Apex Legends Update Will Nerf Valkyrie, Remove Tactical Hover Ability

Valkyrie players in Apex Legends have been utilizing a trick with the character's Passive ability since the start of the new season that lets them hover for longer while consuming less fuel, but that trick will go away this week whenever the Legend is nerfed in an update. The trick that's been dubbed the "Tactical Hover" will be done away with on Thursday in preparation for Apex's competitive scene starting up again, Respawn Entertainment has confirmed.

John Larson, the associate live balance designer for Apex, commented on the Valkyrie strat this week on Twitter. Whether it's called the "Tactical Hover" or shortened to "Tac Hover" by players, the result of the technique is the same in that it allows Valkyrie to stay above the fights below for far longer than many players have deemed acceptable. If you haven't seen the trick in action or haven't performed it yourself, a video posted on Reddit showed how players could "Fly twice as far with Valkyrie" by holding onto her Tactical ability's rockets while hovering in the air instead of firing them off immediately.

Valk’s "tac hover" was designed to consume fuel at 10% of the normal rate.

With ALGS ramping up, we figured we should remove this exception (we found Valks would often take coffee breaks above the final fight in scrims).

This will go live on Thursday.

— John Larson | JayBiebs (@RSPN_JayBiebs) May 25, 2021

That effect was intentional as Respawn has mentioned before, and it was designed to use far less fuel than Valkyrie would normally consume when flying. The trade-off is that Valkyrie doesn't move nearly as fast and is, therefore, easier for players to hit. During the final moments of games, however, that trade-off isn't quite so noticeable whenever Valkyrie is able to avoid fights during the final stages of the ring closing in.

Whether players think it shouldn't be removed or it should be kept but nerfed, it doesn't matter much now since the technique being removed regardless. Larson replied to another comment and said Respawn tested higher fuel consumption rates that were still lower than her normal usage, but those didn't feel meaningful enough to keep them in effect as opposed to how she plays now. Valkyrie will still be able to hover in the air, of course, but she won't be able to spend so much time above fights while consuming so little fuel.

The Valkyrie nerf will go into effect on Thursday, perhaps with some other changes for Apex, too.