What sets Apex Legends apart from the other battle royales out there is that it revolves around its characters and their abilities. With every character having unique tactical, passive, and ultimate abilities, there are always shifts in the meta whenever Respawn Entertainment adjusts these abilities.
However, there are several legends that are leaps and bounds better than the other choices, and there are some that are better left off the team. Breaking down some of the weakest characters in Apex Legends to see how they could be retooled to better slot into the game’s ever-shifting meta is a constant discussion.
Crypto
Added in Season 3 alongside the new World’s Edge map, Crypto has yet to find a decent spot in the meta. Despite receiving a buff in Season 4, Crypto still has too much of a drawback to be viable in everyday play. While he has his situational uses like clearing Caustic traps and Wattson fences in the final circles, Crypto essentially puts his teammates down a man if a fight kicks off. There isn’t a clear-cut buff that Crypto needs, but perhaps more of a rework to his kit. He also doesn’t have a independent passive like most legends do (its tied to his tactical drone), which is also pretty disappointing. If Crypto’s drone is destroyed then he has no abilities to help him at all until the drone comes off cooldown. Overall, Crypto is one of the weakest characters in the game and his extremely situational benefits do not outweigh the cost of having him in a squad.
Revenant
Newcomer to the games, Revenant, has proven to be a bit disappointing, despite all the build-up for the Apex Legends character. While Revenant’s Silence ability is quite useful, the hitbox for it is a bit off and needs some adjusting. His Death Totem is the big issue with the character. It only works if the Totem is placed without detection, because if enemies know it’s there when respawning at the totem, Revenant is essentially dead. Moreso, if the Totem is out of the circle when players respawn at it then they die. If a Caustic lays a trap by the Totem, the player dies. If Wattson lays fences around the trap, the player dies. The Death Totem’s risk severely outweighs the slim usefulness that it brings. Revenant needs a hefty rework to be the terrifying simulacrum that the lore makes him out to be.
Octane
While Octane may have received a fancy new heirloom this season, he still has not received a buff that he desperately needs. Octane is labeled as the speed demon of Apex Legends but is somehow not the fastest character in the game. Pathfinder can easily run circles around Octane thanks to his grapple, and both Wraith and Pathfinder can provide better mobility than Octane’s jump pad. As such, Octane’s Stim is not potent enough and needs a bit of a rework. Some options could be allowing Octane to shoot while sprinting, ADS while sprinting, or at the very least, improving his speed boost from Stim. Overall, Octane should be the fastest character in the game, and Respawn should buff Octane to be so (without nerfing Pathfinder preferably).
Mirage
Mirage is easily one of the most fun characters to play in Apex Legends, but the problem is he needs a bit of work to be top-tier. Bamboozling people with his Decoys can lead to some funny and satisfying moments, but his ultimate - Vanishing Act - is less powerful than many players would like. Fans believe that Respawn tested a possible rework to Mirage’s ultimate during the DUMMIE’s Big Day game mode as part of the Grand Soiree Event. The proposed change made several decoys spawn around the character and mirrored the character’s movements to create a truly bamboozling experience. If Mirage got this buff and perhaps the ability to deploy more than one decoy, he would be in a fantastic spot. Another interesting possibility some fans have posed would be to have Mirage’s decoys be a random legend (or a decoy of a teammate). It would certainly cause a lot of confusion which could be very fun.
Wattson
Wattson is in a bit of a weird spot in terms of the Apex Legends meta at the moment. With the recent change to grenade spam, she is slightly less useful, but still can be a clutch pick depending on the final circle. However, Wattson underperforms on World’s Edge due to the wide sight-lines and lack of buildings to lock down. If the circle is not in Wattson’s favor she is fairly useless outside of her ultimate. For starters, she needs to not have the Low Profile debuff since she has no mobility skills that make her harder to hit (and her hitbox isn’t small to begin with like Lifeline). World’s Edge is more of the problem here, as Wattson will likely perform much better when King’s Canyon returns this season.
Bloodhound
Bloodhound recently got a buff in the form of a range extension for their tactical scan but really does not fit the role of tactical tracker quite as well as they should. In a perfect world, Bloodhound’s scan would not be visible to enemies, allowing Bloodhound to approach a team without them knowing. Bloodhound is a lot better at finding enemies, but unfortunately, there is no real way of pinning down their location without them knowing Bloodhound is coming. Apex Legends doesn’t have a stealth-focused character, and a rework to Bloodhound could really allow them to fill that role.
Choosing who to bring into the arena is the biggest choice an Apex Legends player can make, right alongside picking the best drop location. Bringing certain legends into battle is more harmful than helpful, while others are always safe picks. Several Legends need some love from Respawn to make them more powerful. Hopefully Respawn will give out some generous buffs in the near future to help these Legends have their time in the spotlight.
Apex Legends is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
