ItвЂ™s an issue thatвЂ™s plagued other titles, and Apex Legends isnвЂ™t immune. While itвЂ™s not terribly prevalent, IвЂ™m concerned how this could continue to evolve as more players adapt and further develop their tap-strafe mechanics.вЂќД¬ontroller favoritism has been the reactionary response to the tap strafe debacle by the Apex Legends community. вЂњTap-strafes are being used in engagements, but they have terrible readability and limited counterplayвЂ¦ IвЂ™ve seenвЂ¦ players breaking ankles with victims (including high-skill players) at a loss for what to do. This may be what Larson means when he discusses inaccessibility: It funnels both player expectation and growth into a very narrow direction. It feels like Apex devs understand that players will improve at their game with time, but improving at tap strafing, characters that can abuse the technique, and aiming with guns that favor close range are not the player improvements devs want to see. With tap strafe existing, it funnels competitive players into a gameplay approach that limits their options and may undermine their agency, such as playing with their favorite character or using their favorite gun. Larson reiterates this thought by asking вЂњcan you imagine how much weвЂ™d have to buff defensive character abilities to stand a fighting chance?вЂќ Characters like Caustic, Rampart, and Gibraltar that can define the line of scrimmage (for lack of a better term) lose value in how they can influence a firefight when holding a position is arguably the weakest response to an opponent. Positioning doesnвЂ™t matter if people can frequently and effectively reposition with little risk. The natural consequences (the frontline, positioning, approaches/retreat options, flanks, etc.) become muddy when extreme movement exists. LarsonвЂ™s comments make sense from a design perspective. How is third party rate affected by mobility? Within a fight, how are frontlines defined? How quickly can I close the gap on an enemy? The game is designed to work well with a finite number of movement possibilities.вЂќ Why donвЂ™t we do more of that? Well, over timeвЂ¦ mobility creep opens a pandoraвЂ™s box. Mobility creep is something to be very mindful of in this gameвЂ¦ ItвЂ™s not surprising mobility legends are highly popular. This interaction is something Larson makes note of: вЂњPath grappling past and tap-strafing back into your face with a Mastiff, or Octane cranking 90s while maintaining ridiculous speed, bring up greater gameplay concerns. Both Pathfinder and Octane benefit from the precise re-direction tap strafing offers, allowing them to outmaneuver their opponents and catch them unaware completely. The change Larson describes sounds like the mouse wheel method wonвЂ™t deliver such precise mid-air turns that allow for insane, flashy outplays from characters like Pathfinder and Octane.

Movement should feel unchanged for controllers and for MnK (mouse and keyboard) players who hadnвЂ™t heard of the term вЂtap-strafeвЂ™ until yesterdayвЂ¦ The goal is to remove some of the sharpness in momentum conservation around 90В° + anglesвЂ¦ Things like wall-bounce redirect back onto that same wall should feel unchanged, but movement afforded by scroll-wheel strafing will be removed.вЂќ In a TwilongerВ posted to his Twitter account, Larson noted that the change to tap strafing would be an adjustment to вЂњmultiple rapid directional commands after jumping. Read: - John Larson | JayBiebs September 1, 2021

Strafe design