With character-based games, many players will gravitate to one character over another, especially when that character may have more beneficial abilities or skills. That has long been the case with Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends, as the character Wraith has seen the highest pick rate since the game launched in 2019. As it turns out, a developer for Apex Legends revealed that Wraith is no longer the top pick for the game.
Since the launch of Apex Legends, Wraith has constantly been a must-have in teams due to her versatile kit. As the Legend with the smallest hitbox in the game, Wraith could often weave in and out of fights with Into the Void, her tactical ability that lets her temporarily jump into another dimension. Her passive, Voices from the Void, would often give teams a heads up about nearby danger, and her ultimate, Dimensional Rift, creates a portal that can be used in numerous game-changing ways. Respawn wanted to balance Wraith a bit more, and ended up hitting her with some nerfs.
It was actually in a Reddit discussion about Caustic's win rate that the lead game designer, Daniel Klein, let slip that Wraith's pick rate has fallen. Klein said that Respawn has seen "the introduction of Fuse and the Wraith nerf shaking pick rates up a bit." The Interdimensional Skirmisher has fallen to fourth highest pick rate, with Caustic right behind her at number five.
The fall doesn't come as a complete surprise, especially considering the major nerfs to Wraith recently. Wraith was tagged with the Low Profile passive, which increases incoming damage by 5% as a trade off with being harder to hit. Plus, Respawn decided to increase the size of her hitbox, must to the dismay of many Wraith mains. Respawn even removed Wraith's iconic Naruto run animation. It's quite possible that many players don't see her as a viable pick anymore, even with her otherwise versatile kit.
Klein didn't specify the new highest picked Legends, but it's almost a guarantee that Horizon is near the top. After her introduction in Season 7, she became the Legend with the highest win rate, enough so that Respawn is considering a nerf to Horizon. It would be interesting to see the folks at Respawn reveal the top five picked characters at any given time.
Balancing characters in a game can be tricky, and will often go back and forth between buffs and nerfs. Respawn has come out to defend the Wraith nerfs, so it's likely that they won't be reversed any time soon. Unfortunately, Wraith mains will have to try and make the most out of her current place in the game.
Apex Legends is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and will release for the Switch on March 9.