Apex Legends' Lifeline Will be Reworked in a "Sidegrade"

Apex Legends players aren't too happy with the situation surrounding the medic Lifeline is at the moment. While a fair few players feel like she's a largely redundant character, one Apex Legends dev has provided some neat insight into how the team at Respawn views the character.

Carlos Pineda, lead game designer at Respawn, commented on Lifeline in a few tweets this week. Pineda says that although players feel like Lifeline is in need of a buff, she's actually one of the more popular characters in the game, and Respawn has the statistics to back it up.

So, the team at Respawn don't want to "upgrade" Lifeline, because she's already one of the favorite picks in Apex Legends, with a top-tier win rate and kill-to-death ratio to match. Instead, as Pineda says, they're looking to "sidegrade" the medic character, changing her abilities around so she feels unique and new, while not necessarily more powerful. Currently Lifeline is one of the more overt "medics" in the game: her tactical ability summons a drone to heal nearby teammates, and her ultimate ability summons a care package with elite-tier weapons and armor items from above.

But for all those out there that think Lifeline needs a rework, the Apex team at Respawn is working away on just that. As Pineda's final tweet reads, a rework for Lifeline is currently being planned out at Respawn, even if it is an incredibly difficult and precarious problem to tackle. "In the meantime," Pineda writes, "you can feel better about picking Lifeline, knowing you're still in good hands!"

Apex Legends just launched Season 5: Fortune's Favor earlier this week, introducing the thief Loba to the game. There's also the inclusion of unique story events for the first time in Respawn's battle royale game, and it might just be the most significant update for Apex Legends since it first launched.