WhenApex Legendsfirst arrived on the scene, it was praised for the innovations it brought with it like a revive system and ping system, two things that were missing in the genre thus far. This would be another talking point when season 2 was introduced, as many felts truly enjoyed one of its additions to the game:skydiving emotes.
As many know, these are actionsApex Legendsplayers can take when they drop or when they hit a balloon later on, and they’re eye-catching enough to make drops at least a little more interesting. This same concept—the idea that a drop can be something more than a mandatory portion of the genre to reach a starting area—could be taken a step further: skydiving abilities.
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Opportunities and Evidence for Skydiving Abilities
Apex Legendsdataminesoften find everything from Loba’s abilities to specific class abilities said to be coming to specific classes, but these do not often manifest into anything real. But the fact that files exist for class-specific abilities suggest that Respawn Entertainment is open to changing up the formula, if and when at all possible. Ergo, skydiving abilities may just be an original Game Rant concept, but they’d make great additions to the game.
Namely, this would create more tactical situations from the get-go and add an emphasis toApex Legendssquad compositionearly on. Players would be able to immediate plan out how they land, where they land, and how they could get the jump on someone when landing. Furthemore, when travailing the map, these abilities could be reactivated when players are launched into the air by a balloon, which comes with its own benefit. Players around the map know that a new squad is dropping in as the noise isn’t exactly quiet, so it’s often easy to get a jump on a landing squad. With the right skydiving abilities, though, that could change.
This is by no means a radical idea, either, as using abilities during skydive actually exist in-game already. Mirage can deploy two decoys to lead enemies into thinking that more players are landing in one area than they want to mess with, but here’s the catch: since he’s the only character who can use an ability in skydive, they launch quicker than every other character, and it’s clear to those who pay attention that they’re just clones. Giving a skydive ability to every character in-game would mean that his drop clones could serve a balanced tactical purpose, rather than just a gimmick.
Concept: Apex Legends in Skydive
Mirage’s ability wouldn’t need to change, but a few character skydive abilities can be speculated upon. For example, like Mirage, some could adapt new forms of current abilities. Bloodhound could use his Eye of the Allfather ability to better see enemies as they drop nearby, at least for a few seconds until or after landing. Perhaps more useful when traveling via jump points later on would be allowingBangalore to drop smokebefore landing, as if someone were to see the team, the smoke would allow them to come out blazing or retreat to a corner of theApex Legendsmap.
Other legends may be slightly different but could be relative to the general idea of the legend.Octaneis often criticized as, despite being the “speed” character, he can be outclassed by a good Pathfinder. Some have speculated upon allowing him to shoot while running, a good fix, but something to compliment that would be to give him faster drops. Not much obviously, but when flying solo or as the jump master, Octane getting to the ground quicker than others make sense.
There are some characters who have been harder to speculate about, such as Wattson, but regardless, adding skydive abilities would add a new layer to theApex Legendsmeta. It’s just an idea after all, but one that sounds exciting the more we think about it.
Apex Legendsis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
