In the sphere of competitive gaming, nothing is set in stone for long. Balance adjustments, buffs and nerfs all contribute to an ever-changing shift in what’s considered the best, and Apex Legends is no different in that regard. Instead of following in Epic Games’ footsteps with Fortnite‘s player avatars, Respawn opted to take a leaf out of Overwatch‘s book by creating a diverse cast of characters, each with their own established story and abilities.
The system, along with an eclectic choice of weapons and gadgets, helps to keep the experience of sky-diving into Kings Canyon feeling fresher for longer, though the feature certainly isn’t without its pitfalls. As Blizzard has struggled to do since the release of its team-based shooter, Respawn has found itself constantly having to make tweaks to Apex Legends‘ existing cast in order to keep each on a relative playing field to the other.
Other than a series of missteps with Legends’ Caustic and Gibraltar, Respawn has so far managed a commendable effort. In light of recent buffs given to those aforementioned heavyweights, there’s no outright unusable character currently on Apex‘s roster, but as is the format’s nature – one will always be better than the rest.
In this case, Wraith is currently considered to be the de facto tier list leader. Statistics provided by stat tracker site Play-Apex note the stealthy menace as being responsible for almost 20% of all wins, with Pathfinder coming in second with 19.1%. Could the recent discovery of misleading hitboxes for the one-eyed robot be responsible for Pathfinder’s success? Who knows, but until very recently, he’d been in third place. Lifeline had been playing second fiddle to Wraith until she was dethroned from the spot, with Bangalore and newcomer Octane rounding out the top five.
The numbers paint an interesting picture, for sure, but do keep in mind that the current standings could flip at any moment. In Wraith and Lifeline’s case, that could be especially true, what with Respawn indicating recently that a series of nerfs to both Apex Legends characters is in the works. Expect more details on that front in the weeks to come.
