APC/ambulance legend concept fixed up documentation

This is a long document, to anyone who reads through the entire thing, I can't thank you enough.

Image above, serves as concept art, with the gadget’s respective size to wraith and the trident. Note that the model of the gadget is only a placeholder, I’m not certain what would look cool, but I’m convinced the developers will conjure up something that looks amazing.

Introduction:

This is a cleaned-up version of my previous post, as I’ve been rethinking it over for a few times. This resulted in a whole host of added notes that I am cleaning up in this post.

The idea of this post is to clearly communicate what I’d love to see, how it works precisely in game and to provide as many numbers as possible to map out what property values this concept requires for the sake of game balance.

Naturally, the developers are free to modify whatever they see fit, I just really hope they add this in the game and take the time to read my entire document and consider all my given suggestions. I tried to mostly focus on reworking existing aspects of apex legends, meaning that my entire concept is based on things we’ve seen the apex legends developers build in the past, this is to ensure my concept is realistic and programmable by the developers.

I apologise for the amount of text, I wish there was another way, but I wanted to make sure the document covered every single little detail about this vehicle so there is no room for confusion or error. I wish I could have a talk, so people could discuss anything they find confusing about my concept, do feel free to contact me, either through this account’s email or via simply posting comments down below, I’m always happy to answer any questions.

Summary:

This legend concepts features a legend that brings an APC, or Armoured personnel carrier to the apex games, the APC is a remodel of the trident and shares many of its core features. The APC however brings additional unique features, a gun turret on top of the vehicle, and the ability to revive downed teammates inside the vehicle similar to an ambulance.

The APC is unable to move while using its turret and has many design aspects to make sure enemies are not overrun or caught by surprise.

Its main purpose is to serve as an armoured trident, transporting the team around the map to key locations or used for tactical repositioning. In addition, it provides the team with an armoured vehicle in which allies can safely revive, reload and heal up.

Finally, it has the ability to be an armoured stationary turret to provide overwatch fire for the team and repel enemy pushes.

Tag info:

APC = the custom vehicle based on the trident that comes with this new legend.

Owner = the new legend that this post revolves around.

Armour = high amount of damage resistance.

Pirate shipping = mounting all kinds of gadgets on a vehicle to create a single powerful moving weapon platform.

Get-out-of-jail card = an ability to escape certain doom in the blink of an eye without prior planning.

Grief = intentional action to harm or troll fellow players.

Third party = the action of joining an ongoing fight, taking the advantage of two other teams already being wounded or out of position due to them fighting each other.

Infantry = troops that move on foot.

Legend:

Type: Support

Title: "Combined arms expert"

Tactical:

Calls down a custom unique vehicle that is an enhanced version of the trident called the APC, Armoured Personnel Carrier for short.

The APC is something that appears to people unfamiliar with ground-based war machines as a tank. However, it is much smaller and faster with its battlefield purpose being transporting troops on the battlefield inside its armour. It comes equipped with gun turret on top designed to provide fire support.

Calls down the APC with a 60 second cooldown.

This is so it can’t be summoned in a pinch or as some kind of orbital projectile due to its long cooldown but does allow the owner to resummon it if it fell to its doom or is parked too far away.

There can only exist one APC at a time, and despawns when another is called in or the team of the owner is eliminated.

This is to ensure the battlefield doesn’t become cluttered, however it is not really key to this post as Wattson fences and rampart barriers all remain active after their team has been eliminated, caustic traps disappear however.

Just as the trident, this is a hovering vehicle.

This is to ensure the developers don’t have to design an entirely new wheeled or tracked vehicle system inside the game.

Only the owner can drive the APC, other legends are passengers.

This is to ensure the owner of this gadget can do all the fun stuff with his gadget.

The driver enters and exits the vehicle through the top turret hatch, and the passengers enter and exit the vehicle through the rear/aft doors.

This ensures that passengers enter and exit the vehicle from the safest side, while the diver has to carefully manage the APC’s positioning if he wants to exit. It also more clearly indicates that he has a unique seat and control of the turret.

All character models are inside the APC with no body parts are sticking out, unlike the trident which has the legend models out in the open.

This is to fulfil the APC’s key feature, protecting the team.

All people inside the APC have third person vision, meaning everyone has a good visual of what’s going on outside.

