Apex’s newest legend Alter shifts dimensions as easily as she changes her backstory

It’s been a while since Apex Legends has seen a villain join the ranks of playable characters, but season 21 will do so with Alter, a dimension-traveling assassin who likes changing her backstory as much as she enjoys phasing realities.

Alter is the new Cantonese-speaking Skirmisher joining the Apex Games in season 21, and if we had to guess how she got in, “forcibly” is the word we’d use. That’s both in the literal sense, as she can force herself and her teammates through walls and other solid structures with her tactical ability, and figuratively, as she’s a person who gets her way by any means in her backstory. And about that backstory—well, she has backstories, plural. And there’s a lot of them.

“She’s not the most reliable narrator when it comes to your past, because she will only let others know what she wants them to know,” Jaclyn Seto, Alter’s narrative lead, said. “In general, her past is whatever it needs to be. Not only can she use it as a tool to manipulate others, but she knows that knowledge is power.”

With such a slippery view of the past, the only sure thing we know about Alter is her present: She’s extremely adept at hunting down and eliminating people across dimensions, she’s entering the Apex Games, and she’s got a bone to pick with Horizon. Seto described Alter’s connection to Horizon as less of a relationship and “more of a fixation,” and it stands to reason Horizon might be getting a new playmate when it comes to special quips and interactions in a game.

From a design standpoint, Alter seems to fit into a family with Ash and Wraith as characters who can access the invulnerability of the void with their ultimates, but Alter is a bit more distinct in how she wields that power. As opposed to repositioning a team via an ultimate, Alter’s Void Passage tactical ability can open a door through solid objects and walls up to 20 meters deep. This door can be used by allies or enemies, and it can also be used horizontally or vertically, opening up real possibilities of surprising a team or even kidnapping a player directly above you with a well-timed portal in the heat of battle.

“We found the idea of creating your own doorway through the map really interesting and something no other character could do,” Ian Holstead, Alter’s designer, said. “And the moment we tried this, not just on a wall, but on floors and ceilings and realized the kinds of creative assaults or escapes that could be made with this, it really locked us into knowing that this was a direction worth pursuing.”

Alter also gets a handy passive ability in Gift from the Rift, which lets her swipe one item from a deathbox while maintaining a healthy distance, and her Void Nexus ultimate has her set down a device that teammates can interact with from much further distances to phase back to that point.

All told, Alter shapes up to be an interesting Skirmisher—one less focused on the type of in-the-moment creative movement that many of the class’ other legends emphasize. Instead, her abilities open up a world of team-focused plays, with just as much power to help a whole team escape a bad fight as she has to open up a good one.

Just make sure you don’t get on her bad side when she drops into Apex with season 21, Upheaval, on May 7.