New Apex Legends character Vantage comes with her own custom sniper rifle
And her bat companion is like Loba's bracelet, but better
Apex Legends: Hunted is soon to release, and leading the charge is Vantage - the youngest Legend ever inducted (or abducted) into the Apex Games. Vantage hails from the icy world of Pagos, and her skills as a sharpshooter are borne out in her three powerful abilities - not least of which is her custom sniper rifle Ultimate, which she can bring out before the ability has even fully charged in order to snipe enemies and mark them for increased damage for her entire team.
Take a closer look at her dangerous-sounding abilities in the new Apex Legends vignette trailer below.
It's early days for predictions, but so far it seems like Vantage may end up being a very strong addition to the Apex Legends characters roster. Her Spotter's Lens Passive ability provides some amazing detail for both ranked and unranked players alike, allowing you to scope in on an enemy and see the colour of their Evo Shield, the number of players in their team, and a bullet drop indicator for long-ranged scopes.
This dovetails perfectly with her Ultimate, Sniper's Mark, which gives Vantage the use of her own custom sniper rifle, modified from an old predecessor of the Sentinel. What's interesting is that this Ultimate ability doesn't charge up like regular Ultimates. Instead, she can use it at pretty much any time, but leaving the Ultimate charging for longer increases the number of shots she can fire one after the other, up to a total of 5 shots.
It's a pretty punchy rifle too, dealing 50 damage with the first shot on an enemy, but marking them for increased damage in the process. For the next 10 seconds after being shot, that enemy will take a bit of extra damage from Vantage's teammates, and a whopping 100 damage from each subsequent shot of Vantage's Ult. Sounds like a lot of long-ranged damage potential for any player with good quickscoping skills.
Then there's Vantage's Tactical ability, Echo Relocation, which adds the very first animal companion ever introduced into the Apex Games. Apparently it took quite a bit of fighting and pushing on Vantage's part to get the game runners to agree to let Vantage's little bat friend Echo into the Games alongside her, but they capitulated when she said she wouldn't fight without him. At a moment's notice, Vantage can send Echo to a nearby location, and then by using the ability again, she will engage her jetpacks and fly quickly to Echo's position.
It not only provides Vantage with a great way of closing the distance between her team and the enemy after dealing some good ranged damage, but it also looks to provide her with quite a lot of mobility options. For one, she can cancel out of the jetpack jump early. For another, she can double-jump before landing, a bit like Octane's Launch Pad. And thirdly, after sending Echo out she can choose not to fly there at all. She's not committed to the action like, say, Loba would be with her bracelet. Sounds like Echo is going to be a pretty powerful companion - particularly since he can't be harmed or killed by enemies to disrupt the ability. He's far too cute for the devs to allow that.
Season 14's release will also bring back Kings Canyon with a host of changes, and quite a few interesting weapon balance updates. The new season drops on Tuesday 9th August, so if you want to brush up on your Apex skills before then, be sure to check out our Apex Legends tips and tricks guide.