A potential leak through datamining has revealed what Apex Legends may look like in the future, with new abilities and a number of Legend characters. These may be old concepts that have not been developed, or they may be far along.
One assumes that there are always projects like new Legends in development, however given that we have only seen two DLC characters added since the launch of the game earlier this year, it does seem like a rather long list. Below is a mock-up of what a roster could look like in the near future, and a list of every datamined Legend.
Crypto the Surveillance Expert
- Surveillance Drone: Deploy an Aerial Camera Drone. 10 second cooldown if destroyed. Max 200m distance.
- Drone EMP: Charge up an EMP blast from your drone. Deals Shield Damage, slows enemies, and disables traps.
- Neurolink: Crypto and his teammates see what his Surveillance Drone detects up to 30m distance.
- Extra: Surveillance Drones can open doors, supply bins, and pick up dead teammate banner.
Clearly this support character would be invaluable with the right team, providing a debuff to enemy speed, which can be a death sentence, and knowledge through the use of an aerial drone.
Blackout/Revenant The Nightmare Simulacrum
- Mark for Death: Fires a poison dagger. Press again to reveal the target's location for 60 seconds. (If enemy is marked a message will pop up "Something is watching you.")
- Poison Bomb: Launch a Poison Bomb. Damages and slows targets hit.
- Infiltrator: You crouch walk faster and climb walls higher.
- Shadow Walk: Move silently and faster for 6 seconds. Cooldown resets on kill.
- Shadow Step: Send out a Shadow Revenant. Press again to teleport to the shadow. Cooldown resets to kill.
- Proximity Dart
- Silence: Throw a device that disables enemy tactical abilities for 10 seconds.
- Death Recall: Drop a totem that protects anyone who uses it from death.
- Extra: Can enter and exit Shadow Form.
Mobility with stealth infiltration sounds like a nightmare to unorganized groups. An entire minute of having one’s location revealed is terrible news, especially in the late game. As always, disabling abilities can swing a fight entirely, so this Legend might be far too powerful in a coordinated group.
Skunner The Crafty Trapper
- Debris Trap: Drop a pile of debris that slows and damages enemies which they move through it.
- Schiltrom Barrier Grenade: Instantly create a spiked barrier.
- Light Step: You are not slowed by debris traps and do not leave traversal evidence for trackers.
This is an interesting design, whereby withholding information from an opponent in the form of limiting their tracking can help with mind games. At the same time, slowing enemies is also fantastic.
Jericho The Frontline
- Ballistic Shield: A full-body shield that protects you from incoming fire.
- Shield-Breaker Javelins: Throw two electrically-charged javelins that burns through enemy body shields.
- On Your Six: Your ballistic shield protects your back when you are not actively using it.
Jericho looks to be an useful pick in shield-heavy metas that need to be taken down a notch. This may lean too far into a specialist role however, and something more balanced may be preferred.
Prophet/Seer The Scout Sniper
- Spotter Sight: Seer scans the environment and gathers information on targets found.
- Triple Tap: Seer equips a silenced Sniper Rifle with three shots.
- Sniper Training: Seer has improved accuracy while ADS and starts the game with a scope.
Talk about the potential for controversy and frustration. A good sniper can often make it feel as though one has not played a game, they merely ran along until the sniper spotted them from a distance. This is an extreme, but one wonders about the reception to squads with this Sniper toolkit and a competent Pathfinder.
Rose/Loba The Translocating Thief
- Burglar's Best Friend: Throw a disc and teleport to that location.
- Supply for Demand: Hold Off hand to choose a type of loot. Reveal that type of loot around you through walls.
- Black Market Boutique: Place a device that can steal all nearby loot.
- Eye for Quality: Loba can see nearby loot through walls and can open up hidden compartments in loot bins.
- Extra: Loot Category;Weapons, Armor, Health & Shields, Attachments, Backpacks, and Ammo & Ordnance.
Now this is a creative character that would likely be more entertaining than competitive viable. Burglar’s Best Friend is always welcome for its mobility, while the rest is simply for getting the best loot to help out.
Blisk The Elite Mercenary
- Throwing Knife: Deals 20 damage and marks the target. Killing a marked target rewards double credits.
