What does the new Apex Legends character Valkyrie bring to Season 9's Legacy update? In a word: Jetpacks!
That's the core word and idea that the team over at Respawn Entertainment and EA had in mind while envisioning Valkyrie. That one word sums up the character's exhilarating and liberating gameplay, so they built her entire kit around the jetpack itself. And soon enough, you'll get a chance to try out the new Legend's abilities for yourself!
But to give you a head start on the competition, we're here to break down the new passives and ultimates for Valkyrie, along with some pro tips from the team behind the scenes. With air superiority, you might think that this character is an automatic OP and meta-changer. She might well be. But the Respawn team was also careful to provide Valkyrie with fast and fun mechanics balanced against vulnerabilities that levels the playing ground. Find out how all that works below:
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Valkyrie, a.k.a. Kairi Imahara, is the daughter of infamous Titanfall 2 pilot and mercenary Viper. She enters Apex Legends in Season 9's Legacy as the team asks, what do the legacies of Titanfall soldiers mean for the Apex Legends?
The developers were also careful to balance Valkyrie's abilities (which will explore more below) in order to keep it fair and balanced for the other Legends in the game. In other words, yes, Valkyrie may fly around the map, but opponents will also have plenty of chances to shoot her down if you don't use her skills properly. She's a good option for players who like to go high and fast (if she's too OP, she'll be nerfed), but be careful about when you activate your jetpack "lest you turn from a Valkyrie to a clay pigeon," as Lead Game Designer Daniel Klein put it.
Valkyrie's passives, skills, and abilities include:
Passive kit:
- Recon Class - Valkyrie can scout ring locations with survey beacons, especially higher-up ones
- VTAL Jets (jetpack) - Turn them on by double jumping and you'll auto fly up and forward with the option of manual hovering. There's lots of counter-play baked in (a limited amount of jet fuel, long cooldown, etc.) and they are LOUD, revealing your location to enemies in a large radius. Also, when you're flying, you're not behind cover and you have a predictable flightpath. You also have limited combat options when flying and there's a bit of a cooldown from disengaging jetpack before weapons are live. You won't have access to grenades in flight, but you can use your ultimate missile swarm as a tactical weapon; more on that in a minute.
- Jet-fighter HUD - This phase will pop up after diving or flying. It's not quite a Bloodhound scan and won't show enemies hiding in buildings, but it will mark enemies that can be seen with a direct, uninterrupted line of sight; squadmates also benefit from these target callouts.
Ultimates:
- Hellfire - This "mini-bangalore ultimate" paints a grid of targets before firing rockets at them. Targets will want to sidestep to avoid the missiles since they'll do a good amount of damage, just short of lethal, but Stun applies.
- Skyward Dive - This Evac move allows Valkyrie and her team to reposition together (though it's not always easy to herd your teammates together to hook up and fly). Once airborne, teammates will be able to detach and fly back down to reposition themselves elsewhere on the map. (Pro Tip: Go up for a solo Ultimate or use a jump tower to scout for your team before pushing, temporarily putting your team at a 3v2 disadvantage but giving them the tactical edge.
Keep an eye out for the Apex Legends - Legacy update on May 4th.