Apex Legends has kicked off its sixth season, and as with every season, Respawn has brought sweeping balance changes to shake up the popular battle royale’s meta. In Season 6, Apex Legends players were introduced to some major time-t0-kill changes which has drastically changed the flow of the game. Some weapons have shot up the lists thanks to this, while others have fallen to the wayside. Additionally, the introduction of a new weapon also means a shift in the gun meta as well.
NOTE: This list does not factor in hop-ups in the placement of weapons on the tier list. This is based solely on performance when picking the weapon up off the ground and how it performs alongside this season’s Armor changes. Additionally, the weapons are placed in tiers, and then the tiers are sorted alphabetically.
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Peacekeeper – The Peacekeeper was moved to be a Care Package weapon as one of the biggest changes in Season 5, and that is where it remains for Season 6. However, now players can toggle the Precision Choke effect on and off if players want to be stealthy. However, the gun got a sizeable buff (on top of it already being incredibly powerful before), making it lethal at close range as well as a range that is perhaps a bit too absurd for a shotgun.
R-99 – A long-favorite weapon in Apex Legends, the R-99 was shifted from a ground weapon to a Care Package weapon in Season 6. Lots of weapons and characters were changed with Season 6, and since the R-99 was moved to the Care Package, it received a buff making it even more of a laser beam than it already was. It’s without question a powerful weapon, it’ll just burn through its ammo supply pretty quickly if players aren’t careful.
Volt – The Volt is the new weapon introduced in Apex Season 6, and it is currently one of the most brutal weapons in the game. Its damage is on par with the R-99; however, since it is an energy weapon, the bullets have no damage falloff and its recoil is virtually nonexistent. The Volt without question needs a nerf if it is to stay as a ground weapon for the remainder of the season, and many should expect one.
Devotion – When the R-99 was tossed into the Care Package, the Devotion was brought back out as a ground weapon, and it is as glorious and beautiful as the day it disappeared. Despite a slight nerf shortly after the season started, it is still incredibly powerful especially with the Turbocharger attachment. However, even without the Turbocharger, it is powerful when spun up and the recoil goes down as it fires. It’s incredibly powerful and the fact that it regularly appears in the new crafting machines is only making it more prominent in the meta.
Flatline – The Flatline has always been a powerful, reliable weapon. It is the Heavy counterpart to the R-301 and is always a safe weapon for any stage of the match. It was in the A-Tier in the Season 5 Weapon Tier List and it remains there this season as well. With the TTK changes it only makes it more powerful, with the only drawback being the recoil that cannot be offset by a Barrel Stabilizer, but the Flatline makes up for that by hitting hard.
Kraber – The last of the Care Package weapons is the Kraber sniper rifle. This is the only gun in the game that can knock down any Legend (except for Gibraltar behind his Gun Shield) in one shot. Even if players hit a body shot, it still does a considerable amount of damage. The only reason it is in A-Tier as opposed to S-Tier is that the Kraber is only really useful in skilled hands. With a limited ammo supply, if players cannot hit their shots, it is essentially a glorified paperweight.
Prowler – Many Apex Legends players believe that the Prowler is only powerful when combined with the Selectfire Hop-up that allows the SMG to be fired full-auto, but the Prowler is incredibly powerful in its burst fire mode, which got a buff at the start of Season 6 to have reduced recoil. The 5-round burst can rip off armor and dig into health with an impressive efficiency – and the weapon only gets strong with its Selectfire.
R-301 – The R-301 is the other workhorse weapon that serves as a Light Ammo mirror to the Flatline. The weapon has a relatively easy-to-control recoil that only gets easier to manage with Barrel Stabilizers. With the R-99 in the Care Package, Light Ammo is plentiful on the maps. The 301 is always a solid pick for any stage of the match and will serve most players well.
Spitfire – The Spitfire has been a pretty reliable gun during Apex Legends’ lifetime, thanks to its extended default magazine and relatively easy-to-control recoil. With the TTK changes, the Spitfire has grown more powerful and can wipe a whole squad with one magazine with relative ease. It’s especially powerful in the hands of Rampart, who can reload it faster than most players can reload a pistol – though that is not a factor in this rating. It’s just an all-around reliable gun that can just pump out a ton of bullets.
Triple Take – With the start of Season 6, Respawn removed the Precision Choke hop-up and made it an intrinsic property of the Triple Take and Peacekeeper. Now players don’t have to scour the map for this hop-up, which turns the Triple Take into a killing machine. It’s incredibly powerful and close range and long range, making it one of the most reliable and potentially deadly snipers in the game from initial pick-up.
Charge Rifle – The Charge Rifle was introduced a bit after Apex Legends’ launch, and has had a turbulent time. In skilled hands, it can laser opponents from across the map, but in less than skilled hands, there’s better sniper rifles than players can go after.
EVA-8 – The EVA-8 is Apex Legends‘ full-auto shotgun, and it definitely excels at ripping opponents apart at close-range. However, the only drawback with the EVA, and by extension most shotguns, is that the spread makes it unreliable when enemies are not directly in front of the player. The spread for the EVA is in an 8 pattern, which is great for nailing a mix of body shots and headshots, so it rewards players for being able to line up shots, but fires fast enough that it’s not necessary.
