Season 9 of Apex Legends is underway, and player are testing out the most recent balancing changes to their favorite weapons, as well as testing out the new addition to the game: the Bocek. It's time to revisit every weapon in the game and see how they are faring in Season 9: Legacy after the most recent patch, as well as where the new Bocek falls in the tier list.
As always, our Apex Legends weapon tier list is based on the weapons as players would find them on the ground, without hop-ups or attachments of any kind affecting the ranking. The tier list compares not only how strong is the gun itself, but how strong it is compared to other weapons of a similar class. The list is organized by tiers, and then alphabetically within the tier.
S-Tier
Bocek - The Bocek is the latest weapon to be added to Apex Legends, and it's already a nightmare featuring high damage, good rate-of-fire, and is virtually silent. Even after its recent nerf, it can still deal ridiculous damage, even from body shots, at long range - but faster and safer than most other snipers. It's already received a couple updates since its introduction, including a change for Epileptic players to help make the bow more accessible, so it's clear that the Bocek is going to be in the spotlight for awhile, and will likely be hit with at least one more nerf before too long.
Prowler - The Prowler is Apex Legends' only Heavy SMG, through technically right now it is in the care package, where it has been since Season 7. With the ability to swap between full-auto and burst fire, the Prowler is the most versatile SMG in the game. This, combined with its solid damage output and easy-to-control recoil, lands the Prowler in S-Tier.
Volt - The Volt is one of the more recent additions to Apex Legends, and has stayed in S-Tier since its introduction in Season 7. This SMG has a relatively smooth recoil and virtually no damage fall-off thanks to it being an Energy weapon. These factors allow the Volt to be an absolute nuisance to fight against, especially if that person can hit their shots reliably.
A-Tier
30-30 Repeater - The 30-30 Repeater came alongside the launch of Season 8, and debuted in A-Tier then. The Repeater is essentially the cross between the G7 Scout and the Triple Take, bolstering a fast rate of fire but aiming allows the player to charge the shot for increased damage. The Repeater can be quite deadly at both close and medium-to-long range with proper aim.
Flatline - The Flatline is one of two weapons that are considered the most reliable weapons in the game, the other being the R-301. The Flatline uses Heavy ammo, and is slightly harder to control than the 301 (and cannot take barrel attachments), but deals more damage in exchange. The Flatline's recoil isn't incredibly hard to control once players practice with it a bit, so it's just an all-around solid weapon for those who have at least a little experience with it.
Kraber - The Kraber features the single-highest damage value for a headshot in Apex Legends. In the right hands, the Kraber can down any legend, regardless of armor tier, in one shot - with the exception of Gibraltar with his Arm Shield, which is why he constantly remains at the top of the Apex Legends character tier list. The reason the Kraber is in A-tier and not S-tier is that it is restricted to the Care Package, has a very limited ammo supply, and requires much more skill to use than any other weapon in the game. Body shots still deal a large amount of damage, but headshots are really what make the Kraber excel. If players can't hit headshots, especially due to the Kraber's aggressive bullet drop, then they are probably better off with the Longbow, Sentinel, or Bocek,
Peacekeeper - The Peacekeeper is making its return to the ground loot pool this season after being locked in the Care Package for a few seasons. With the Precision Choke hop-up being intrinsic to the weapon now, players can use the Peacekeeper as a close-range killing machine, or a surprisingly long-range weapon akin to a slug shotgun. The wide-range of the weapon and its high damage are what allow it to rise above other shotguns, and even other archetypes of weapons with ease.
R-301 - As the Light counterpart to the Flatline, the R-301 features a much smoother recoil than the Flatline, and it can take barrel attachments to make it even easier to control. In the late-game, a fully-kitted R-301 is easily the smoothest weapon in the entire game, even without the gold barrel stabilizer which was removed to make way for the gold magazines. But just off the ground, the R-301 is the easiest-to-use weapon, and can be viable all the way to the final ring in the proper hands.
R-99 - The R-99 competes with the Volt as the most-used SMG in the game. The R-99 has been a stable of "TTV" player loadouts since Apex Legends first launched. This is because the R-99 has an instanely high rate of fire, solid damage, and a recoil that is difficult to master, but the challenging recoil is what keeps the R-99 from S-Tier. If players cannot hit their shots, the R-99 is essentially useless.
Spitfire - The Spitfire has risen to infamy over the past season, and for good reason. The Spitfire can hold an absolute ton of bullets, deals solid damage, and has a recoil that is relatively easy to get the hang of. It is great for keeping constant suppression on a target, or dealing damage at medium range. Straight off the ground, the Spitfire can take down a target or two easily without the need to reload, especially in skilled hands.
B-Tier
Charge Rifle - The Charge Rifle is the most unique sniper in the game thanks to its initial laser beam before the full burst of the shot. It operates a bit differently than its Titanfall 2 counterpart, so those who are coming off the free weekend of Titanfall 2 may need to readjust. It's great for dealing with long-range opponents, but doesn't fare as well when pushed by a team.
Devotion - When it comes to LMGs, the Devotion is the one that takes some getting used to, and is the most hop-up dependent. Without its Turbocharger hop-up, players really have to get used to the Devotion's ramp-up to maximize damage. However, if players can really master the ramp-up, the Devotion can pump out some major damage to close-range targets. It's great for initiating a fight, but is less effective when being being pushed.
