Apex Legends’ legendary knockdown shield grants players the ability to revive themself once. Maybe you knew this already. For all the people who have learned the hard way: I’m sorry, but watching people surprise you is hilarious.
Apex Legends is still a fairly new game, so players are still learning its mechanics. Legendary items, which appear as gold-colored guns, attachments, armor, or what have you, give players one extra ability as well as being the best possible version of that item. A legendary helmet recharges your abilities faster, the legendary backpack lets you heal faster, and the legendary knockdown shield gives you the ability to revive yourself when you’ve been knocked down, just once.
Players have different opinions on the utility of these items. While faster healing or ability charging are nice, they’re not so vital as to make legendary items a huge boon. In the case of the knockdown shield, it can actually make you more of a target: The shield gives off a golden glow when you use it, letting players know that you’ve got a legendary item when you’re in a vulnerable state. One player on the Apex Legends subreddit credited a recent win to the other player trying to self-revive. That golden shield is pretty distinctive, even through smoke.
Still, watching unsuspecting players get owned by the self-revive is hilarious. One player managed to win a match going one versus three, thanks to the other team knocking them down and running away, not knowing he had the legendary shield as well as a Pheonix Kit, which recharges all your health and your shield.
Another player got knocked off a supply ship and managed to self-revive in mid-air.
There’s a risk to using the legendary shield’s self-revive, but it can really change a match if you get it right. It proves that that no matter how powerful the item, what matters in Apex is how you use it.