G7-Scout – This former Sniper-turned-Assault Rifle is a great weapon for those looking to keep some range between themselves and the opponent, but don’t want to be crippled if an enemy pushes up. The Scout does great damage if players can land the shots, and fires fast enough that missing shots is not the end of the world. The only draw back is that the damage is not quite enough to rely on when the circle starts closing. It’s great as a secondary, but not the best primary out there.
Havoc – The Havoc ran wild in Season 5, and has always been a popular gun since it was introduced early in Apex Legends‘ lifetime. It is one of the few weapons that can take multiple hop-ups, but without them it can be a bit of a pain to use. The spin-up time combined with the recoil makes it unwieldy, though since it is an Energy weapon the bullets do not suffer from typical damage falloff. It’s a solid weapon, but definitely relies on hop-ups to be stronger.
Hemlock – The Hemlock is a solid Heavy weapon that can switch between 3-round burst and single fire at will, which makes it great for engaging at different ranges. The weapon can be fired quickly in single fire allowing for quick take downs of enemies if players have good accuracy. The burst fire also can tear enemies up from mid-range, though it cannot compete with damage against faster-firing weapons if the player does not engage first. It can do a lot of damage, but is really only useful if players are proactive and engage with it before they are dropped on.
Longbow – The Longbow DMR is a great Sniper for mid-to-long range engagements, though its faster rate of fire makes it slightly better at close-range compared to the Sentinel. The base damage is decent for the Longbow, though a bit lower than the Sentinel. The Longbow has the potential to take the Skullpiercer Hop-up, though again that is not a metric for this rating. It’s just an all-around decent sniper that fires faster than its counterparts, in exchange for slightly lower damage.
L-Star – Once upon a time, the L-Star was in the Care Packages, but now that it is a ground weapon it’s seen more usage. While it is classified as an LMG (meaning the new legend Rampart can get some great use out of it), it acts more like a shotgun. It’s great a burning down enemies at close range, but the overheat mechanic can be a bit tricky to manage, and it eats Energy Ammo like no tomorrow. In a meta where Energy Ammo is in high demand, it may better be used on either the Devotion or the Volt.
Sentinel – The Sentinel is a unique weapon in the sense that it can be charged with 2 Shield Cells to fire Disruptor Rounds that will break shields. Outside of that, the Sentinel is a high-damage bolt-action Sniper that is great for long-range engagements. However, if players are pushed while sniping, it isn’t the best weapon to have at your side. It’s a solid sniper, but not always the best choice for every engagement.
Wingman – Despite what many TTV Wraith mains would want others to think, the Wingman is designed to be a sidearm used to finish off enemies, not be a primary weapon. If players are using this powerful hand cannon then it is fantastic. It rewards players who have good accuracy, though the small magazine size by default punishes those who cannot line up shots well. It’s a solid weapon, but its situational use puts it lower on the tier list than many would think.
Alternator – The Alternator is the last of the SMGs in Apex Legends and is generally considered the worst, at least by comparison. It has decent damage and decent magazine size, with a recoil that’s not hard to control. However it is just outclassed considerably by the other weapons in the game, especially the other SMGs. In the age of the Prower, R-99, and the Volt, the Alternator really needs a buff to bring it up with the other weapons of its class.
Mastiff – The Mastiff was once a Care Package weapon, and it was once a lot more powerful than it is now. However, the Mastiff is incredibly unreliable. While the spread of the pellets chances of ADSing, it still doesn’t hit reliable. Sometimes it will do a ton of damage, and other times it will do 13 damage at point-blank range. It’s great at ripping off shields, if shots will land.
Mozambique – The Mozambique has been the meme weapon of Apex Legends, even to the point that Apex Legends made it incredibly overpowered for April Fool’s Day this year just as a joke. However, in Season 6 Respawn added one extra shot to the mag of the Mozambique which sounds like a small change but it makes a big difference. Now, even without Hammerpoint Rounds, the Mozambique can kill a person if they can hit the whole magazine. It’s still not amazing, but it’s definitely heading in the right direction.
P2020 – The P2020 by itself is an okay weapon, and it received a slight damage increase at the start of Season 6, but without its Hammerpoint Hop-up it really does not hold up well once players get decent armor. Especially considering all players now have Evo Armor from the start, the armor only gets stronger as the game continues. While the Hammerpoints make it great for a sidearm, without Hammerpoints then it’s a pretty weak choice.
RE-45 – The RE-45 is a full-auto pistol that excels at eating ammo, but due to its relatively limited magazine size it suffers if players miss their shots. Even when fully kitted, it has a hard time comparing to the likes of the R-301, or even the Wingman if looking at just pistols.
That wraps up the Season 6 Apex Legends weapon tier list. Lots of weapons shifted around since last season due to the big TTK changes and other balance updates. Once again, Season 6 will have a Ranked Split in about a month, so there’s a good chance that some weapons (hopefully the Volt) will get some balance updates then to shake up the meta. Until then, expect to see a lot of Energy Weapons in death boxes.
Apex Legends is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. A Switch Version is currently in development.
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