EVA-8 - The EVA-8 is Apex Legends' full-auto shotgun, and it deals some massive damage to close-range targets provided players line the spread up properly. The unique spread pattern of the EVA means that if players can line it up, it will deal massive critical and body shot damage to close-range opponents, but suffers as opponents are further away.
G7 Scout - The G7 Scout has had quite a journey since the launch of Apex Legends. It started as a sniper, then got reclassified into an assault rifle, and now it is a marksman rifle. The G7 is great at mid-range and is single-fire only now that the double-tap trigger is gone. The G7's damage is decent, but it makes up for lower damage with high rate of fire. It can be fired nearly as fast as the player can pull the trigger, so it's great for harassing players at longer ranges. It's not the best at close-range, but can be used as such in emergency situations.
HAVOC - Much like the Devotion, the HAVOC can use the Turbocharger hop-up, and it has a ramp-up time before it fires at max speed. The HAVOC, being an assault rifle, has decent range, through the recoil is a bit hard to control when trying to hit far-off targets. Though players who invest the time into getting good with the HAVOC's recoil can fully utilize the gun at longer ranges, as it uses Energy ammo and thus has less damage falloff over longer ranges.
Hemlock - The Hemlock is a unique weapon in the sense that it can switch freely between burst fire and single fire, and both modes are quite viable. While the burst fire is strong, many players have grown accustomed to using the single-fire as it can be fired quite rapidly for a lot of damage. The Hemlock, being a Heavy weapon, deals a good amount of damage per bullet, so those with decent aim can deal a lot of damage with the Hemlock from solid range.
Longbow - Featuring a high critical damage multiplier like the Wingman, the Longbow is great and mid-to-long range engagements for players with decent accuracy. The high rate-of-fire makes it more forgiving than the Sentinel and the Kraber, but it deals less damage overall in exchange. It's a great all-around Sniper, especially for those with the ability to reliably hit headshots.
Mozambique - The Mozambique has always been one of Apex Legends most infamous weapons, historically one of the worst as well. However, recent seasons have made it more and more viable. Now in Season 9, the Mozambique has 6 shots in the magazine as well as a slightly tighter spread, making it very powerful at finishing off a target. It's a powerful secondary weapon that now doesn't even need the Hammerpoint hop-up to be viable.
Triple Take - The Triple Take is going to the great Care Package in the sky in Season 9, taking the place of the Peacekeeper. The Triple Take works just as much like a shotgun as it does a marksman weapon. With the Triple Take being added to the Care Package, it received some small buffs to charge time and fire rate with the Season 9 update, but it's still virtually the same as it was before. It's solid at both taking out long-range targets as well as those trying to push. Now it's just harder to find.
Wingman - The Wingman has often been seen as the "TTV" weapon of choice alongside the R-99. This Heavy ammo pistol deals high precision damage to targets, but has a small magazine size to make up for it. It's a high skill weapon that rewards players for good accuracy, but punishes those who cannot consistently hit shots. It's a great follow-up weapon if used with the Quickdraw hop up, but even without it, skilled players can get a lot out of the Wingman. However, it's certainly not a weapon for everybody.
C-Tier
Alternator - The Alternator is the low-end workhorse weapon of Apex Legends. It's a Light ammo SMG that features a slower fire rate than the R-99, but features higher headshot damage. However, the R-99 has the higher potential DPS and lower TTK than the Alternator, which means players will likely swap off the Alternator whenever they find an R-99 (or a R-301, which is generally a more reliable weapon).
L-STAR - The L-STAR is a strange gun in general. It's an LMG by name, but fires more like a full-auto shotgun considering its effective range. It also does not need to be reloaded, and can fire through all of its ammo without needing to reload so long as players manage the overheat mechanic tied to the gun. However, typically layers are better off using the other Energy weapons in the game before the L-STAR. And if they're looking for burst damage at close range, an SMG or the other shotguns are probably a better and more reliable fit. It's a decent weapon, but can be a bit unwieldy to use which makes it unreliable.
Mastiff - The Mastiff is easily the most inconsistent weapon in Apex Legends. It can deal a great sum of damage in one shot, or less than 10 over multiple shots, with little rhyme or reason behind it. The Mastiff needs better hit detection for its shots, otherwise it will always be outclassed by other shotguns.
Sentinel - The Sentinel is not a bad weapon, and features a cool mechanic of using Shield Cells to activate Disruptor Rounds, but with the introduction of the Bocek, it's hard to justify using the Sentinel over it. Previously, the rate of fire for the Sentinel was offset by the damage it dealt. However, other snipers fire faster and deal comparable damage, while the Bocek fires fast and deals an absurd amount of damage, even after its emergency nerf from Respawn.
D-Tier
P2020 - Despite receiving a small buff to damage with the Season 9 update, the P2020 still feels like a weapon to pick up if it's the absolute last resort. With Season 9, the P2020 received a slight damage buff, but traded that for the loss of the Hammerpoint hop-up, paired with a slower fire rate. There is just no world where players would hold a P2020 when presented with literally any other gun.
And with that the Season 9 Apex Legends weapon tier list comes to a close. Out of all the new weapons, the Bocek is the one that has caused the most trouble in the first couple weeks based on community feedback. It's currently one of the go-to weapons for those looking to rack up some quick kills. Even after its recent nerf it is still incredibly powerful. Whether it will receive another nerf or not remains to be seen, but considering how quickly Respawn was to nerf it this week, it's clear that they can be quick with balance changes when they want to be. Only time will tell if Apex Legends' new bow weapon will stand the test of time or if it will fall down the tier list like so many weapons before it.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.