A controversial exploit has been discovered in Apex Legends’ respawn system, allowing players to easily gain purple and red shields for their entire team without engaging in combat. The exploit was first reported by JSavageW, a professional player for EMEA’s Forge, who expressed concerns about the potential problems it could bring to the upcoming ranked season.
In a Twitch stream on October 31, JSavageW demonstrated the exploit with his teammates Faenex and Slayers. Slayers jumped off Storm Point, leaving behind his purple shields in his deathbox. JSavageW picked up the shields and Slayers’ banner before also jumping off. Finally, Faenex used a respawn beacon to revive them, resulting in both allies being brought back with two new purple shields, fully equipping the entire team in less than a minute.
Prior to Season 19, revived players would only spawn with white shields and a few consumable items for survival. However, the patch notes for Season 19 introduced changes that allowed revived players to spawn with their weapons, a small amount of ammo, and the last shields they had before dying. This change opened up the possibility for players to exploit the system and duplicate multiple shields.
When the patch notes were released, many professional players and community members expressed concerns about the potential for abuse. They pointed out that despite Respawn’s good intentions, the new system could be easily exploited with little risk or counterplay.
The issue becomes even more problematic when players take advantage of NPC enemies on certain maps, such as Storm Point. By damaging Spiders and Prowlers, players can quickly gain evo damage and obtain red shields for their entire team without having to engage in combat with enemy players or squads.
Minustempo, player manager for TSM, reported that his team was able to obtain full red shields within three minutes of landing, even before the first round had finished closing. This was achieved through a combination of loot luck and evo damage gained from damaging NPCs. The exploit allowed them to gain a significant health advantage without having to fight any enemy players.
If Respawn does not address this issue with a hotfix, players will continue to exploit it in ranked matches. This could lead to an unfair playing field, with solo queue players facing overwhelming health advantages from coordinated teams.
Suggestions from JSavageW and other community members include removing any guns or items taken out by teammates to prevent duplication. However, until Respawn acknowledges the issue and takes action, players are left with the dilemma of either facing an overwhelming shield disadvantage or using the exploit themselves to level the playing field.
Dot Esports has reached out to Respawn for comment on whether there will be any changes to address the exploit.
Source: DOTESPORTS
