Dexerto sat in a round table with both iiTzTimmy and ImperialHal to discuss the direction Apex Legends is going in. While they still believe in the game’s core tenets, they agree that some major changes are needed to keep players coming back.
Balance has been a hot topic in the Apex community with the release of Season 23 due to the new-found power of support Legends, particularly Lifeline and Newcastle. Lifeline’s rework and Newcastle’s buffs shoved both to the top of the meta.
Now, Apex is all about team fighting and playing around shields. And while this meta is already favored by some pros, others aren’t keen. Speaking with both ImperialHal and iiTzTimmy, Timmy believed that Newcastle is a step in the right direction – just not in the way you might expect.
Making Legends feel truly legendary in Apex
Timmy: Things like the Newcastle buff… It isn’t really that bad. Obviously, he’s broken, but he’s broken because he’s the only one that’s good like that. But, if you brought back the old Horizon on launch, that is, like, is he that good? Is he really that good compared to her? And then you bring back the original Pathfinder, or, not like the original-
Hal: The peak version.
Timmy: Yeah, like, the peak of every character, the game would be more fun. You get to play whatever you want in whatever style you want. They just need to buff every character to a point where they’re all useful and strong, and then, the ones that are bad, they just need to rework them.
Like, Mirage has been so bad for so long, and I know they want to keep the fact that he’s got Mirage clones and stuff like that, but… we’re kind of past that point, you know what I mean? We’re past season 0, where you throw a Mirage clone, someone shoots it, and you can see them.
Dexerto: Yeah, can his clone do something?
Timmy: “Exactly. Imagine his ultimate; if you’re shooting at someone, his clones also shoot and do damage. And it’s like, ‘Wow, that sounds broken!’ But it should be that way.”
I always think they need to buff everything. When things are too strong, it makes room for content, random things to happen that make you go, ‘Bruh’, you know what I mean? When you outplay someone, it feels even better because you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I should not have won that.'”
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Dexerto: Right, you win because you’re smarter, not just because you’re mechanically better.
Hal: “It’s funny because I proposed that idea before on-stream. Not as a fix, but I’ve always agreed that there should be a game mode you can try out. I know Apex likes to use game modes, limited-time modes to test things as a way of gathering data to see what’s good or bad.”
Dexerto: Sort of like a beta?
Hal: “Yeah, but they label like, ‘Oh! It’s a new mode!’ right? But yeah, I completely agree, every character should be able to play at their peak, and you should be able to choose what you want to play. Like yes, maybe some characters were fundamentally broken like Seer doing damage through walls, that should probably not be a thing, but… I agree, you should keep characters at their peak and just tweak them.
“One thing I just thought of now is that I always see people complain about having to solo queue. Like, I hate solo queuing, I never do it.”
We spoke more in-depth with ImperialHal about his ideas for Ranked, including the introduction of a true solo queue – read his full explanation here.
Ultimately, both agreed that giving every Legend more potent abilities would be an overall boon to the game and that ranked queues need some work.
Fixing either of these issues would require significant work, but may be necessary to win players back. In the meantime, both Timmy and Hal are doing what they can to keep the game alive themselves, putting a renewed focus on their own events and trying to engage with the community as much as they can.
