New Apex Legends Survival Item Reportedly Leaked

According to a video created by well-known Apex Legends YouTuber and dataminer iLootGames, a third survival item may be joining the ground loot pool sometime in the future: the Remote Banner Recovery. The item is one of the few in-game surprises that the popular YouTuber didn’t datamine himself. Instead, he says the leak came from a trusted source: An Apex Legends playtester.

According to the playtester who leaked the item, the Remote Banner Recovery is exactly what it sounds like: A tool that allows players to retrieve a teammate’s Banner Card without having to physically walk up to their deathbox, making it a huge boon to players who are missing a teammate and can’t afford to lose another, or who are attempting to recover a Banner Card from a deathbox that happens to be in the middle of an active firefight. Similar to the Heat Shield--another survival item--the Remote Banner Recovery appears to have two charges.

Survival items have their own dedicated spot in each player’s inventory, and only one can be carried at a time. Currently, there are only two of these items in the game: The Heat Shield, which protects players from taking ring damage for a short amount of time, and the Mobile Respawn Beacon, which allows players to respawn their squadmates anywhere, anytime--a valuable tool when no regular Respawn Beacons are available.

The Remote Banner Recovery reportedly functions similar to Crypto’s passive ability, except no drones are involved, and players still have to make it to a Respawn Beacon in person to resurrect their dead squadmate. iLootGames says he's not sure how close to a deathbox players must be to activate the Remote Banner Recovery, but he imagines there is likely a distance cap to prevent players from respawning teammates from deathboxes that are halfway across the map. But if the rumors of its existence are true, making sure your squad has both a Remote Banner Recovery and a Mobile Respawn Beacon will be essential to surviving intense firefights, especially in small rings where getting too close to the enemy or approaching a standard Respawn Beacon can be risky.

If a squad has a Remote Banner Recovery, a Mobile Respawn Beacon, and a Heat Shield, they can safely retrieve a teammate’s Banner Card and respawn them safely outside the ring, all without having to move an inch.

While the Remote Banner Recovery is merely a rumor for now, there is a bit of evidence to back it up, including proof of the item’s in-game description. Still, iLootGames says he's yet to see any indication of the item in the game's files, but he imagines the item would be a great way to mix up the current state of Ranked mode. There’s no telling when or if this fascinating new tool may appear in the game, but assuming the rumors are true, the Remote Banner Recovery is guaranteed to be a game-changer. If it doesn't appear in the console/PC version of the game, it could certainly appear as one of the unique perks available to each character in Apex Legends Mobile. The ability to recover a lost Banner Card would certainly be a fitting perk for Loba, the next character slated to join the mobile legend squad.