Crypto Rework Concept: Don’t Rebuild Hack - Separate EMP

Respawn/Legends Team — I want to offer a Crypto rework concept from the perspective of a player who has spent a lot of time learning how to use Crypto aggressively rather than as a passive drone player.

My biggest concern with a Crypto rework is that the solution could accidentally remove what makes Crypto unique.

I don't think Crypto needs to be made easier. I think he needs to be made more resourceful.

The core idea

Keep Hack. Separate EMP from Hack.

Instead of redesigning Hack into an autonomous/following drone or fundamentally changing how Crypto gathers information, I would preserve Hack's identity as Crypto's information and utility tool.

Then make EMP its own throwable ability.

That creates two separate tools:

Hack = Information

EMP = Disruption

And Crypto becomes the player who connects those two pieces together.

1. Keep Hack as the skill-based information tool

I would preserve the parts of Hack that make Crypto unique:

Information gathering

Neurolink

Banner/recovery utility

Squad information

The ability to actively pilot Hack when the situation calls for it

The existing risk/reward of taking yourself out of your gunfight to operate the drone

I don't think Hack needs to follow Crypto automatically.

One of the things I enjoy most about Crypto is deciding when information is worth giving up control of my character for.

But there is another way to use Hack that I think deserves to be preserved:

Fire-and-forget Hack.

I can throw/deploy Hack toward an area, keep my weapon in my hands, continue moving and fighting, and let the drone become a second set of eyes.

Sometimes it gets destroyed immediately.

That's okay.

If it revealed an enemy before being destroyed, it already did its job.

Sometimes I use it behind me to watch for a team following us.

Sometimes I throw it toward an enemy to see how they react.

Sometimes I put it above a fight to understand where everyone is moving.

Sometimes I use it to determine whether an enemy is actually pushing me or trying to reposition.

And sometimes I deliberately deploy it while disengaging so I can make the decision to turn around and fight again based on what it sees.

That's the kind of Crypto gameplay I don't want removed.

2. Separate EMP from Hack

This is the biggest change I would make.

Make EMP a standalone throwable.

Think about the way other Legends can deploy their abilities directly into an area.

Crypto could throw an EMP device independently of Hack.

Hack stays deployed.

Hack keeps gathering information.

Crypto throws EMP.

That means I don't have to choose between:

"Do I want my drone watching the fight?"

and

"Do I want to use my EMP?"

I can do both.

And that's where I think Crypto gets significantly more interesting.

3. Reduce EMP's radius

I would also significantly reduce the EMP's area of effect.

Something in the neighborhood of 50–75% smaller than a large-area EMP would be interesting to test.

The point isn't to make EMP useless.

The point is to make placement matter.

A smaller EMP would mean the Crypto player has to actually read the fight.

Instead of:

"There are enemies somewhere over there. EMP."

It becomes:

"Hack tells me where they are → I predict where they're going → I place EMP where they're going to be."

That creates a much higher skill ceiling.

4. Hack and EMP would create a real information loop

This is the part I think could make the concept really special.

Information → Prediction → Placement → Disruption → Enemy reaction → New information → Decision

Hack tells me what's happening.

I interpret that information.

I predict the enemy's next move.

I place EMP.

EMP disrupts their plan.

They react.

Hack tells me what they did.

Now I make another decision.

That feels like Crypto.

Not because the game is making decisions for me.

Because I'm making decisions faster because Crypto gives me better information.

5. This doesn't lower Crypto's skill ceiling — it raises it

I think there is an important distinction here.

Making Hack autonomous might make Crypto more accessible.

But accessibility isn't necessarily the same thing as depth.

I'd rather see Crypto have more meaningful decisions, not fewer.

Right now, Hack and EMP are heavily connected.

Separating them creates more possibilities.

I could:

Scout with Hack

Keep Hack watching an entrance

Fight with my weapon out

Throw EMP from cover

Use Hack to watch my back

EMP a predicted escape route

Use EMP to force enemies out of a strong position

Recover teammates

Scout before committing to a fight

Or completely ignore the drone and fight normally when that's the correct decision

The player decides which tool matters in that moment.

That's what I want from Crypto.

6. Please don't remove the "Crypto player" from Crypto

One of my biggest concerns with an autonomous Hack is that it could unintentionally homogenize Crypto gameplay.

I've spent a lot of time learning how to use Hack without constantly sitting inside the drone.

For me, Hack isn't:

"Stop playing your character and become the drone."

It's:

"Give me another set of eyes while I keep playing my character."

That's a very different playstyle.

And I think it's worth preserving.

Crypto should reward the player who can look at information and immediately turn it into action.

7. The EMP redesign would actually make Hack MORE valuable

This is the part I think is easy to overlook.

If EMP becomes independent, Hack doesn't become less important.

It becomes more important.

Because now Hack can be the tool that helps me determine exactly where my EMP needs to go.

The drone isn't doing the fighting for me.

It's giving me the information necessary to make the right play.

Hack watches. Crypto thinks. Crypto acts.

That's the identity I'd like to see preserved.

8. My ideal Crypto

If I could reduce the entire concept to one sentence:

Don't make Crypto's drone smarter. Give Crypto more ways to use the information it provides.

Keep Hack.

Keep the decision-making around piloting Hack.

Keep the information/recovery identity.

Separate EMP.

Make EMP a precision throwable.

Reduce its radius enough that placement matters.

And let Hack continue providing information while Crypto uses EMP.

That doesn't make Crypto simpler.

It gives Crypto another layer of decision-making.

And one more thing: Crypto deserves a Prestige skin built around this identity

I've also been playing around with a visual concept for a Crypto Prestige/Mythic skin.

The idea is a dark horror-themed Crypto with:

Black tactical clothing

A stark white one-eye mask

Black-and-white Hack

Increasingly corrupted/glitched technology through the Prestige tiers

A progressively more intimidating mask

A unique Tier 3 finisher built around Hack watching the target before Crypto finishes the fight

The mask would be horror-inspired rather than a literal licensed character, so it could have its own Apex identity.

The theme would basically be:

You aren't being chased. You're being watched.

I've included concept art with this post to show the direction I'm talking about.

Final thought

Crypto doesn't need to become another Legend.

He doesn't need to be simplified.

He doesn't need his decisions removed.

He needs more meaningful decisions to make.

Give the Crypto player information.

Give them options.

Then let the player prove they know what to do with it.

**Hack watches.

Crypto thinks.

Crypto acts.**

That's the Crypto I want to keep playing.

TL;DR

KEEP:

Hack

Neurolink/information identity

Manual drone control

Recovery/banners utility

The skill expression of deciding when to pilot

CHANGE:

Separate EMP from Hack

Make EMP a standalone throwable

Keep Hack deployed while EMP is used

Significantly reduce EMP's radius

Make EMP placement and prediction more important

DESIGN GOAL:

More decisions. More resourcefulness. More skill expression — not less.