Tap strafe removed Patch#
Tap strafe removed Pc#

While it’s not terribly prevalent, I’m concerned about how this could continue to evolve as more players adapt and further develop their tap-strafe mechanics. Secondly, tap-strafes have terrible readability and limited counter play. Path grapples and Octane pads aside, I’ve seen clips of players breaking ankles with victims (including high-skill players) who are at a loss for what to do. By “inaccessible,” we mean that it’s an opaque technique that’s practically impossible to learn organically (and the most egregious examples require a strange keybind).

The first issue: it’s highly inaccessible. Even in a M&K-only Apex world, or a scenario where controller and M&K could tap-strafe just the same, we don’t believe it would be a healthy change with the freedom it currently allows, for three main reasons: This is why we believe tap-strafing exists solely as a design problem. But, accessibility isn’t the same as balance design, and it’s a strawman argument to treat it as such.” When people say, “Gee dang it, Respawn’s balancing decisions cater to controller players,” the best answer I have is: “When it comes to accessibility, we often must consider controller players given the constraints compared to M&K.

Players should not feel forced to use a specific input type to stay competitive When top-level controller players say they would be alright with nerfing aim assist, we definitely take note. As Apex and its players evolve, it’s only prudent for us to continue to evaluate whether or not aim assist needs adjustment. Since tap-strafing is a unique M&K mechanic, many platforms have asked about our approach to controller-specific systems like aim assist. Things like wall-bounce redirects back onto that same wall should feel unchanged, but movement afforded by scroll-wheel strafing will be removed. That’s what I’m thinking of when I use the term “tap-strafe” throughout this post. Our goal is to remove some of the sharpness in momentum conservation around 90°+ angles. Thanks to the work of a couple of our engineers, this is now easily tunable on the fly, and we have the ability to iterate on or even revert it completely without a client update. Movement should feel unchanged for controllers and for M&K (mouse-and-keyboard) players who hadn’t heard of the term “tap-strafe” until this week. To be more explicit, this change targets multiple rapid directional commands after jumping. Internally, we generally use it to describe what many associate with scroll-wheel strafing. Tap-strafing is a term associated with different sorts of movement, depending on who you ask. Apex Legends is currently in its 10th season (subtitled Emergence), and developers already nerfed the new character Emergence introduced with a mid-August patch.Earlier this week, we announced our intention to “remove tap-strafing,” a decision that was met with surprise by many movement enthusiasts.

Tap strafe removed Patch#

Respawn didn’t give any indication what change, if any, will be coming when tap-strafing is addressed, when that will be, or when the next patch will even launch.

Tap strafe removed Pc#

PC players, by default, are matched with other PC players, and although some choose to use a gamepad, players said Respawn should implement input-based matchmaking and leave tap-strafing alone. Still others disputed that the mixed population of PC and console players was a meaningful reason for the change. A big example of that is the Launch Pad ultimate that Octane can deploy, as the double-jump it enables makes tap-strafing even more effective.Īpex Legends players at first jeered the change, saying that tap-strafing as an advantage to keyboard-and-mouse players countered the aim assist advantage exclusive to gamepad users. The move also “lacks readability/counterplay, and is exacerbated by movement abilities,” the studio said. Two weeks ago, Respawn called tap-strafing “inaccessible” to most of the audience in a game that fully supports cross-platform play. The inputs necessary to tap-strafe can also be bound to different buttons (or the scroll wheel) on a gaming mouse, making the turns easier to pull off. The move is a hard turn, executed in midair, which is commonly used by keyboard-and-mouse players on Apex Legends’ PC version.

31, Respawn said tap-strafing’s days were numbered. “After further testing, we’ve concluded we need to take more time to get this right to make sure related movement mechanics aren’t caught in the crossfire,” Respawn Entertainment wrote on Twitter. The studio on Monday said it had “discovered some unexpected side effects” and is “delaying our planned change to a later patch.” Apex Legends developers are putting brakes on their plans to eliminate “tap-strafing,” a movement meta-tactic skilled players use to be even more mobile.