Apex Legends Heirlooms and weapons called “pay to lose” over speed bug

James Busby
Pathfinder using his zipline in Apex Legends

Apex Legends Heirlooms are some of the most highly sort after cosmetics in the game, but one player has discovered that they could be giving players a significant disadvantage. 

Heirlooms are highly desirable items in Apex Legends, with each one tailored around a specific Legend. However, a recent finding has revealed that weapons released after the 30-30 Repeater and Heirlooms are giving players a significant disadvantage on the game’s battlefields.

Speed is often imperative in Apex Legends, particularly when you’re looking to outmaneuver your opponents and go for those hyper-aggressive flanks. One of the best movement options is that of ziplines, which enable squads to quickly take to the skies and safely reposition. 

Well, this movement-enhancing mechanic is currently being impacted by Heirlooms and a number of weapons. 

Apex Legends Heirlooms and sluggish zipline acceleration

Apex Legends zipline
Heirlooms are currently leading to slower zipline speeds.

In a video posted to the official Apex Legends Reddit page, one player highlighted how weapons released after the 30-30 Repeater and every Heirloom make Legends accelerate slower on ziplines. 

The player tested this out with a number of the Apex Legends’ Heirloom, 30-30 Repeater, Volt SMG, and no Heirloom equipped. There’s certainly a clear difference between the acceleration speed, which has led players to dub Heirlooms as “pay to lose”. 

In fact, it takes 30 more frames to reach maximum zipline velocity when an Heirloom is equipped, which equates to half a second. While this may not seem like a drastic loss of time, it’s still a disadvantage that players get from simply using one of the game’s cosmetics. 

As of writing, the post has received a lot of attention from the Apex community, with many players agreeing that zipline acceleration felt a little off when Heirlooms were equipped. “I was always confused when my friend was always somehow getting ahead of me on a zip,” said one commenter

“I f***ing knew the day I unlocked Bloodhound’s Heirloom and took it into a match it was f***ing up on ziplines. It’s nice to see definitive proof,” another responded. Hopefully, Respawn will see this thread and address the issue in an upcoming update, but for now, consider unequipping Heirlooms if you plan on using ziplines. 

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About The Author

James is Dexerto's Associate Games Editor who joined the website in 2020. He graduated from university with a degree in Journalism, before spending four years freelancing for GamesRadar+, PCGamesN, RPS, LoL Esports, Red Bull Gaming, and many more. You can find him covering everything from CoD, Apex Legends, Genshin Impact, and Monster Hunter. Need to get in touch? Email James at james.busby@dexerto.com.