Loba’s translocator gives the high-society thief plenty of mobility—unless you’re playing on World’s Edge.
Apex Legends design director Jason McCord explained why her teleporting ability can fail in certain spots of the map and how Respawn plans to fix it.
The issues started arising after the Lost Treasures patch. They only take place on World’s Edge and cause Loba’s teleporting ability to fail mid-air, even when there’s no apparent reason for it to happen. The glitches are a combination of a coding conflict with the “out of bounds” triggers in the map, which work differently to the ones on Kings Canyon.
The triggers are in place to keep players from landing on cliffs or high spots. The “return to battle” warning shows up on players’ screens when they land on one of those triggers and players have 30 seconds to reach a normal location.
“We don’t want Loba teleporting up there, so her tactical will fail when it lands in one of those out of bounds triggers (or a kill trigger, at the bottom of a map),” McCord wrote. “That’s expected behavior.” But after the Lost Treasures patch, failed uses of her ability became more and more frequent due to map design.
The out of bounds triggers on World’s Edge “were done a little differently” and Respawn “grouped” some of them more. “No reason for that really, just a quirk of making games,” McCord said. This is particular to World’s Edge, since Kings Canyon triggers aren’t grouped.
The Lost Treasures patch interfered with the functionality of Loba’s translocator in certain triggers on World’s Edge. “So now, her bracelet flies out, touches these grouped triggers while in flight, and it counts as a fail,” McCord said. “Usually, it would have to land in a trigger to fail.”
McCord shared that Respawn had two options: ungrouping the triggers or fixing the code. “Ungrouping the triggers requires a new map compile,” he said, which can usher in new bugs. Rearranging the code, however, also has risks. The studio went with the second option and, according to McCord, a fix is on the way and should “realistically” reach the servers in the “middle of next week.”
Respawn also considered removing Loba from the character select screen for good, but decided against it. “You might have challenges to complete or be working on a badge,” he said. “And Kings Canyon is unaffected.”
Although a failed translocator attempt can be frustrating, removing the season five legend would be a drastic measure to fix an issue that only affects one of the maps in rotation, especially given how popular Loba became after her debut in May. Disabling her from play could also deny players the chance to use her in quests, which take place exclusively on Kings Canyon.
