In just a few days, Apex Legends will celebrate its fourth birthday. When the title first launched, there were only eight characters: Bangalore, Bloodhound, Caustic, Gibraltar, Lifeline, Mirage, Pathfinder, and Wraith—with Caustic and Mirage both needing to be unlocked. Following Octane's debut in Apex Legends, only a month after the game was released, the game has consistently added more and more legends into the mix, with the total sitting currently at 23.
Like any first-person shooter, the meta of Apex Legends constantly shifts, and many of the characters from the game's original roster find themselves falling in and out of favor with players. However, certain characters like Wraith remain popular seemingly irrespective of the current balance of the game.
Why the Original Apex Legends Roster Remains Strong
There's no question that the newer heroes in Apex Legends are strong picks. Horizon has been a fan-favorite since her debut for her ability to take and hold the high ground, and Seer has been the target of fans' nerf requests due to his absurd ultimate ability. Despite the popularity of some new heroes, the original eight characters still tend to dominate lobbies years after their debut.
The main reason behind the original crew's popularity is their simplicity. Their kits were built around tried-and-true first-person shooter conventions. Lifeline, for example, is a straightforward medic-type character and has remained relevant because her singularly focused kit has allowed her to excel in the only area she needs to. The same is true of a character like Pathfinder. His kit is tightly focused on mobility.
Contrast this with characters like Loba, whose kit is relatively convoluted. While her kit does a great job of reflecting Loba's history and lore, her abilities themselves don't complement each other in the same manner as the original roster. She's primarily built around finding and procuring the best loot for her team, but she has an undeniably useful offensive ability—in her teleport—that leaves her in an odd spot. If players find themselves playing aggressively with Loba, there's very little argument to not simply switch to Wraith, who offers a more focused kit.
Which of the Original Characters Are Weak and Why
There's nothing exceptional about the original Apex Legends characters beyond their simplicity. Perhaps what truly separates them from less successful additions is that the original cast just happens to fit the pace of Apex Legends better than their successors. Bangalore, Bloodhound, Pathfinder, Wraith, and even Lifeline, can push enemies with blistering speed and require very little downtime. In contrast, later additions like Crypto, Rampart, Wattson, and the like, demand a slower, more methodical play style.
As such, the two original characters that usually see a lower pick rate are Caustic and Gibraltar. In the right hands, these two characters can be devastating, but their defensive nature puts them at odds with the majority of characters in Apex Legends. The same is true of characters like Newcastle who drew parallels to Gibraltar leading up to his release. It's not that the defensive characters are weak per se, but they synergize poorly with the pace of the game—which tends to reward offensive-minded teams.
It's also the case that abilities like Gibraltar's Dome of Protection can be countered. In fact, one of the newer heroes, Mad Maggie counters Gibraltar directly. By contrast, a character like Wraith, who boasts a relatively selfish kit, can't exactly be countered. Except for Dimensional Rift being vulnerable to Horizon's ultimate, Wraith's abilities have very little interaction with other characters' abilities, meaning that any tweaks made to the game's balance have very little effect on Wraith whatsoever; the primary reason for her being constantly near the top of the pick rate.
Apex Legends is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.