Apex Legends’ medic, Lifeline, might be receiving some buffs and nerfs this year, according to comments made my two Respawn developers.
Lifeline was an early favorite when Apex Legends first released in 2019. With only eight base characters, Lifeline’s ultimate that summons a pod of loot and her healing drone tactical made her a must-have for competitive teams. However, once better loot and more healing items became more readily available in later seasons and Loba’s loot utility outpaced Lifeline’s, her usefulness waned.
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Lifeline got a powerful buff last year with a passive ability that allows her to deploy her drone with a protective shield to revive someone, freeing her up to revive a second teammate or continue fighting. However, that buff has drawn the ire of many players who call it overpowered. When one fan asked about the issue in a recent Reddit AMA, Respawn’s Lead Game Designer Daniel Klein replied that Respawn has some, “Super early experimental changes” being playtested, but that the developers weren’t able to go into more detail.
As for Lifeline’s ultimate, its usefulness is low and not much has been done to improve upon it. Lifeline received an additional passive ability that allows her to open an extra compartment in some supply bins to pull out extra healing items, but even that has done little for her loot utility when compared to Loba’s passive and ultimate. When one fan called Lifeline’s ultimate “completely useless,” Respawn’s Live Balance Designer John Larson said, “you’re not wrong.”
Larson went on to call it “underwhelming to say the least,” while also noting that her passive is, “The root of a lot of player frustration.” They hinted that Lifeline will likely receive some “ability power shuffling,” but did elaborate further.
Many have suggested that Lifeline’s care package ultimate should be nixed in favor of another way to heal teammates, like the area-of-effect healing that was presented in the Dummies Big Day Limited Time Mode (LTM). It seems like Lifeline’s loot utility might not ever catch up to Loba’s, and so focusing on her abilities as a medic while altering her shielded drone passive to be less irritating may be the solution.
While a potential rework for Lifeline’s abilities might be far off still, one thing that is coming sooner is the Anniversary Collection Event next week. The new event will include the return of the Locked and Loaded LTM and a host of fan-favorite skins redone in a snazzy new red-and-gold color scheme. Other topics discussed in the Reddit AMA include a confirmation that Caustic will be getting a nerf in the “near future,” and that 120 FPS support for next-gen consoles is a “high priority.”
Apex Legends is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and releases for Nintendo Switch on March 9.
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