Apex Legends dev explains why Airdrop Escalation won’t be permanent
The new Airdrop Escalation LTM has brought some changes to the supply drops in Apex Legends. Some players are concerned about how this would affect care packages, so the devs responded.
The new Fight Night Collection Event finally went live on January 5 and brought many changes to Apex Legends Season 7. This includes an heirloom for Gibraltar and a brand new LTM called Airdrop Escalation.
The LTM has replaced the normal game mode and will provide you with an increased number of supply drops containing different tiers of fully-knitted weapons. This can lead to players receiving extremely powerful gear in the midst of battle.
Some fans were worried that this system may stay in the game for good and cause it to become unbalanced. The developers took notice of this and addressed fan concerns.
Respawn EntertainmentThe Airdrop Escalation LTM isn’t permanent in Apex Legends
The quality of the gear that you can obtain from the LTM’s supply drops increases later in the match. While you might get something useful early one, the drops will contain Evo Shields and high tier guns that give the wielder a huge advantage during late-game.
This serves as a major change to the loot game of Apex Legends. The LTM will reward players who find supply drops later in the match by making them more powerful than others. While this works as a temporary feature, some players don’t want it to stick around for good.
Reddit user shiba219808 shared a YouTube comment complaining about how Airdrop Escalation “breaks late-game fights,” with the hopes that the developers will take notice. This caught the attention of Lead Game Designer Daniel Klein, who then chimed in.
“We really don’t wanna mess with the loot game of the base BR to this degree permanently,” said Klein. “There are issues that we’re seeing now already around high saturation of red guns deciding late-game fights.”
The devs made it clear that this is not a permanent feature. “The loot game is the beating heart of a BR,” says Daniel. “You better have a really good reason to make a change of this magnitude, and I don’t see one.”
A few players mentioned that the game mode is still enjoyable, but could use some fine-tuning to improve upon its current issues.
“I actually enjoy the game mode,” said one user, “-but maybe to quell some of the issues you should make it that it only goes up to purple, and then reverts to regular care packages after that round? I feel like early and mid-game it is fine as is, but late game they shouldn’t be dropping.”
Luckily, Respawn Entertainment currently has no plans to shake up the loot game of Apex Legends anytime soon. With Fight Night well underway, we’re getting plenty of close looks at what to expect in the future, such as a new Legend.
Image Credits: Respawn Entertainment