This is to ensure everyone feels comfortable using the APC and isn’t blinded by what’s going on outside.

The damage taken modifier that comes with the trident is further reduced for the APC from 20% to 10% (in other words, the damage reduction is increased from 80% to 90% compared to the trident.) with however the damage NOT being spread amongst all occupants.

This is to ensure the vehicle doesn't become weaker or stronger depending on how many people are inside.

I did quite a bit of maths to figure this out, considering the vehicle massive hitbox and everyone is going to be able to shoot at it, not to mention people can cycle their weapons, meaning if enemies unload their weapons, they each do an average of about 700 total damage, meaning 3 people focussing the APC will do 2100 damage without reloading, requiring 90% damage resist. The ability to damage players inside the APC is therefore mainly there to prevent people from jumping into the APC at low hp and trying to use it as an emergency get-away car.

The vehicle (APC) has a slower acceleration than the trident.

This is mostly thematic, as it is a heavy vehicle, so likewise it shouldn’t pull up as fast as the trident. However, it also adds a gameplay strategy purpose, as when an enemy team is ring choking, the driver can drive back to have enough room to accelerate and speed through the enemy blockage at maximum speed to reduce enemy reaction time and reduce the amount of fire taken.

This also has another purpose, as it ensures the APC worse at being used as an emergency get-away car. As I wish to avoid adding abilities to the game that cause frustration, like another pathfinder-like ability that enables someone in danger have a get-out-of-jail card.

Unlike the trident, it cannot also mount gadgets of other legends like turrets or gas traps.

This is to avoid pirate-shipping, as the vehicle is already meant to be very resistant to damage, and I don’t want to create legend combo’s that ruin the game.

Unlike the trident, it cannot speed boost.

Again, this is to avoid it being used as an emergency escape, the vehicle is meant to protect the team, not be used as an emergency race-car.

The vehicle cannot be destroyed by damage and will eject all players into skydive when it falls to its doom.

Same reason the trident has this interaction, simply as a forgiveness mechanic if people grief or if the driver is drunk.

The APC makes a loud heavy engine sound that is clearly distinguishable from a trident.

This is to prevent it being used to reliably third party. I do not want this vehicle to be stealthy at all, its main purpose is to ram through tough zones using its armour, but with everyone around it being very aware of its presence and having sufficient time to react.

Night sight light inside the APC would be artistically cool.

When the hatch or rear door opens, a red ambient light shines from inside the vehicle, this is thematic night-sight light. But I can't say if this looks as good in the image bellow as it does in the game.

Image source: https://youtu.be/Em6JHRsPfnQ?t=69

Ultimate:

Can only be used while driving, upon activation, the vehicle switches from driving mode to combat mode. Triggering the breaks and disabling the movement of the vehicle.

The turret then activates, and the driver is able to control the turret gun.

The turret gun fires rounds at a rate of 300 per min (rampage fire rate). That each deal 35 damage resulting in the same DPS as the R301.

Its low fire rate is to ensure enemy players are not frequently slowed down by being hit, allowing them to easily get out of its line of sight.

The noteworthy DPS is to ensure people can’t fair-fight the APC head-on, instead they are required to play creatively, trying to shoot the edges or rear of the APC so the APC can’t shoot back at them. Effectively exploiting the size of the APC’s hitbox.

The turret is not located in the rear of the vehicle.

This is to ensure the hitbox doesn’t stick out too much, if it were, people might turn the APC 180 degrees as its hitbox wouldn’t stick out as much when using the turret. However this would grief the team as they can only enter the vehicle from the rear.

It might be a little difficult to explain, but the main point is that the turret should never be closer to the rear than the front.

The APC's armour is sloped on the sides and front.

It is also important the armour is relatively sloped on the front and sides or have a higher placed turret. Otherwise, enemy players might run towards the APC, crouch along its armour, thereby being in the turret gun’s blind spot. Only the rear should be the vulnerable blind spot of the APC.

The turret gun sounds like a high calibre gun, think of a full-auto Longbow.

There are very few slow fire rate weapon in apex legends, this ensures it is easily recognizable.

In addition, it is very thematic for such a large vehicle to carry a high calibre round, it adds an intimidation and cool-factor.

The turret is aimed via third person.