- Payday: Squad kills award credits. Spend credits on powerful supplies.
- Bounty Reward: Spend to select rewards? Idk.
- Interrogation: Executing an enemy will reveal the location of their allies for 10 seconds.
Blisk would be another creative addition to the game that emphasize maximum teamwork for maximum reward. This could even turn teammates who would otherwise go at it alone into willing partners who see the benefit in working together, or rather, the incentive of being a team player.
Nomad the Field Crafter
- Loot Compass: Follow the Loot Compass to the nearest item.
- Crafting Table: Place a crafting table down. Scrap salvageable material and purchase items.
- Packmule: Nomad and his teammates have additional backpack space.
A few months ago, additional backpack space would not have been a big deal, but the recent nerfs to shotgun ammunition capacity would have people eyeing this Legend carefully. The ability to find nearby loot is always going to be valuable as well, and Nomad would likely earn a spot in competitive squads quite easily.
Downfall the Populist Pyromaniac
- Fire Sale: Drop a box of 4 molotovs anyone in your squad can pickup and throw.
- Reign of Fire: Fire a cascade of incendiary rockets.
- Burning Anger: Dealing damage builds rage. Filling your rage makes you immune to fire for 20 seconds.
- Molotov Cocktail: Throw a fire bomb that sets enemies on fire.
This Legend is the stuff of nightmares. Area denial and the constant threat of being firebombed would drastically shift the meta, likely demanding that mobility take a front seat in selecting characters. This Legend had better come with a skin for The Trashcan Man!
Husaria the Hard Breacher
- Flashbang: Throw a grenade that briefly blinds and deafens opponents.
- Concussive Breaching Charge: Plant a breaching charge that fires a sonic wave through walls to destroy traps, force open doors, and disorient enemies.
- Shotgun Kick: A Breaching Shotgun on your calf that discharges when you melee doors or enemies. Requires shotgun ammo.
Asides from the great utility of disorienting opponents, this Legend has a shotgun strapped to their leg to blow doors open with. ‘Nuff said.
Immortal the Shield Support
- Shield Charger: Unleash a cloud of nanites to charge your teams shields.
- Rise of the Phoenix: Restores your health and shields to full and gives nearby teammates 30 seconds of self-revive. Takes 8 seconds to charge.
- Hard to Kill: When you get downed you can revive yourself.
- Shield Teardowns: Hit a target with a cloud of nanites to kill their shields for a short period of time.
This Legend standouts for the sheer amount of camping potential that could come from using them properly. This seems counterintuitive in terms of Legend design, at least from the perspective of offering compelling and exciting esports coverage. Imaging a full map of teams doing nothing but camping and waiting for everyone else to make the first move. Not exactly riveting stuff.
Rampart the Base of Fire
- Amped Cover: Build cover that provides a damage boost to anyone standing behind it.
- My Friend Maxim: Place a mounted machine gun that anyone in the squad can use. Uses Heavy Ammo.
- Fixer: Swapping to melee equips a wrench you can use to repair structures.
- Cover Fire: Firing from cover overcharges your gun damage.
- Gunner: LMGs have increased magazine capacity and reload faster.
- Extra: Can pick up cover and move it.
Similar in theme to Immortal the Shield Support, there is a clear strategy for camping here that would be viable, but not interesting to watch.
Valk the Soaring Aviator
- VTOL Jets: Hold to Hover.
- Skyward: You and nearby allies take to the skies after a short cooldown.
- Afterburners: After the initial drop, Valk and her teammates fly faster while skydiving.
Sometimes mobility is the most powerful mechanic in the game, and the ability to fly up on command to ambush an opponent seems too powerful. There would need to be a daily quest called “This isn't flying, this is falling with style”, where you manage to eliminate a number of opponents from the air or shortly after landing.
For now, we can only wait and see if this datamined information is relevant, or simply old conceptional work that was never removed from the game. Once again, it would seem odd to have so many Legends in development considering the slow speed with which two have been released so far.
On the other hand, this could be indicative of Respawn Entertainment shifting gears to release more Legends on a shorter time table.