Season 8 of Apex Legends has brought a new Legend and weapon, balance changes, and a makeover for Kings Canyon. During an AMA on Reddit, lead game designer Daniel Klein fielded questions from the community about Apex Legends Season 8. According to Klein, Fuse's original Ultimate was much more powerful than the one he released with.
The newest Legend, Fuse, is a pyrotechnic-loving Aussie with explosive abilities, unlike any other character. His knuckle cluster ability launches a sticky grenade which explodes into multiple airbursts capable of dealing damage to players. His Ultimate, named The Motherlode, launches a bomb into the air which explodes and creates a ring of fire on the ground. The fire deals big damage to anyone touching it, including teammates, and can trap unaware players inside the ring.
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When asked about Apex Legends' Ultimate Abilities and what was tried and scrapped for characters, Klein revealed one of Fuse's original Ultimates. "One of Fuse's first ultimates we tried was just straight up a giant bomb. You'd shoot it like a mortar, similar to what his current ult looks like, but when it came down, after a short warning, it would just f---ing kill you," he said. The ability in that form was apparently incredibly fun for the user and frustrating for the victim. Replies on the thread seem to agree with the decision to change Fuse's Ultimate.
Klein went on to say the team prefers to release Legends in a strong form and dial them back if necessary, rather than trying to do it the other way around. Rampart followed this method, as she ended up needing a few nerfs after her release. Horizon was also nerfed and could be again, as she received a longer cooldown for her Gravity lift recently.
This balancing method and lower character count helps Apex Legends avoid similar power creep issues that plague games like Overwatch. Instead of boosting Legends to the point of allowing them to counter others, they are dialed back in line with the other Legends. The community seems to support this method and Respawn has taken feedback seriously, canceling Caustic buffs that a large amount of players were firmly against.
Season 8 has just begun and it is yet to be seen where Fuse will fit into the meta. Players should expect Respawn to continue tweaking Legends like Loba after the release of Fuse, particularly when the latest changes have had time to be tested out on live servers.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Switch version set to release March 9, 2021.
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