- Developers defend their decision to keep Pathfinder’s passive for now
- They say they are currently brainstorming how to change it
- Many fans see his current passive ability as redundant
In a recent Reddit AMA, Apex Legends developers answered many questions about the game’s weapons and abilities, with Pathfinder’s passive taking center stage in the discussion.
Developers Answer Fans’ Questions
Competitive games often require patches to keep different aspects of the game well-balanced. Apex Legends is no exception and EA is constantly rolling out changes to keep older characters balanced as new ones get added to the game. But sometimes some legends don’t seem to get the attention they need. According to fans, one of these is Pathfinder, whom the devs continue to refuse to give a new passive ability.
In a recent Reddit AMA, several of the Apex Legends developers answered questions about the various weapon and legend changes that fans had. A prominent theme was Pathfinder’s lack of updates to his passive ability.
Reddit user Moosemaster21 reminded that many seasons ago Pathfinder was given a temporary passive while a real one was being brainstormed. He then asked the question “Are y’all still brainstorming, or have you decided Pathfinder doesn’t deserve a real passive?”
Apex developer McGuire answered the comment, explaining the process behind the development of abilities, noting that the team is well aware of the way fans view Pathfinder’s passive. “We're very aware of this perception of Pathfinder, and we've heard numerous suggestions of new Passives from the team and the community,” McGuire wrote.
The developer said that it will take a lot more time before Pathfinder gets a new passive. McGuire said that the team does not want to make brash decisions that will make the legend unbalanced. “We are looking at it, but we don't want to slap a new passive on a Legend who is already well-liked,” he wrote,” powerful and performing well at the risk of adding to his already potent combat power or shifting development time that is needed to service other Legends or meta concerns when there's no immediate need.”
Fans Don’t Seem Happy
Despite the developers’ reassurances that Pathfinder is being worked on, many fans seem to want change sooner. Others suggest that the answer is a half-measure. “Lemme translate that for yall “we have no ideas and it's become a running joke in meetings, he's not getting one lole”,” wrote one commenter.
Many players want Pathfinder to have a new passive, as his current one is seen as a redundancy. It’s called Insider Knowledge and lets Pathfinder scan survey beacons. Every time he does that the cooldown of his ultimate is permanently reduced for that match and is also instantly charged. Initially, only Pathfinder was able to scan survey beacons, but the ability has since been granted to all legends in the Recon category. This leads many players to think Pathfinder needs a new more unique passive.
