Season 16 of Apex Legends introduced a new class system that divides legends into five categories: Assault, Skirmisher, Recon, Control, and Support. Each brings special class abilities to the table, changing the dynamics of engagements and rotations in Apex Legends. Assault legends carry more ammo and have access to unique red loot bins, Skirmishers can reveal care packages from afar, Recon legends can reveal enemy locations with Survey Beacons, and Control legends can reveal the next Ring location with Ring Consoles. But Support legends garnered particular attention because their class ability seemed like it was potentially the most game-changing.
Beyond the ability to access unique blue bins, Support legends could now craft the respawn banners of their fallen teammates at Replicators. For the low price of 30 Materials, Support legends could acquire their squad mates' banners without needing to recover them by hand, even if the banners had timed out. Prior to release, this was viewed as a massive change to a core mechanic of the game and a major character buff to support legends. But so far, it hasn't had much impact on gameplay. While many were hopeful that Support legends would be invaluable squad mates in Season 16, so far this new ability hasn't lived up to player expectations.
Why Crafting Banners Could be Invaluable in Apex Legends
Season 16 was an unusual season for Apex Legends. Instead of adding a new character, Respawn reworked the class system, focusing on adjusting gameplay rather than expanding it. When Respawn released the patch notes for Season 16, players noted that the ability to craft banners would likely prove invaluable in Ranked gameplay. Recovering a teammate's banner is a risky but crucial move, as it forces teammates to throw themselves into the fray in order to prevent 2v3 matchups for the remainder of the game.
Before Season 16, players only had a handful of options for recovering banners. Legends like Crypto could retrieve them remotely using his drone and players developed legend-specific tricks to save Apex Legends teammates' banners from hard-to-reach areas. Now, not only could Support legends recover banners from afar, but they could even circumvent the 90-second timer before a banner expires permanently.
For only 30 Materials, Support legends can craft one or two teammate banners simultaneously at any Replicator. This makes the crafting system introduced in Apex Legends Season 6 even more valuable than it already was. With banners in hand, all that's left to do is find a Respawn Beacon and call teammates in. While this may draw the attention of nearby squads, it's far better than fighting the rest of the match alone.
The Core Problem with Crafting Banners
Despite this ability looking good on paper, every squad is not taking advantage of the new Apex Legends class and gameplay perks offered by Support legends. The central issue with crafting banners is timing. More often than not, this is a class utility that will prove most useful in the late game. Crafting banners is invaluable when an area's too full of enemies to recover banners by hand. This is far more likely to be the case in the late game when everyone's crammed into tightly bounded Rings. Compared to the beginning of each match when players are more spread out, recovering banners by hand is far trickier from Ring 3 onward.
But in the late game, Replicators and Respawn Beacons are far scarcer than before. There's usually only one or two Replicators within the Ring, and they're likely the dynamically-spawned Replicators that come without Materials. If a Support legend doesn't have enough Materials stocked up already, it's a moot point. And if there aren't any accessible Respawn Beacons, crafting banners is also rendered useless. This has held Support legends back from a seat in the best squad compositions in Apex Legends.
Moreover, spawning in teammates during the late game can be a death sentence. The noticeable visual and audio cues of respawning tend to attract nearby squads looking for an easy clean-up against an exposed team. Despite rumors that players might spawn with a gun in Apex Legends Season 16, players are still spawning unarmed with white armor, putting them at a serious disadvantage against fully armed opponents in the late game. Early game respawns aren't necessarily dangerous given how spread out teams are across the map, but in the tight quarters of the late-game Rings, everyone can see where the freshly-spawned teammate is landing. Hopefully, Respawn Entertainment will address the inherent disadvantages to crafting banners, but until then, Support legends may continue to be stuck in the backseat.
Apex Legends is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
