Apex Legends Season 3: Meltdown introduced Crypto as a new playable character, World’s Edge as a new map to replace King’s Canyon, and the Charge Rifle as a new weapon, which apparently is too powerful for the battle royale shooter.
The Charge Rifle is an Energy-powered sniper rifle, similar to the Triple Take. However, unlike the more traditional Triple Take, the Charge Rifle’s shot comes in two forms. The weapon initially fires a small laser that deals medium damage, before firing a much stronger beam that deals massive damage. In World’s Edge, where players can camp in a multitude of locations across several areas, the Charge Rifle is a very difficult problem for opposing players when it is in the hands of a skillful sniper.
The addition of the Charge Rifle is one of the few connections of Apex Legends to the Titanfall series, on which the battle royale shooter is based. However, in the Titanfall games, the weapon was used to take down the titular Titans, so it may not come much of a surprise that it is too powerful when opponents are not protected by massive robots.
Developer Respawn Entertainment has apparently listened to the complaints against the Charge Rifle, as it has added a card on the weapon on the Trello board for Apex Legends. While the exact changes were not detailed, the expectation is that the Charge Rifle will be nerfed in one way or another. The nerf may be as simple as reducing its damage, or it could modify how the gun works.
Twitch streamer Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek, meanwhile, argued that the Charge Rifle does not need a nerf, as its effectiveness is very situational. The weapon is immensely powerful against opponents in the open, as they will receive the full damage. However, the gun is useless against players who know how to properly use cover against snipers.
Respawn recently confirmed the rumored Fight or Fright event, which features the Shadowfall mode that takes place in a zombie-infested, nighttime version of King’s Canyon. The event is also expected to introduce Revenant, the next playable character for Apex Legends, who hopefully will not need a nerf almost immediately after being added to the roster.
