[武器編] “Apex Legends” Developer Q&A “Ask me anything” Summary: Will Mozan strengthen? / Phantom Heinous Weapon / This Season's Amo Balance / Results of Wingman Changes, etc.

Respawn Entertainment’s “Apex Legends” is holding a “Beast of Prey Collection Event” for a limited time.

The Apex community on Reddit hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) event where developers appeared to answer questions from players and hear all sorts of interesting stories about weapons and Legends.

AMA With Developers Held At Apex Sable

AMAs (Ask me anything) are Reddit’s classic events where celebrities and users interact.The other day, Respawn’s development staff appeared in the Apex community,weaponWhenlegendwith the theme ofanswered various questions.

Staff who appeared at the AMA
- u/RV-Eric(Senior Game Designer): Answer Weapon Questions
- u/RV-Devan(Lead Game Designer): Answer Legend’s Questions

This article is a collection of questions and answers about weapons.

(Hereafter, the questions from the players are paraphrased only for the sake of readability)

“Ask me anything” Weapons Edition

Will Mozambique and P2020 not strengthen?

Mozan and P2020 are said to be “weapons for the early stages” by the development side

question: Do you have any plans for so-called “packaging” items like Mozambique and P2020? I know each has its own use, but no other weapon can match it.

Eric:Every match in Apex has a power curve, and the two weapons represent the beginning of a power journey.. We’re always looking for meaningful ways to add interesting spice to our early game arsenal and maintain its impact late in the game, but still have to be a natural progression.

Some, like Mozambique to Peacekeeper, power up explicitly, while others, like Peacekeeper to EVA8, power up according to your preference. All of these provide clear criteria for players to choose what suits their style.

If all weapons are to your liking, the game lacks depth in each phase of combat. If everything powers up in a single path, the game lacks agency.Apex is doing the best you can with the cards you’re dealtand sometimes the hand is Mozambique and 2 stocks of sniper rifles.

Balance between light ammo and heavy ammo weapons

question: Why did you make the Spitfire a light ammo?With Rampage becoming a care package weapon and Wingman becoming a sniper ammo, I feel that the balance between light and heavy ammo in the item pool has been compromised.

Eric: We’re not just looking at the number of weapons in each type of ammo. We consider various factors, but one of the deciding factors this time isDepending on the type of ammo, the balance of effective weapons differs from the middle to the latter half of the battleThat’s it. Light ammo (weapons) are plentiful in the early stages of the match, but they are unreliable in the latter half of the match, whereas the lineup of heavy ammo (weapons) is quite substantial in the latter half of the match.

By making the Spitfire a light ammo, these weapon variations are eliminated,Gives you more room to think about which weapons to put into crafting and care packages. One perfect example would be if the R-301 was a craft and the G7 Scout was a care package. I felt like I didn’t have enough weapons in the light ammo late in the match and leaned towards the heavy ammo meta.

The dead ‘crazy weapon’

question: What’s the craziest weapon idea that almost ended up in the game?

Eric: Let me answer. A shotgun prototypePellets are basically ricocheting balls, and shooting them into a room creates chaos.. It was designed to be some sort of mopping tool, with pellets taking less damage each time it bounces, but in the end it felt unfair to take bullet damage from invisible enemies. The idea was eventually dropped, but playtesting was pretty lame.

The earliest versions of Rampage could burn people and “smear thermite” where they were shot. Deploying thermite patches tactically was pretty cool, but shooting at the ground where people walk maximized panic and proved to be overkill for area control in many ways.

About the large number of bullets in the G7 expansion magazine

question: Is there any particular reason why the G7 Scout has more extended magazine capacity than others?

Eric: Good question. I actually talked about that just the other day at one of our balance meetings.

We like that the magazine capacity increments vary from gun to gun and aren’t linear. When one weapon scales more than the other due to attachments, there are subtle and interesting decisions to take on the weapon.

I love making discoveries that make players think differently about ground items. The G7 Scout is a weapon that has a white magazine and a very large scale, compared to the R301, which has only two shots. With what I have now, if I want to get the most out of my White Maga, I know which weapon I’ll use until I get my Blue Maga.

This gives the weapon a personality, and we’re always trying to reinforce and push it further. The weapon line-up is unique, and it’s fun to see players have strong opinions about each weapon in the list. It may seem like a no-brainer, but we don’t want to lose it by standardizing things like magazine size increments.

Hop-up development process

question: What are your first thoughts when developing a new hop-up? Its function, which weapon it can be attached to, and how it differs from other hop-ups.

Eric: It’s really different.I often start with weapons that I want to add flair or functionality to because they’re relatively out of place and need help, or because they’ve been mediocre since they haven’t changed in a long time.. But like the Mastiff and the 30-30 Dualshell,Sometimes we find a common mechanism and then push it forward.

The Kinetic Feeder was originally designed for the Bolt and TripleTake just because they have the same type of ammo, but through playtesting and alternate versions, the TripleTake Precision Choke has had the chance to create a fun mechanism that reduces choke time. I discovered that there is I really liked this way of playing, but since Bolt doesn’t do anything, I replaced it with Peacekeeper and positioned it better.

Wingman, Sniper Ammo Result

question: Turning Wingman into Sniper Ammo was a big meta shake. Were you happy with the results?

Eric:definitely. The Wingman was incredibly dangerous for an easy weapon to wield, but by turning it into a Sniper Ammo, we’re keeping that danger while slowing down the handling tempo.We are happy with the Amo economy this season and our wingman is in a healthy position. It was a medium risk/reward weapon, but I wanted to keep the reward the same while increasing the risk.

Why don’t you try implementing “New Weapons Limited to Care Packages”?

question: This may be off-topic, but have you ever tried to make new weapons that are exclusive to care packs instead of replacing existing ones as care pack weapons?

Eirc: It’s not at all out of the question.We’ve definitely been testing “Care Package Exclusive Weapons”. But at the end of the day, implementing a new and fun weapon is a lot of work, and restricting it to just care packages felt uninteresting.

I’m not saying I’ll never make one, but when you evaluate how long it takes to develop, weapons that replace ground weapons are much more valuable.. Because they impact the meta in a more meaningful way as we continue to refine and balance the game.