Apex Legends received the Flashpoint update earlier this week, introducing a brand-new limited-time mode called Flashpoint and kicking off the cross-play beta. However, the update also made a surprising change to everyone's favorite Legend, Wraith. Up until now, Wraith had a unique running animation which looked identical to the popular Anime character Naruto. In fact, Wraith's running animation was an easter egg referring to Naruto, and it's saddening to see that the animation has now been removed.
Wraith's previous running animation caused the Legend to hunch over, thereby making her a small target to hit. Now, Wraith's running animation is similar to other legends, and her hitbox seems to have been changed as well. Since Wraith already had a high win rate, the Legend had to get balanced out some way, and now it seems that Respawn had to bid goodbye to the Legend's running animation.
Wraith has previously seen various adjustments, including a reduction of her speed when using her portal, as well as an increase in time to activate her Into the Void tactical ability. There's no doubt that despite these changes, Wraith has remained a strong Legend out of the current roster of 14 Legends.
Even developer Respawn wasn't happy to let go of the iconic running animation. In the patch notes for the Flashpoint update, Respawn stated that although the team is not happy in making this change to Wraith, it introduces new buffs to the Legend if the removal of the animation affects her performance in games.
The new update also introduced a limited-time mode called Flashpoint. In Flashpoint, there are no healing items, but there are now specific healing zones on the map. Players need to reach these zones after a fight to heal themselves. However, other squads may also enter this zone, leading to a new fight within the zone. Flashpoint is a new mode in Apex Legends and it's a really interesting take on the BR genre.
Apex Legends is free-to-play on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game is also in development for Nintendo Switch.
