Apex Legends’ greatest movement exploit is over

August 31, 2021

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Future patches will disallow tap-strafing due to its “lack of counterplay.”

A future Apex Legends patch will eliminate a popular movement exploit that has been widely used in recent months. Tap-strafing is a tactic that allows players to change their midair trajectory quickly while still maintaining momentum. Basically, you become a speedy midair bullet that’s very hard to shoot at.

Respawn announced on Twitter that the unintended movement technique will be removed in Apex Legends patch 10.1. “Our reasoning: It’s inaccessible, lacks readability/counterplay, and is exacerbated by movement abilities,” the tweet reads. Although the dev has promised more details when official patch notes are available, it is not clear when.

It can be hard to see exactly what’s happening in tap-strafing clips. Tap-strafing allows you to move in any direction that you desire. It could be described as a quick dodge roll that Respawn never intended.

Apex Legends, like Titanfall before it, is not unfamiliar with community-discovered movement techniques. To optimize speed, players have used slide cancelling and bunnyhopping for years. Respawn has sometimes intervened to disable these strategies. In 2019, Respawn removed the ability to heal while bunnyhopping across the ground, a change that made sense for the intended penalty of healing (you have to stop running for a while).

Tap-strafing was removed. This seems to be a similar situation. Apex Legends makes it harder to jump, but it balances by forcing players choose a direction and stay with it.

Tap-strafing allows players to bypass the penalty and make it more difficult to hit than any other intended mechanic. Tap-strafing, if left unaffected, could be the best and most meta-defined way to outmaneuver Apex players. Tap-strafing may seem like a great tool to players, but Respawn clearly believes Apex would be better without it.

Tap-strafing against console gamers is a major reason. Tap-strafing can be done on a controller but it is much easier to do on a keyboard or mouse. This furthers the skill gap between platforms in crossplay matchmaking. Once again I must apologize to our console brethren.

Respawn’s tweet explains that tap-strafing can be combined with certain character’s movement capabilities to create some really amazing shenanigans. For example, Octane’s jump pad or Pathfinder’s grapple hook can flip a 360 degree turn.