Season 9 of Apex Legends will bring with it plenty of changes and additions including a new weapon and seasonal balancing. The biggest addition, as with previous seasons, is the newest legend entering the fray and bringing new abilities for players to try out. The former pilot known as Valkyrie already has players excited for the game's newest season, but Respawn said it will be keeping an eye on her once she's out in the wild.
Apex Legends newest season, dubbed Legacy, will return players to Olympus after it has undergone a few changes. The Bocek Bow is the newest weapon coming with the season and will be the first bow in the game's weapons pool. It was also confirmed a new 3v3 arena mode is on its way.
Valkyrie appears to be the centerpiece of season 9 and players are curious how she may shake up the game's character meta. The game's developers at Respawn have shared their excitement for Valkyrie as well, teasing she will be a strong character right out of the gate. However, Apex Legends game designer Daniel Klein tried to temper expectations in case she is too strong out of the gate.
Klein responded to a comment on Reddit about Valkyrie by one fan saying they hoped she would be strong. In the post shared by Dexerto, Klein said she would be strong but followed by saying the Apex Legends team was worried if she was "too strong." He did not say anything more about Valkyrie's potential power when season 9 starts.
This type of concern is typical for any live service game currently using the seasonal update model, including Destiny 2 and Fortnite. Developers can do all the in-house balancing they want, but they don't get a better idea of how content plays until it is out in the wild.
Apex Legends is no different as the game has seen several changes to weapons, characters, and maps. A few characters have even undergone full reworks in order to address broken abilities or general play rate. Recon legend Crypto is rumored to be the next legend to undergo a rework in season 9 as he is one of the least played characters. However, Crypto is also a character with one of the higher win rates in the game as he is a favorite amongst highly skilled players. This puts Respawn in a tough position where they want to increase Crypto's play rate without hurting his appeal to high-level players.
It's this balancing act Respawn will need to do if Valkyrie proves to be too powerful when the season starts.
Apex Legends is currently available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with season 9 scheduled to release on May 4, 2020.
Source: Dexerto