Apex players are using one forgotten character to sniff out rats in ranked

If you’ve played ranked in Apex Legends season 17, then you’ve definitely run into rats. But one less-popular character in the game can help you easily find those rats, as a July 9 Reddit post perfectly demonstrates.

The legend in question is Vantage, currently one of the game’s least-picked characters, according to Apex Legends Status. Vantage is a little tricky for many players to use, simply because she requires a higher level of communication with other players to be most useful. But as it so happens, her passive Spotter’s Lens ability can reveal hidden enemies to you, even if they’re behind what seems like cover.

If you’ve played Vantage, you’re probably used to seeing the brackets that surround enemies when scoped in either without a weapon drawn or if you’re using a magnified sight of some sort. Those brackets don’t show up behind truly solid cover that bullets won’t pass through. But that doesn’t mean all visual obstruction disrupts the Spotter’s Lens. In the past, players have tried to take advantage of this to spot enemies through Bangalore smoke. But with the “rat meta” of season 17 ranked allowing players to climb just by hiding, the Spotter’s Lens can also give you clarity through something else: leaves and other foliage that you can’t see through.

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In the clip, Reddit user _aphe_ is in the later stages of a ranked game with a whopping 23 players still alive. And, most likely used to this sort of thing, they immediately check out a cliffside to see if there’s a team ratting.

Thanks to the Spotter’s Lens, aphe can clearly see that there is a team full ratting on the cliffside through a bunch of superficial leaves and they quickly take down one of them with two shots of the Sniper’s Mark ultimate. Since two successive body shots with the Sniper’s Mark will deal 150 total damage, it’s a perfect weapon for taking out players who are only on white body shields. You know, like the rats in ranked who have just been hiding all game instead of trying to level up their EVO shield?

Perhaps the funniest part of the clip is the ratting team’s Wraith immediately trying to portal to a new spot and then never opening the portal back up for her other teammates, who are just sitting ducks for aphe’s team. They’re not exactly helping the squad with that one.

If you’re in ranked and you’re sick of losing placements to teams that are hiding all game, maybe take Vantage for a spin. There are probably a couple of free kills just waiting for you, thinking they’re hidden behind a bush.