This is to prevent the APC from being a frustrating and limiting vehicle to operate, especially in an environment like apex legends where there’s a lot of horizontal and vertical movement going on.

It also increases the reliability of teammates being able to trust that the APC will provide covering fire as the turret can see more allowing it to respond better.

The driver remains inside the vehicle, it is a remotely operated gun.

This is to ensure that while the turret and the vehicle cannot move around easily, it primary job of being well protected is realised. Rampart’s stationary turret has demonstrated that standing still or simply moving very little in apex legends is a death sentence, and the turret does not even come close to the DPS of rampart’s turret. Thus, it is almost mandatory that the turret be remotely controlled from inside of the APC.

Ultimate charge recovers in the same way as vantage and rampart, restoring ammo per second.

As enemies get out of the way, this vehicle will lose its ability to shoot enemies. Thus, in order to prevent the ultimate from become a frustrating mechanic, giving it passive ammo regeneration will make the ability more forgiving and more flexible.

The turret's maximum ammo is 60 and has a charge time of 3 min.

This is a key aspect of balancing the APC and is very important to take into consideration, the APC does not have a lot of ammo. This ensures that the driver has to step out either because the APC has run out of ammo, or enemies have used their cunning to hide in places the APC can’t reach.

In addition, the ammo recharge system works the same as vantage’s ultimate, restoring 10 ammo over 30 seconds.

The turret gun has no recoil but does have a tiny bit of spread in addition to a high bullet-drop.

This is to ensure the vehicle has to get close to enemies in order to hit them, it shouldn’t be used as a sniper.

The turret gun destroys doors, similar to a charged up Rampage LMG.

This is more thematic, as the weapon is a high calibre weapon, it also allows the APC to perform combined arms warfare in urban areas, destroying enemy doors so the team can move in.

Enemies can see if the gun is being operated, as it emits a red laser and emits a loud metallic sound to announce its activation.

This is to ensure everyone, not matter where they are in the fight are now notified that there’s a turret watching, and people should move carefully or get out of it’s line of fire. The laser is there to allow people to see where the turret is aiming towards, so they don’t accidentally cross it’s line of sight.

As a homage to Titanfall, perhaps the activation sound of the turret could be similar to something like viper’s flight core sound effect: https://youtu.be/Atr-sGUNyh0

With a meme to depict what kind of feeling the activation of the turret should convey. In effect feeling like a mini-boss battle, requiring cunning movement and positioning to avoid its line of fire while taking advantage of its limited manoeuvrability, as it cannot move while using the turret.

Switching between combat mode and driving mode takes a second.

This makes sure enemies have even more time to respond the APC can’t be used well on the offensive, its primary role is to protect the team, provide overwatch fire and act as a team-taxi.

Passive:

While this legend is driving his APC, if he drives close to a downed ally, he can use the APC to pick up downed allies, likewise, downed allies can crawl towards the APC and interact with the APC to revive themselves.

This triggers an animation where a stretcher pops out of the rear door of the APC, upon which the downed player goes and then slides back into the APC, allowing the downed player to revive safely within the APC.

Real life example of an APC being used for a similar purpose: https://youtu.be/UcHkIfnCpes

This revive is passive similar to lifeline.

This means the driver only has to pull up to a downed teammate, press the revive button, and can continue driving on, no need to hold down the revive button.

Players revived in the APC automatically become passengers.

This means revived players inside the APC can use healing items on themselves directly after being revived inside the APC.

All legends inside the APC follow the same rules as the trident, meaning they can heal and reload while inside the vehicle.

This also means the driver cannot heal while inside the APC, this would also ensure he can’t drive the APC forever while under heavy fire or heal while using the turret.

The APC is relatively square shaped in order to allow it to serve as full indestructible cover when it isn’t driven, unlike the trident which is more triangular shaped.

This is to ensure it can still serve a purpose in the late game when the vehicle might have too many different teams shooting at it due to a smaller ring.

Instead of having a honk like the trident, this vehicle has police/ambulance sirens.

This is more of a joke to taunt enemies or for roleplay purposes to signal that the APC is going to revive someone.

Gameplay theme and tactics for the APC:

Using the APC as a taxi to deliver teammates to specific locations like the ring.

