Season two of Apex Legends revitalized the game with new characters, weapons, and attachments. Some things, however, were left in the dust.
The changes made in the season two patch put Apex in a very exciting place. Ranked Leagues brought a competitive scene to a game that lacked replay value. Wattson, along with new hop-up attachments, shifted the meta in an unexpected way. And it seems like the game is more balanced than ever.
Despite all of this, however, there are aspects of Respawn’s battle royale title that weren’t shown the love they deserve. Here’s our list of the top three things that need to be buffed in Apex.
Caustic
Although Respawn tried to help out everyone’s favorite Toxic Trapper, Caustic still finds himself at the bottom of the barrel. Caustic has the worst win rate among legends at around 10 percent and one of the lowest play rates at 3.6 percent.
A large part of Caustic’s failure to perform on Kings Canyon is because his abilities are too situational and they don’t really translate to all team compositions. His gas traps are only effective in tight quarters, making him useless in the open field. And they absurdly hinder your own teammates, impairing your ally’s vision while slowing them. Wattson, the only other defensive legend in the game, is far better at asserting strategic dominance with her electric fences and ultimate.
Respawn did buff Caustic and Gibraltar by further increasing the “Fortified” passive perk, which provides damage reduction from 10 to 15 percent. The effect Caustic’s gas has on his teammates was also reduced by 50 percent. This did little to help out the noxious doctor, however.
One possible suggestion for improving Caustic in today’s meta would be to decrease the cooldown of his gas canisters so that he can be even more dominant in close quarters. Another option would be to completely remove the gas impairment on teammates, allowing him to fit into more team comps.
Prowler submachine gun
The Prowler submachine gun hasn’t been doing well in today’s meta. It’s not the worst weapon in the game, but it’s definitely the worst submachine gun.
The Prowler is inconsistent because it’s a five-round burst, a fire rate you don’t want from a gun that doesn’t perform well at long range. To make this weapon remotely viable, players need to find the Selectfire attachment, which makes it an automatic gun. At that point, players would be better off using the more common Alternator, which is easily found, does more damage, and is overpowered when equipped with Disruptor rounds.
While other guns, like the Flatline and Alternator, received buffs to their damage, the Prowler was forgotten and continues to be a worst-case scenario for Apex fans.
In order to improve this weapon, the development team would have to improve its damage, which sits at 15 per round. Another suggestion would be to lower its recoil, especially when it’s in five-round burst mode.
Battle Pass experience gain
Finally, Respawn needs to make it easier for players to climb the Battle Pass. The community figured out that it takes more experience to level up in season two than it did in season one, deterring casual players from the grind.
The new daily and weekly challenge system, which awards experience when you complete achievements, is designed to throttle your XP gain to around 10 levels per week. This means that missing a week or two of the Battle Pass would set you behind, making it increasingly difficult to max out and receive the rarest rewards.
The more die-hard fans have figured out a system for efficiently leveling up their Battle Pass. But casual players may struggle to hit level 100 by the beginning of October when season two is expected to end.
In the past, Respawn has listened to disappointed fans and offered double XP weekends to help the community catch up. In order to improve the Battle Pass experience, offering more opportunities for extra Battle Pass XP is necessary.
Despite Apex being in the most balanced state ever, Caustic, the Prowler, and the Battle Pass could use some serious help.
Published: Jul 29, 2019 01:50 pm