Respawn responds to Apex Legends bug that makes grenades easy to block
Respawn EntertainmentThe Apex Legends community have been reeling from a bug that makes everything from Arc Stars to Frag Grenades useless with the help of a hand trick, and the team at Respawn have weighed in.
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Throwables in Apex have myriad uses in all stages of a match. That’s why many were surprised to see a few clips going viral showing people blocking damage from incoming grenades.
It’s a tricky tactic to pull off but if you’re fast enough, you can negate the blast from the items by simply throwing down an item from the inventory directly in front of or on it.
Apex players have been able to craft and experiment with different playstyles based on the small leniencies that the game provides, but this one is not something the developers had in mind.
Clips from pro player Christian ‘Nokokopuffs’ Feliciano and more show how easy it is to block grenades, and the community has for the most part enjoyed seeing the strange interaction unfold.
But getting into the nitty-gritty of what’s actually being seen, Design Director at Respawn Entertainment Jason ‘Monsterclip’ McCord explained what was happening in the video and said it obviously isn’t an intended feature.
“Grenades can be blocked by small bits of geo, but yeah, this isn’t intended,” he said. “Just a side effect that hasn’t been caught yet, looks like.”
The Respawn boss made it clear that while the bug is repeatable, it’s not something that the wider community can expect to be a long-standing feature in the battle royale.
Grenades can be blocked by small bits of geo, but yeah, this isn't intended. Just a side effect that hasn't been caught yet, looks like.
— Jason McCord (@Monsterclip_JM) January 22, 2021
Like previously mentioned, the use of Thermites, Frags, and Arc Stars are too robust in the Apex Games to have a game mechanic easily cancel out their effectiveness.
As such, Apex players can expect a patch for this to come through either by the February 2 patch that’ll introduce Fuse or sometime after.
If things really start to go off the rails with people blocking grenades, then Respawn could always issue a small hotfix to directly address the glitch before then, however there has not been an indication of it being that pressing just yet.