Apex Legends Season 19 Ignite: Conduit's Gameplay Evolution

Apex Legends' upcoming Season 19 "Ignite" is bringing the heat with map adjustments, fresh challenges, and the electrifying new Legend Conduit dropping just in time for Halloween. This support-class heroine packs a tactical ability that lets her temporarily recharge allies' shields—a game-changer that's had the community buzzing since her Stories from the Outlands trailer debuted.

Game Rant recently sat down with Respawn's Chris Winder, Conduit's Lead Gameplay Engineer, who spilled the beans on her development journey. Crafting a new Legend? Yeah, that's no walk in the park—it takes countless iterations and precision testing to keep the battle royale balanced.

Winder's early concept for Conduit had a totally different vibe: "Originally, Conduit's kit played with healing a teammate's shields for real (not temporary) at the expense of some of her own. She also had shield regeneration as a passive similar to Wattson but a little faster."

But here's the tea—that self-sacrificing mechanic, while fitting her personality, created some major headaches. When the ability was too strong, fighting Conduit squads felt like an endless slog. On the flip side, there were stretches where players had zero incentive to use her ability—because let's be real, sacrificing your own shields for a teammate is a big ask and purely reactive. Oh, and Conduit kept getting left in the dust by speedsters like Octane, making her healing nearly useless.

The solution? Making her shield boost temporary and non-sacrificial. Boom—two problems solved! Now players can flex the ability both offensively and defensively without handing out permanent shield buffs. The third issue? Winder and team tweaked Conduit's passive to give her the speed needed to hang with the fast-paced crew.

In hero shooters, stacking too many supports can break team comp—either making squads unkillable or useless damage-wise. But Winder's hyped to see how players mix Conduit with other Legends: "Conduit and Lifeline do work well together as Conduit focuses on shields and active in-combat support while Lifeline focuses on revives and post-combat health recovery. Add a Newcastle in there, and you've got the ultimate support squad!"

Balancing Conduit's tactical was the trickiest part, according to Winder. Too much healing? She'd dominate the battlefield effortlessly. Too little? Players would feel like dead weight. Nailing the shield recharge rate, cooldown, and potency was crucial to make her feel fair but impactful.

While Conduit's kit lacks the offensive punch or mobility of some Legends, she opens up aggressive playstyles when paired with speed demons like Pathfinder. But make no mistake—running a support-heavy squad won't auto-win matches. Teams will need to push hard to compete against DPS powerhouses.

Respawn's laid a solid foundation with Conduit's design cohesion and role synergy. Any future tweaks will likely be fine-tuning rather than overhauls. As of 2025, Apex Legends continues to evolve, and Conduit's arrival promises to shake up the meta in electrifying ways.