Apex Legends Update Nerfs One of Season 20’s Most Overpowered Guns

17.02.2024 - 01:01 / gamerant.com / Ea / Tyler Shipley

Apex Legends has nerfed the Wingman, one of the game’s care package weapons, following complaints from many players about it being overpowered. These alterations come in an update only days after the launch of Season 20 of Apex Legends, which already saw many substantial changes to weapons and Legends.

Few guns in Apex Legends are more iconic than the Wingman. Introduced in the Titanfall games, the pistol came to Apex Legends as part of theoriginal lineup of guns when the battle royale surprise launched in early 2019. While it has consistently been deadly in the right hands, five years on, the weapon was in one of its strongest states ever at the start of Season 20. Despite being tied to care packages, the gun became maligned by many players, with its strength being amplified when SMGs could no longer equip digital threat optics at the start of the new season.

Fortunately, Respawn Entertainment has heard the complaints from players and has released a new update nerfing the Wingman in Apex Legends. In a recent tweet, the developer revealed an extensive list of changes for the gun. According to the developer, the Wingman has had its ammo reserves decreased from 110 to 90, meaning players will lose around two magazines worth of ammunition when using the pistol. In addition, the Boosted Loader attachment, which allowed for faster reloads and larger magazine size, has been removed. Furthermore, the developer nerfed the Wingman’s optics, making the 1x HCOG locked to the gun and unable to be dropped. These changes are now live in the game.

The nerfs made to the Wingman could mean a major shift in the weapon meta moving forward. While the gun will continue to be a powerful option in a skirmish, removing the digital threat optic makes its utility with Legends like Bangalore and Caustic less significant. In addition, the reduced ammo reserves and removal of the Boosted Loader attachment means that players need to be slightly more careful with their ammo consumption. However, only time will tell how big of an impact these changes will make and if more radical measures will need to be taken in the future.

Regardless of the eventual outcome of these nerfs, many in the Apex Legends community were happy to see the developer make changes to the overpowered weapon so quickly after the start of the season. This promptness means other changes could come in short order to other weapons if needed. It is worth noting that the launch of Season 20 already introduced many other changes to popular weapons. For example, the 30-30 Repeater was hit with several nerfs, while the EVA-8 Shotgun received buffs and was moved into the care package. Hopefully, all these recent alterations make for a more enjoyable experience for players