Apex Legends dev details Olympus changes & Icarus POI for Season 9: Legacy update
As we edge closer to the Apex Legends Legacy update, Respawn Entertainment’s lead level designer provided fans a more detailed look into Infested Olympus and the new POI, Icarus.
Respawn Entertainment has been pumping out news around Apex Legends recently, with the official gameplay reveal of the new season, Legacy.
On top of a whole new mode, weapon, and Legend, Apex Legends has also just released a walkthrough of all the changes coming to Olympus in Apex Legends: Legacy.
Apex Legends: Legacy is set to be the biggest season released by Respawn Entertainment since its launch back in 2019. Legacy isn’t just bringing meta changes, a new Legend, and the Arena mode, it is also bringing a huge change to Olympus with Icarus.
Last week players saw ships in the sky on Olympus, teasing what’s to come in Legacy. Apex Legends developer Dave Osei has officially revealed the details behind these invading ships and how they will be changing Olympus.
Dave Osei starts by stating their goals for Olympus in Legacy, and how they wanted to change it for the better: “we knew Olympus launched with fewer points of interest (POIs) than our previous maps, so we wanted to tackle that first and lay the seeds for future content.”
This is also something that we saw with World’s Edge, as after its introduction in Season 3, we saw a huge amount of updates to the map, adding numerous POIs and content through the following seasons.
Apex Legends Legacy: Icarus POI
The Icarus POI will be located between Bonsai Plaza, Solar Array, and Orbital Cannon, replacing the unnamed smaller buildings the developers are calling “Crossroads.”
This location is currently a bit of an odd spot, as it almost acts as a stop-off point in between the surrounding locations, sometimes spawning a beacon for survey characters to scan.
The Apex Legends developer doesn’t fully explain why they chose this location specifically, however, it seems they may have felt Crossroads had too many long lines of sight to multiple locations.
The Icarus will block most of these lines of sight, perhaps reducing the number of third parties in the area, although players will still be able to take advantage of the height outside of Bonsai Plaza.
The Icarus will house an abundance of loot, with “four large rooms” full of items. On top of this, the Icarus will also feature a locked room at the front of the ship filled with high-tier loot much like the vaults in World’s edge.
To access this room players must find the “Bridge Keycard”, which will spawn randomly on one of the leftover scientist’s bodies aboard the Icarus.
Inside this room, players will also be able to gain a great vantage point over Solar Array, allowing squads to plan their rotation effectively. Dave Osei does warn players that the keycard can be stolen from your deathbox, so be wary of ambushes.
Smaller changes to Olympus
Dave Osei also went through some of the smaller changes they decided to implement for Olympus in the Legacy update, including the removal of certain redeploy balloons.
The devs feel as if the Trident, Olympus’ exclusive vehicle, is a powerful rotation tool allowing them to remove some of the redeploy beacons in an attempt to reduce third parties.
The redeploy beacon outside of Gardens has been removed as David describes it as “too powerful of a rotation option with few drawbacks,” allowing players to drop on unsuspecting enemies in multiple locations.
The other balloon to get removed is the one outside of Orbital Cannon, which is in light of the new POI Icarus, as it has increased its potential in terms of rotating to a third party. This balloon was considered fine when the map still had Crossroads in it, but since the Infested Olympus change the devs wanted to get players focussing on the two Tridents located there rather than the redeploy balloon.
Lastly, the redeploy balloons at Solar Array and Energy Depot have been reduced in height to again reduce third-partying and increase intentional rotations.
For more on Apex Legends Legacy update, stay tuned on Charlie INTEL and check out our article on the Season 8 ranked rewards and split dates for Legacy.
Image Credits: Respawn Entertainment
