With the Voidwalker event in full swing at the moment, let’s take some time off and talk about the possible abilities for the next Apex Legends Hero. We won’t get anything official until we are close to Season 3, but there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of speculation. Also, this is my way of wishlisting future abilities I want to see in the game someday.
Before we actually talk about the abilities, Let’s talk about the most likely hero to be released next. The leading candidate at the moment is the mysterious hacker, Crypto. When we last saw him, he set off a chain of explosions that took down the fence that separates the Arena and the wildlife. It’s safe to say that hacking could potentially be part of his kit. Probably something to do with hacking enemies or the environment itself.
With that out of the way, let’s get back to those ability speculations.
The final list is partially inspired by contemporary shooters like Overwatch and Rainbow Six: Siege. I thought long and hard about which abilities would fit in a fast paced game like Apex. The abilities, in theory, should not hinder movement too much. But at the same time, I wanted to move away from anything related to existing hero abilities.
As for the nature of the abilities, I’d say that it closely resembles a support playstyle. Though it leans towards the offensive side a lot more compared to Lifeline’s or Pathfinder’s skill sets.
And without further ado, here is the ability set I want the next hero of Apex Legends to have:
Passive: Hidden pockets
All members of the squad gain 2 additional item slots below the default list of items. What gives value to this ability is the fact that enemies looting your team’s death boxes cannot access the hidden pockets. Surviving squad members can access the death box and reclaim the hidden items.
The idea came to me during rounds of Apex where I found a very good mod but no gun to attach it to. The mod takes up an item slot that could have been a medkit or a shield battery. And in the early game, that could mean life or death. To die with something like that in your box could potentially give the enemy squad the edge over every other squad for the remainder of the match.
Tactical Ability: Jammer grenade
For the hero’s tactical ability, I want the hero to have the ability to temporary block enemy tactical abilities.
It is inspired by Overwatch’s Sombra. Her hacking ability shuts down a wide variety of skills for roughly 5 seconds. In the arena of Apex, vulnerable heroes could go down in half that time.
Pressing the tactical button allows the hero to throw a grenade that disables abilities within a small radius. Enemies caught in the blast cannot use their active abilities for a few seconds.
When used in an ambush set up, the ability can sow panic within enemy ranks. The denial of even one key ability makes for a more favorable engagement.
To balance things out, the ability might not be able to affect abilities already in use. Like a dropped dome shield or a fast moving Octane. Whether or not to allow Pathfinder to continue using his grapple is still up for debate.
Ultimate Ability: Summon custom light machine gun
The hero’s Ultimate ability summons a custom light machine gun. The gun itself uses a unique ammo type that cannot be replenished by anything on the field. The rounds are explosive, so anything it comes into contact with causes a small explosion.
The Ultimate is inspired by Rainbow Six: Siege’s Tachanka and his mounted LMG.
A powerful weapon like this comes at the cost of mobility. It’s bolted to the floor for the most part. Making it a perfect target for snipers. (Gotta have some counter play, at least.) So, taking the nature of Apex into consideration, the player mounted on the turret may be able to dismount the gun and fire it while moving. Drawbacks include taking a few seconds to dismount the gun and the reduced mobility while holding the LMG.
From my view, the inclusion of this new hero rounds out the choices within defensive teams. Imagine having Wattson and Caustic as teammates. The effort needed to break that kind of defensive formation will take some good bit of coordination.
Weaknesses of this hero could potentially be high mobility heroes like Octane and Pathfinder. These heroes can move fast enough to dodge the LMG and since their abilities are already in use, in most cases, the grenade is useless.
So that about wraps up my ideas for the potential kit the next Apex hero I want to see. If you guys got any ideas for what abilities you want to see for next hero, the comments section is the place to be.
And don’t worry, we’ll be on the front lines when news of the next hero reveal is out. See you soon.