The high-flying acrobat of the Arena, Octane, could get a healthy buff to his Launch Pad ultimate as Respawn continues to find the sweet spot for upgrades to Apex Legends’ Adrenaline Junkie.
There are already changes coming to Octane’s ult in an upcoming patch which should take the ambiguity out of achieving the super jump when touching down onto the platform. These changes might make it to Apex by Season 8, but Respawn will have to see, according to Design Director Jason McCord.
That’s already known, but Octane mains will be glad to hear that the devs are also looking to expand his precision while in mid-air, something that is currently only achievable by sliding into the Launch Pad.
“I don’t think we’re touching that,” Lead Game Designer Daniel Z. Klein said in response to someone asking about potential tweaks to Octane’s mid-air accuracy. “And I in fact do think it’s a good mechanic.”
https://twitter.com/danielzklein/status/1343744595276926976
“I think he should maybe always have this? Regardless of whether he’s sliding into it or not? It positions the jump pad as a more offensive tool.”
In Apex Legends, players are used to throwing themselves right into the fray with a boost from Octane’s Stim and a leap off the Launch Pad. But savvy players know that sliding into the platform gives the Adrenaline Junkie complete accuracy while firing in mid-air.
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While previously it was a specific mechanic that took some getting used to in order to perfect, Respawn could expand the move to include any interaction between Octane and the Launch Pad.
Meaning, Octane could get a buff to have 100% mid-air accuracy when jumping off the ultimate whether its a slide, walk-on, or leap off of the pad.
This will give the High-Speed Daredevil some more options to consider when pushing with their Launch Pad or making a play in close quarters.
Defensively, his ultimate is really good for making key rotations or getting out of sticky situations. Now the studio could experiment with this change to open his offensive capabilities.
By the sounds of it, the proposed buff is still under consideration at Respawn so it’ll be interesting to see if the changes to Octane’s buff eventually go live.