on the beautiful arrival animation; maybe most of our shortening needs to be in the taking off animation. Like I said though, this is experimental stuff we’re still play-testing and there’s a good chance we won’t ship it if it’s not healthy for the game.”
Klein’s comment that they are going to “let her rest” suggests that the change, if it comes at all, will likely drop after Season 8’s inception. It’s fair to wait and see how Loba is affected by the introduction of Fuse and the balancing adjustments that will come with the launch of a new season.
Barring any delays, Season 8 is set to drop in Apex Legends on February 2.
