Apex Legends' Season 8 is coming to a close, and some details are already being revealed about Season 9. The new Season of Respawn Entertainment's free-to-play Battle Royale will be entitled Legacy as a reference to the new Legend that will be joining the ranks of the Apex Legends.
Revealed in the recent Stories from the Outlands - Northstar trailer, Valkyrie will be the seventeenth Legend added to the game. Fan theories in the run up to her reveal indicated that Viper, a prominent character from Titanfall 2, would be the next Legend. These theories weren't entirely off the mark, however, as Valkyrie is Viper's daughter. She will bring an entirely new set of abilities to the Apex Games, which have already been revealed by dataminers.
Valkyrie's Passive and Core Abilities
Valkyrie's abilities in Apex Legends were retrieved by dataminers from the game's 1.66 update. Given the time between the update and the future release of Season 9, it's almost certain that these abilities won't be quite the same in their final form. However, they do offer an insight into the philosophy behind Valkyrie and her theme as a character:
Passive Ability: VTOL Jets
According to the datamined information, Valkyrie's passive ability is called VTOL Jets. This ability activates when holding jump, allowing Valkyrie to hover in the air. This ability could greatly increase Valkyrie's maneuverability, allowing her to cross large gaps and access higher areas. However, if the speed of the hovering movement is slow, it could also leave her vulnerable to other players.
Tactical Ability: Cluster Missile
Valkyrie's tactical ability is called Cluster Missile, which sounds somewhat similar to Fuse's ability Knuckle Cluster. Like Fuse's ability, Cluster Missile will create multiple small explosions, presumably covering a large area. However, unlike Knuckle Cluster, Cluster Missile will be fired rather than thrown, and therefore will likely have a much longer range. Probable uses of this ability will be flushing enemies out of cover and attacking tightly-clustered groups.
Valkyrie's Ultimate Ability
Of all Valkyrie's abilities that were revealed by datamining in Apex Legends, her Ultimate is perhaps the most interesting. Named Skyward, the ability will allow her to act as a mobile Jump Tower. While a common feature on all Apex Legends' maps, they allow players to zip-line to a high point and glide from the top. This gives a huge amount of mobility, allowing players to quickly cross the entire map, and it seems this can be done from anywhere now (as veteran players likely know the most common paths and patterns on most maps).
Valkyrie's Skyward ability seems to function similarly to one of these Jump Towers. First, she activates the device, which prepares to jump. At this point, friendly players can interact with her to join the jump. When Valkyrie activates the ability again, she, and all attached players, will be propelled high into the air. While vertical clearance is required for the ability to function, its uses are many and obvious. Whether quickly crossing to a new loot spot or escaping from a dangerous fight, Valkyrie's Skyward could be the heart of a mobile, well-organized Apex Legends team.
Apex Legends is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.