Since its launch in 2019,Apex Legendshas changed a ton. Many hail it as the best out of the three big battle royale games on the market now (compared toCall of Duty: WarzoneandFortnite), and this is impressive given it’s also known for various technical and server issues. But there is one big change that has steadily crept up in the past few years: an imbalance and change in thepurpose ofApex Legendspassive abilities.
For example, it’s most noticeable when comparing older legends to more recent additions. Passives were originally a small ability that affected gameplay but not to a huge degree:Bangalore’s Double-Time, Caustic’s Nox Vision, Pathfinder’s original ability to check Survey Beacons, and Gibraltar’s Gun Shield are all good examples. Yet, while the balance is always a concern, passives have become increasingly complicated—changing from one small ability to sometimes numerous ones. Ash, the upcoming character inApex Legends, plays her part in widening that gap.
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Apex Legends: Ash’s Passive
Apex Legendsnew character Ash’s ultimate lets her zoom forward in a singular direction via a portal, though it is not too Wraith-like all things considered. Her tactical allows her to ensnare an opponent as if it’s a throwable Wattson ability. But her passive does a lot of legwork for her kit. She has two abilities with her passive: first, when an opponent dies, she can see their death box on her map. This gives her an indication of fighting and presets the opportunity to third-party or strike while the other party is recovering.
That’s strong in and of itself, but the other ability just adds on to that. By knifing a death box, Ash can find the killer of this player. It may not be the most universal ability, but there’s no denying that Ash’s two-fold passive strengthens her overall kit in ways other characters don’t. Before diving into that comparison, it’s worth a good look at all the passives inApex Legends.
Apex Legends Tier List: Characters With Strong, OP, or Completely Loaded Passives
Apex Legends: Weighing and Bridging the Passive Gap
What becomes immediately obvious is how little “middle class” there is, with characters having simple passives and some being so far as to effectively not exist (Pathfinder, Crypto, Caustic, Horizon, and so on). Others, like Rampart, have good effects but are not as dominant as others. These characters stand in major contrast to characters like Ash, who has a two-part ability; Lifeline, whose abilities are well-defined for her medic role, perhaps even over the top; Mirage, who isn’t OP but whose passive does a lot of the legwork; andValkyrie, whose main passive ability is bigand then has a bunch piled on.
In terms of balance, it’s worth highlighting that neither Mirage nor Valkyrie, who have a lot going for them in their passive, are necessarily OP. Mirage was tweaked a ton to make him more viable, explaining why his passive has been expanded so much since launch. Valkyrie, on the other hand, is a strong meta contender, if not necessarily “broken.” Tactical and Ultimate abilities or even popularity, in some characters, help balance this out:Octane, Bloodhound, Revenant, Wraith, and so on.
Yet, if nothing else, this serves to highlight how weak some passives in the game are. This highlights how passives went from small add-ons of sorts to a character-defining mechanic. Nearly everyearlyApex Legendscharacter, as well as a few others, still have a passive generally weaker or, in essence, does less than others. For characters who effectively don’t have a passive, this is the biggest problem.
How Apex Legends Can Fix The Growing Passive Problem
There are three key elementsApex Legendscould introduce, alongside some general buffs, that would level out this playing field a bit more. Many wouldn’t disagree that, in terms of rawbuffs, Cryptoand Pathfinder at the VERY least need work on their passives in a similar vein to Mirage in the past. But, thinking bigger, buffing all the characters can’t be the answer, as that would lead to bigger balance issues.
The first step is to introduce a secondary ability, something akin to another passive, for all characters.Recon characters inApex Legendsare the only ones with a “class ability,” the ability to scan Survey Beacons. No other class has anything like this that creates a strong unity within the class. Even if it means adjusting the class structure, or adding aMobility class inApex Legends, such things would add more to each character without making one or the other better.
For example, perhapsAssault characters inApex Legendscould carry larger stacks of ammo if by just a little, perhaps Defensive characters have stronger resistance to ammo slow in-game, and perhaps support characters can all find extra loot in bins and the like. That’s not to say this is what Respawn should go with, but it is an example of building up passive abilities without breaking a character.
The second step would be to clearly separate tacticals and passives. If a passive ability is reliant on a tactical or an ultimate ability, it’s not by definition passive. This would likely be resolved in certain character buffs, but Caustic and Crypto are prime examples of this as a major issue.
The final step would be to expand any passive that is summed up in a single line; that doesn’t mean to buff it but to expand or make it more universal. For example,Rampart’s passive abilityis good but is simple compared to many other characters. Perhaps she could also be more likely to find LMGs in loot boxes and/or LMG attachments. Another example could be Horizon, who could also perhaps use her Space Walk ability to jump differently from other legends.
The goal of eliminating simplistic passives wouldn’t be to make them more OP or to really change their rank in theApex Legendsmeta, but help further define their particular gameplay experience. In theory, to better adjust passive abilities, Respawn Entertainment could also nerf Lifeline, Mirage, and Valkyrie’s passive to some degree. Yet, no one enjoys nerfs; instead, other characters should get more gameplay-defining passive abilities rather than the simple ones seen when the game first launched.
Apex Legendsis available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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