In a recent Reddit AMA, a designer at Respawn said that the lock-down Legend Caustic may get nerfed in the near future. This was in response to a question from a player who said that recent buffs to Caustic have caused competitive play to “suffer immensely” due to his abilities. Associate Live Balance Designer John Larson called Caustic “undeniably strong” and said that the Legend may receive some attention in the future.
“Good question. I think ever since the change to gas allowed teammates to play in gas with relatively no repercussions, there was a lot of unrealised potential that was quickly tapped into within the past couple months,” Larson said, in part. “Caustic is undeniably strong and has the highest win rate in matches that last longer than 20 minutes. Caustic plays a unique role as a defensive legend that can act offensively in certain scenarios, and we have to make sure we tweak him in a way that removes frustration without hurting how it feels to play as Caustic.”
For much of his Apex career, Caustic was considered one of the least powerful Legends in the game. Apex is a highly mobile shooter, and Caustic’s kit specializes in area-control, meaning that his abilities tend to become more useful as the game’s area of play dwindles. However, as Larson mentioned, recent buffs have rendered our gas-throwing friend far more powerful, particularly a change from May 2020 that removed his gas traps’ slow-down effect from affecting his teammates.
Some players have opined that this Caustic buff and the recent release of the explosive expert Fuse have made Apex more like Overwatch, where ability use is just as important as twitch reflexes. In response, Larson says that Respawn is looking at all the synergies possible between Legends and will adjust them as needed. In other Apex news, the game’s next gun will be unique, and a recent hotfix revealed that Kings Canyon will only be around until February 9 instead of February 16.
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