Apex Legends is adding a new Evac Tower item to Apex Legends in Season 17
Apex Legends: Arsenal will see the addition of a new 'Survival Item', the Evac Tower.
This will be the third such item to enter the game, Mobile Respawn Beacons and Heat Shields have been in the game for some time. Players can still only carry one Survival Item, so the Evac Tower adds an extra decision for players to make.
Apex Evac Tower: What does it do?
The Evac Tower lets players place a Redeploy Balloon anywhere on the map. Yes, literally anywhere. You could, for instance, place one inside the new poi on Worlds Edge, Monument!
Dropping an Evac Tower into the world will result in a short wait as it deploys, but players can then zipline up and fly away. Just like built in Jump Towers. This will provide players the opportunity to rotate around the map, or either escape or pursue a fight.
The Evac Tower will have a hitbox and some health. Devs say it will require 'a concentrated effort' to destroy it. However, this will prevent some frustrating situations, especially in end games. Of course, you can also simply be shot off the tower or out of the air like usual as well. Therefore, this extra feature adds a bit more risk and reward when using the Evac Tower. Towers will also time out and expire, so don't worry about seeing a map covered in Apex's latest Survival Item when Arsenal drops next week.
Apex Evac Tower designed to help reduce Valkyrie usage
In the Apex Legends: Arsenal press event, Devs revealed that the introduction of the Evac Tower is designed to help encourage a greater variety of legend compositions.
While Valkyrie sits at a pretty average 4.8% pick rate at the moment, she is a near must-pick in Competitive Apex Legends. Ranging between 80-96% across tournaments for over a year. This competitive pick rate was hardly moved by nerfs to her Skyward Dive Ultimate.
Casual Apex Legends players will be pleased to see Respawn adding in creative alternatives for legends that cause a problem in pro play, rather than nerfing a legend too far.
The Evac Tower will share a bit of that power across all teams, reducing the reliance on Valkyrie. However an Evac Tower will not send you as high, and therefore as far, as a Skyward Dive. This still gives Valkyrie something to offer in Apex Legends.
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