Bloodhound Legend Spotlight
At its core, Apex Legends™ is a spectacle, a bloodsport in which heroic combatants from across all corners of the Frontier meet to compete for money, fame and glory. Through the use of their deadly skills, weaponry and experience, the participants of these fierce and visually stunning clashes pursue their enemies to eliminate them from the trials and thus prove their worth as the supreme force.
The Apex Games are a hunt.
And who could stand a better chance of emerging victorious from a hunt than a true hunter?
With the start of a new round, you carefully examine the situation on the board, establishing your next course of action. After checking each of your opponents’ miniatures and evaluating their chances, you direct your gaze upon the menacing silhouette of your own character. You can almost imagine what’s going on in their head. A reddish mist covers your view. Time passes slowly, second after second, each one like a drop of thick syrup slipping through your fingers. Your senses are extended beyond limit, your vision needle-sharp. Your ears were able to pick up the slightest of noises, a slip of a stone here, some gentle whistle of wind there. Your every move is fluid and silent, focused, almost as if it was part of a mute dance to the music of imminent death. You are like the deadliest of predators sneaking towards their trophy.
“The hunt begins. Let us find our prey.”
You’re playing Blódhundr. And the Allfather is about to bless your enemies with the mercy of death.
Bloodhound (also referred to as Blódhundr) is a messenger of death. A hunter.
A lethal assassin, dead set on eliminating their foes from the Games.
A lightning-fast warrior bent on seeking out and exposing their enemies to strike at them with unmatched speed and ferocity.
When designing Bloodhound’s feats and abilities for Apex Legends™: The Board Game, the greatest challenge was to translate the features that make them iconic—such as their uncanny speed, razor-sharp focus and deadly efficiency—to the language of board games. Bloodhound is a singular character, as they are both effective and relatively straightforward to play in the Apex Legends™ video game. In order to reflect this, we designed a special game mechanic for their Ultimate ability, Beast of the Hunt. This ability is totally unique compared to other characters’ Ultimates—when Bloodhound activates it, it can last for as long as this Legend is on the move, continually shooting down their enemies. We sought to reflect Bloodhound’s unique playstyle—focusing on their prey and eliminating them from the Apex Games. When Bloodhound activates their Ultimate, they can move faster and shoot more accurately, they become quicker and more deadly than the other Legends—reflecting the fact that, like a true hunter—the merciless apex predator which Bloodhound truly is—they will not falter until their chosen prey is brought down to their knees.
You picture your character lying in wait in the shadows, indistinguishable from the surrounding darkness, and soon picking up the scent of their prey as your opponents’ Legends all fall into place on the board, unknowingly lining up for execution. A split second later your Bloodhound darts out of hiding at the speed of light, like an arrow shot from a bow of darkness, sprinting towards the first unsuspecting victim. The rifle, as if having a will of its own, falls into its familiar place in your Legend’s shooting position, its sights turned on in a flash and already aimed at the vital spots of the enemy. Nothing in the world could save their soul now.
In the Apex Legends™ video game, apart from having a natural talent for murder, Bloodhound is highly efficient in locating their team’s enemies and exposing their hiding places. To reflect this in the board game, which does not allow for players to conceal their miniatures, we designed Bloodhound to have a Tactical Ability called Eye of the Allfather. Once activated, it allows them to mark nearby enemy miniatures—even if they are not visible to Bloodhound—making them easier to hit and hindering them from performing reactions when they are under attack by Bloodhound or their allies. To visualize being marked by Bloodhound with the use of some cool-looking board game component, we designed several miniatures of menacing black ravens—when the Hunter marks someone, the player puts one of these beside their target. Ravens have always been Blódhundr’s allies, haven’t they?
As Bloodhound closes in for the kill, you can almost feel their exhilaration. How naïve of your enemies, you think. They felt compelled to cower in the shadows. They desperately struggled to avoid being exposed. They clung to the walls and piles of rubble. They’re professionals—you have to admit that. But they forgot one thing. They were dealing with Blódhundr. And Blódhundr graces the Allfather.
And then they were marked for death.
In Apex Legends™: The Board Game, all playable characters, all the Legends you can play, have a set of unique Feat cards, which detail the special moves and tricks they have up their sleeves. This constitutes the heart of the game system and allows the players to differentiate the Legends and reflects their unique role on the board.
As far as Bloodhound is concerned, these cards let them predict their enemies’ next move, therefore allowing them to move away from the opponent’s line of fire and thus decrease their “to-hit” chances, or making it possible to use a healing item as either Bloodhound or their allies are about to take damage. Since Bloodhound is a hunter, with their speed, ferocity and swift attacks being their trademarks, they can also use their ability to foresee the enemies’ strategy to shoot “around the corners” and go round the usual Line of Sight rules, using weapons on the move or becoming increasingly effective to opponents that have already been exposed and stripped of their energy shields. When played at the right moment, these cards turn the already formidable predator into a true death machine, especially if a player can combo them with Bloodhound’s Tactical and Ultimate abilities.
You look around the board. Your opponents were not expecting this. They couldn’t have. They didn’t stand a chance. It only took a split second to squeeze the trigger. It only took a split second for the bullet to reach its target. It only took a split second for the prey to fall.
“The gods favor my aim today.”
The rest of them dispersed immediately. They turned, searching for the shooter. Damn, they were quick. They tried to fire back. They failed. They missed. They didn’t stand a chance.
“The result of this fight was decided long ago.”.
Your Bloodhound is already on the move, like chain lightning, darting from one shadow to the next. From one cover to another. You’re too fast for them. Continually in motion, constantly too quick for their bullets. Like a legendary dervish of death. Like the Legend you are. They don’t have a prayer.
“Allfather give me sight!”
The second one of them fell soon after. Hit from a seemingly impossible position and angle. He thought he was safe, crouching behind that corner. But he forgot one thing. He was facing Blódhundr. The Hound of Blood. And when Blódhundr caught the scent of blood, there was no such thing as an impossible shot for them.
“A worthy hunt. The Gods bless me.”
The third one got lucky. Or was skillful enough. She was a Legend after all. Her bullets found their way through your defenses. No matter. She couldn’t possibly think a bullet could stop you. It couldn’t. Not with your speed. What it did though, was to expose the shooter. If you want to shoot at Death, you have to expose yourself. And you should expect Death to shoot back.
“Your final hour cannot be escaped, embrace it.” Or don’t, you think to yourself. Makes no difference to me.
