Apex Legends players are concerned that the recent Old Ways Lore event update made Lifeline “useless,” despite getting a new Passive ability involving Blue Bins.
Even though the Combat Medic was once regarded as a top tier Legend in the battle royale, nerfs to her abilities along with overarching changes to the game actually dragged down her viability compared to other characters.
The April 7 patch “buffed” the Legend with a new Passive that allows her to search through specially-marked Blue Bins for additional health items, weapon attachments, and knockdown shields that others don’t have access to.
However, this was overshadowed by another change – a nerf to Low Profile. A few Legends have this Passive, including Lifeline, which makes them more difficult to hit. To balance that, any damage that is taken gets increased by 5%.
In the Old Ways update, Respawn adjusted this ability so that limb shots on Low Profile characters “now deal as much damage as body shots.”
Needless to say, this tweak makes Lifeline susceptible to taking a lot more damage, and, as a result, players are concerned that the cons of using her now outweigh the pros.
“My least favorite part of these changes is that they are moving Lifeline from being a ‘Combat Medic’ to being a supplier of utility to her teammates,” Reddit user ‘StupidEnclave’ said. “At this point, her sole purpose is to make sure the teammates can fight, not yourself.”
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What’s more – the buffs given to other Legends over the past few updates, like Gibraltar, have further pulled Lifeline down the pecking order.
“I made the switch from Lifeline to [Gibraltar] this season and haven’t looked back,” user ‘MrNiceDude’ said. “I’m actually a better healer now, I can res faster, protect from all angles [as opposed to Lifeline’s shield wall], and heal the whole team quicker… Lifeline is now useless and it makes me sad.”
The other Legends who have Low Profile – Wraith, Pathfinder, and Wattson – all have either a way to escape or defend themselves, so this change doesn’t impact them as much as Lifeline.
Wraith has her Into the Void tactical ability, Pathfinder can swing away with grappling hooks and ziplines, and even Wattson can at least wall off opponents and negate grenades.
Lifelife has D.O.C. and a Care Package, neither of which can help her from getting bursted down in a pinch, which can be even more deadly following the update.
It remains to be seen whether Respawn will consider this community feedback and give the Combat Medic a boost in the next patch. Until then, you’re probably better off not using her.