Apex Legends devs are investigating potential aim-assist changes
Aim assist is one of the most controversial topics in the Apex Legends community, with countless players feeling as if the system designed to aid controller players is far too strong.
The feature is meant to balance out the power level of MnK and controller, as those on the sticks are limited in their movement and accuracy.
As a result, aim assist effectively helps you land significantly more shots, especially at close range while using an SMG.
Well, the Apex Legends developer has revealed it's looking into aim assist changes and is aware it’s causing problems in its current state.
Apex Legends dev “definitely” wants to make aim-assist changes
Click to enlargeDuring a press event ahead of Season 18, Design Director at Respawn Evan Nikolich was asked whether aim assist changes are coming.
While he confirmed no tweaks are scheduled for the Resurrection patch, his answer was definitely encouraging for anyone who thinks aim assist is too strong.
“We’re definitely looking at aim assist, we don’t have any changes at this time, it’s something we definitely want to address.
“I think it’s becoming more apparent that the reason the SMG meta is the way it is, is because of controller,” said Nikolich.
“It’s a challenge, it’s a technically complex system, it’s a technically deep system, and we’re going to have to unspool a lot of stuff to get to a point where we feel like it's in a better spot, if you could see how much code goes into a trigger pull it would probably blow your mind.”
Why is it taking so long for Respawn to change aim assist?
Click to enlargeWhile hearing that aim assist changes are being evaluated is brilliant news, some fans just want Respawn to take action right away.
Well, Lead Weapons Designer Eric Canavese shed some light on why the devs are so cautious when it comes to making aim assist changes.
“We’re messing with game feel and controller feel so it’s a very fragile system.
“We don’t want to make any silly changes too early and push them live, we want to really make sure the changes are healthy and an improvement to the game.”
This makes sense as controller players make up a huge proportion of the community, and tampering with their input is a huge risk for Respawn. Let’s just hope when the changes roll out, they balance out aim assist without comprising it completely.