Due to the APC’s superior speed and armour compared to walking legends, the APC can serve as an excellent ring-chase device to allow the team to get in the ring safely and quickly. In addition, securing specific locations that are occupied that could provide advantageous like a high ground or a better spot in the ring.

Real life example of an APC being used for a similar purpose: https://youtu.be/Em6JHRsPfnQ?t=45

Using the APC as defensive turret.

Another thing the APC can do, is serve as the tank of the team if the enemy is pushing, meaning the APC stands still out in the open, shooting at enemies trying to push the squad, making an excellent defensive suppressive fire support legend.

Real life example of an APC being used for a similar purpose: https://youtu.be/8L1caLvAlxk?t=221

Serving as ambulance.

As the APC is well armoured and can pick up teammates and passively revive them, not to mention transporting them to a safer location, this could be a very fun support aspect of this legend.

In addition, badly damaged teammates can be picked up with the APC to allow them to use healing and reload their weapons more safely inside the armour of the APC.

Real life example of an APC being used for a similar purpose: https://youtu.be/KX7J8JppYJw?t=3426

Counters:

Bangalore smoke

Bangalore can smoke off the turret, and due to its slow acceleration and time to rotate between gun and drive mode, it will disrupt its abilities for a while.

Wattson

Wattson can place down fences, blocking the APC’s path and due to the APC taking a while to switch to gun mode to destroy the fences, the APC is heavily slowed down by fence obstacles.

Arc star

Due to the APC’s stationary nature when using gun mode, and it’s slow acceleration, it is an easy target for arc stars, which of course stuns the APC exactly like the trident.

Reasoning for adding this to the game:

Dare to be creative.

It is important to note that it is often better to create something fun first, and balance it later.

Not to mention sometimes creating something daring and outlandish sometimes creates fantastic results. And I think the game could use something spectacular.

Repeating Titanfall’s success.

The Titanfall series was built on the concept of mixing infantry with badass machines, this is an excellent opportunity to recapture that success, I'm sure the Titanfall fans will love it.

Pulling in new fans.

If you're a tank game fan, suddenly you have a great reason to start trying apex legends, this was the case for me with crypto, I always liked cool gadgets and crypto got me into apex by being so unique. This might seem trivial at the surface but is a major reason why people choose to try out games, they want to try out something that they see they like.

In other words, if it wasn’t for Crypto, I might not have ever started playing apex legends.

Art direction:

Legend’s purpose in the games?

Perhaps a character who is obsessed with perfecting her/his vehicle and everyone in the games exists to test the capabilities of his/her vehicle. And he/she’s there to analyse his/her vehicle’s performance to note down possible improvements for after the games. This person is not impulsive or disorganized (unlike rampart), just too logical and analytical, and unlike other characters is only in the apex games to test her/his APC for commercial military exports outside the games.

Or the legend could be Blisk, I can't wait for Blisk to be added, and it seems thematic that Blisks bring something badass and game changing to the games. Him being an APC commander seems thematic to his commanding character.

Return of BT-7274?

I think giving the APC its own sentient AI that has unique voice lines might be very fantastic. As the developers tried to give Crypto's drone and lifeline's drone some identity, but the APC is with the team at all times, with lots of opportunities for interaction. Saying something to the passengers when they embark or disembark.

Perhaps even have the voice of a Titanfall titan maybe even BT-7274? That will surely get the fans hyped out of their mind, seeing BT-7274 return.

Or another fan favorite like Legion? I made a video with voice lines that trigger when something specific is happening to the APC: https://youtu.be/458yPMX8B2c

Excellent opportunity for Titanfall references?

Perhaps even making the APC call-down sound effect exactly the same as a titan-fall and possibly the legend saying something like "Stand by for APC-fall." As a reference to Titanfall.

Return of Hammond robotics?

I always loved the clean and professional look the Titanfall 1 Hammond robotics trailers had, and this could be used as introducing a new faction into the story.

Example of kind of theme I'm referring to: https://youtu.be/TamoB9ubodE

Perhaps Blisk will join the games with his APC due to some kind of deal with Hammond robotics? Maybe even building on Blisk’s custom order with rampart?

My old version to this document has a bit more brainstorming text and is written significantly less organized and can be found on: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Creators-Corner/APC-ambulance-support-legend-concept/m-p/12622610#M8007