Apex Legends: From The Rift reworks Lifeline

Apex Legends’ fifth anniversary isn’t just about moving forward with new and exciting content. That’s certainly a big part of it, but there’s more to it. It’s also about celebrating what helped make the game a phenomenon in the first place. Part of that is celebrating some of the game’s original characters. One of them is getting a major rework as part of season 23, titled From The Rift, and it’s the combat medicine Lifeline.

Apex Legends: From The Rift features an exciting new adaptation for Lifeline. She is the second member of the game’s original roster to be subsequently revamped Revenge all the way back in Season 18. As part of Lifeline’s rework, she receives updated skills to make her a more effective teammate. Part of that means making DOC, her healing drone, a more useful tool.

Lifeline can now use DOC as a passive ability, allowing her to pick it up and use it as a glider. Legend designer Evan Funnell noted that Lifeline has used DOC in this way in animated shorts and trailers, so the team has been working to make this possible in the game as well. Gliding with DOC makes it easier for players to stay close to their more mobile teammates and keep them healed.

DOC’s individual actions have also been upgraded. Lifeline’s tactical movement can now assign her drone to track a specific teammate, keeping them healed. It is possible to reassign DOC to a different ally at any time, which can be useful when an ally it is connected to meets its untimely demise.

Likewise, DOC has been revamped to become part of Lifeline’s Ultimate. Respawn has scrapped Lifeline’s previous Care Package and replaced it with a DOC-produced halo. The halo is able to neutralize all fire from outside and protect everyone inside. Everyone within the DOC halo will heal quickly. That is someoneso even if opponents somehow enter the halo, they will also be healed quickly. That said, this is a halo and not a dome. That means enemies can still attack from above by positioning themselves above the halo for an airstrike or by throwing a grenade inward.

All Apex Legends characters benefit from Lifeline’s upgrades. A new Heal Expert Perk is being made available to Support Legends, increasing a character’s speed when actively healing teammates. Meanwhile, a Revive Speed ​​Perk will be useful for anyone looking to revive teammates, getting them back into battle 25 percent faster and with a health boost.

There’s more for Apex Legends players to be excited about in Season 23. A balance patch will adjust several characters, Rift Relics will appear during sessions with special weapons and Boost Kits, a new Battle Pass will launch, and Respawn will continue to operate to the implementation of additional measures against fraud. Additionally, look for Trios Revival and Straight Shot Revival modes to return sometime next season for a limited time. The latest additions can all be found on the Apex Legends website. Look for Apex Legends: From The Rift to launch later today.

This preview is based on a developer briefing held via Discord.

Ozzie has been playing video games since he picked up his first NES controller at age 5. He has loved games ever since, but only took a short break during his college years. But he was pulled back after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping promote the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a huge fan of platformers, puzzlers, shooters and RPGs, to name just a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything that has a good, compelling story behind it. Because what are video games if you can’t enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?