As ofApex Legends' fourteenth season, Hunted, there are 28 weapons in the game, categorized into seven classes that all handle a certain way. For instance, Assault rifles are good all-rounders that provide consistent damage and a good fire rate from any distance. In contrast,submachine guns, while not as versatile as assault rifles, offer the fastest fire rates of all the weapon classes.
Each weapon inApex Legendshas its part to play in the weapon meta. While some weapons stand out from the rest and others don’t, all the weapons get their fair share of praise and disdain. The Mozambique shotgun is notoriously panned for its lackluster damage and fire rate, while the R-301 Carbine is a good, all-around assault rifle that both newcomers and veterans alike can appreciate. However, the award for the most dislikedApex Legendsweapon undoubtedly goes to the Charge Rifle.
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Hitscan Heaven
Introduced inApex Legends' third season, Meltdown, the Charge Rifle is an energy-fed sniper rifle that fires a straight laser over a long distance. The gun has two parts to its firing mechanism. The first part consists of an initial build-up where the laser does a continuous 15 ticks of damage, with each tick doing three damage. Once the laser has charged up, the final blast does a full 45 points of damage to the target. While 45 damage does not seem like much for a sniper rifle, the point of the Charge Rifle is to keep its laser on the target as much as possible for maximum damage.
What setsApex Legends' Charge Rifle apartfrom other sniper rifles is its hitscan nature. The Charge Rifle is the only hitscan weapon inApex Legends,meaning that instantly hits whatever it targets. Players don’t have to account for bullet drop or distance unlike the game’s other weapons, which make it extremely easy to target and damage foes at any range.
An Unfair Advantage At A Distance
The Charge Rifle’s nature as a hitscan weapon is precisely why it is disliked by the majority of theApex Legendsplayerbase. Players who have to peek out of cover to fight a Charge Rifle are almost instantly greeted by a laser beam that damages their shields and health. Since the Charge Rifle is so easy to shoot, players using the weapon will more than likely outdamage opponents using other weapons which are more difficult to use optimally. Even attempting to avoid a Charge Rifle can result in players taking a lot of damage, as all the wielders have to do is keep their crosshairs over escaping players. The Charge Rifle can also easily whittle away at an enemy squad’s supplies and charge the wielder’sEvo Shieldin no time flat.
There have been attempts to keep the Charge Rifle’s strength in check. Respawn Entertainment has already reduced the distance at which the weapons' damage starts to fall off, as well as nerfed the Charge Rifle’s fire rate and magazine size. To make things even harder for Charge Rifle users, the amount of ammo needed to fire the weapon has increased per shot. Despite these changes, however, the Charge Rifle remains the undisputed king when it comes tomakingApex Legendsdifficultfor other players at a distance.
Thankfully,the fast-paced nature ofApex Legends' gameplaymeans that sniper rifles (the Charge Rifle included) aren’t used as often as the other weapon classes when it comes to normal Trios, Duos, or low Ranked modes. But as players make it to higher Ranked matches,Apex Legendsstarts being less about running from fight to fight and more about holding a spot in the ring. This results in more long-distance engagements where the Charge Rifle starts to rear its oppressive head. Players looking to cross large distances should be wary of the Charge Rifle, because as it stands, nothing can beat it when it comes to snuffing an opponent from afar.
Apex Legendsis available on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
