Valkyrie has been stealth nerfed in Apex Legends Season 13 by a map change that prevents her from using her jets Passive in “out of bounds” areas.
Over the last few seasons, Valkyrie has skyrocketed in popularity and established herself as a meta character in Apex Legends.
With the ability to rotate an entire squad, cause AoE disruption with her rockets, and pilot an incredible amount of mobility from her Passive, she’s extremely powerful in the right player’s hands.
As a result, a lot of the community was counting on a nerf to the Winger Avenger in the Season 13 update, but Respawn decided to make no direct changes to her kit.
Instead, they’ve made adjustments to “out of bounds” locations on every single map, stealth nerfing Valk’s ability to fly into areas that were not intended to be reachable.
Valkyrie stealth nerfed in Apex Legends Season 13
While the entirety of Valkyrie’s kit is strong, it’s her VTOL Jets Passive that’s the primary source of her power, as it offers an unrivaled amount of mobility in a gunfight.
Not only that, in Season 12, it allowed players to reach overpowered rat spots in out-of-bounds areas, and hover outside the map for extended amounts of time.
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Well, Respawn has decided that these techniques are unfair and has made major changes to out-of-bounds areas, indirectly nerfing Valk in Saviors.
When in out-of-bounds areas in Season 13, players will no longer be able to use, Legend abilities, weapons, consumables, or any active Passives like Valk’s jets.
Overall, these changes have been received positively by the community, with countless players describing it as the “perfect” nerf to the Winged Avenger without touching her kit: “It’s literally the perfect nerf to Valk without actually nerfing her”.
Some players even think this adjustment will have a positive impact on the ALGS, where Valk was often used in the final ring to buy as much time as possible in out of bound areas: “This will def make ALGS final ring fights more interesting… can’t just rat in the air as Valk anymore on a cliff.”
Either way, it’ll be interesting to see whether these changes will be enough to balance Valk and make her less of an “oppressive” Legend in Season 13, or whether Respawn will have to nerf her directly later in Saviors.