Apex Legends working on new Legend that will be useless in Arenas

A Respawn Entertainment developer has revealed that they are working on a new Legend set to release in 2023, whose abilities will not apply to Arenas at all – but that they are purely balancing for the battle royale mode.

Apex Legends is now into its second year, and has more post-launch Legends than original characters as of Season 9, with the addition of Valkyrie taking the total roster to 17.

But, despite the quickly expanding group of playable characters, the developers are not slowing down anytime soon, and are instead continuing with their current pattern of releasing a new Legend every season (roughly every three months).

This causes a dilemma though, as they are now creating characters for more than just a battle royale mode – as the new Arenas mode has become very popular.

Balancing for Arenas?

With plans for a Ranked Arenas mode too, it begs the question of whether characters will be created and balanced with Arenas in mind. Lead designer Daniel Klein has responded to this very question, and teased a new character in the process.

Speaking to YouTuber Raynday, Klein explained that this Legend has “some really really cool abilities, that will just not apply to Arenas gameplay at all.

“And that’s fine –we’re absolutely ok with that. As long as there is something they can do in Arenas, we know we can balance for that something, and the BR must be our main mode, the one we spend the most time thinking about and designing for.”

“We have to design for the BR,” Klein continued, “and that is not changing.”

It means that other Legends, such as Lifeline, who are very powerful in Arenas, but less so in battle royale, may even get buffs to make them stronger, making their Arenas performance even better.

It could also lead to some very overpowered or underpowered characters in Arenas, while the battle royale is much more balanced.

Regardless, Respawn has made clear that the battle royale will remain their top priority, as it is the mode that has “proven itself” the most, and is responsible for attracting the millions of players that come back to apex every season.