Apex Legends’ New Map Makes A Strong Case For Two Dropships

Mo’ map, mo’ dropships

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Storm Point is Apex Legends’ biggest map yet, and after a week of non-stop action on the wildlife-filled climes, I’ve realised one thing: it might be too big. Obviously we don’t want another Kings Canyon on our hands, as its small size creates more third parties than Fuse has grenades, but developer Respawn needs to find a happy medium without simply recreating World’s Edge and Olympus with new textures.

A big map isn’t necessarily a bad thing – after all, Storm Point has plenty of choke points to slide through and Gravity Cannons allow teams to swiftly reposition without spending the whole match running away from the ring (or Prowlers, for that matter). However, there’s one addition that could make the start of matches more evenly spread: a second dropship.

As it stands, there are some areas on the map that are inaccessible from the current dropship – if it’s flying over the southern half of Storm Point, you won’t be able to reach POIs like North Pad, Highpoint, or Lightning Rod. There’s plenty of space in the remaining map for all 20 teams, but some of the more popular landing spots can feel crowded. Dropping hot can be fun in public matches, but it’s not usually the best tactic if you’re trying to climb the ranked ladder, where contesting a POI early-game is practically a 50/50 no matter how skilled you are. A second dropship covering the other half of the map would spread teams more evenly at the start of matches, solving the scrambles for the best loot at the most popular places.

It’s practically a given that every map will have more popular drop spots (usually somewhere central with plenty of loot) and Storm Point is no different. Kings Canyon had Skull Town (rip), World’s Edge has Fragment East, and Storm Point has Barometer and Antenna. However, another dropship arriving from the opposite direction could split the lobby and those initial fights could be more winnable, there may be fewer third parties, and contesting a spot in ranked might not be the death wish it once was.

If half the lobby drops early at Antenna and the other half arrives from the opposite side, dropping early at The Mill for instance, fights are broken up and you might see more teams make it to the final circle. We’ve all been in a World’s Edge ranked match that’s down to ten teams before round one begins due to half the lobby dying in Fragment. Another dropship could help prevent that from happening, and create more exciting endgames across all the Apex Legends maps.

A second dropship would be even more vital if Storm Point was ever included in the game’s esports scene, however. Teams competing in the Apex Legends Global Series arrange which POIs they’ll land at prior to a tournament, so that everyone can thoroughly loot up before taking a fight. Contesting a POI in a tournament is nearly always bad news for both parties, but what if you can’t reach your chosen spot from the dropship? Would you have to land in an unnamed location with mediocre loot? Or contest another team for a chance of getting a decent gun?

As the battle royale esports scene – and Apex Legends in particular – is rife with complaints that RNG plays too much of a factor in tournament results, another random element that could deny teams their preferred landing spot is asking for trouble.

There’s no guarantee that Storm Point will ever become a competitive map, but it seems to have been designed with that in mind. After all, the man who designed it, Rodney Reece, also designed the only map to feature in the ALGS to date, World’s Edge.

Players have made numerous suggestions to help dropping into the bigger map, from raising the height of the dropship, to having set routes for it to follow. But adding a second ship seems like it solves the problem perfectly by simultaneously letting players reach every POI and easing the congestion that is synonymous with the most popular spots.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/apex-legends-two-dropships/