Apex Legends Character Tier Ranking
Many people ask me during my live streams, so let’s get it done. I’m not going to do a numerical ranked order. Instead, I’ll do ranking sections in tiers (S, A, B, C, and D in that order of strongest to weakest). This will allow me to give a sectional tiered rank for future characters released (Labeling them in the guides I’ll write for them similar to the guides I’ve written for currently available characters). This will also make it easier to address each of the characters’ current strength state from any future balance patches.
I’ll format this by listing the criteria I use when ranking characters (“Tier Attributes”). Then, I’ll cover each character with their tier rank and a brief explanation (full character rundowns are found in the guides I wrote for each of them. Each character’s name is hyperlinked to their guide. Typically, S tier will check the boxes for all attributes, A tier will have all but one, B tier all but two, C tier all but three, and D tier having zero to two of the attributes.
Tier Attributes:
-An effective offense in any situation
-An effective defense in any situation
-Effective map movement/Roaming strength
-Outplay potential
-An ability to enable your team/significantly assist teammates.
-Small hitbox (yup, I’m adding this as its own attribute because being less than half the size of other characters means your survivability is naturally more than double)
Bangalore — S Tier:
I like to refer to Bangalore as the “Jack of all Trades” character in Apex. She does everything. Her movement speed under fire allows outplays, effective defense for escaping bad situations, and makes her be an incredibly difficult character to shoot alongside her being one of the three smallest hitboxes. The movement speed doubles for an effective offense for pushing a weak enemy and rapidly getting advantaged angles.
She doesn’t have fast map movements like Wraith or Pathfinder, but she can recklessly push open fields better than any other character thanks to her smoke screen cover, ult crowd control, and movement speed under fire. The smokescreen and ult crowd control assist the team by buying time and helping them escape/cross an open field.
Wraith — S Tier:
Wraith has the smallest hitbox in the game, which is strong enough alone to make her at least C tier even if she had no abilities. Luckily for her, all three abilities are incredibly useful. She can warp into another dimension to avoid all danger for three seconds, has a speed boost while creating a rapid-movement portal (basically a teleporter), and has an audio alert if any enemies are looking at her/are aware of her presence.
She can assist teammates with rapid map movement/roaming with the rift teleporting as well as informing of danger. Her incredibly strong defense from the warp and speed acts as a strong offense, allowing for more reckless plays than any other character can get away with. The rift usage and warping allow for some creative outplays as well via angle-wrapping/flanking and using things like arc stars.
Lifeline — A Tier:
Lifeline has the best team enabling/assist loadout in the game with her healing drone, fast revive, and care packages. She also has the second smallest hitbox and a passive that allows quick recovery item usage for effective defense, outplay potential, and offensive strength. The only attribute Lifeline lacks is effective map movement/roaming strength as she has no movement abilities or any other means of getting out of a bad situation if caught in transition.
Mirage — B Tier:
Mirage’s clones provide fantastic outplay and offensive potential. They also serve to buy a lot of time for defensive purposes. Mirage is also in the “small” group of hitboxes, which assists with the defensive side of things. Mirage doesn’t really provide any significant assisting or enabling for his teammates and has no movement speed options for effective map movement. Roaming can be rough without an ult charged (or even with it charged against a keen-eyed enemy).
Bloodhound — B Tier:
Bloodhound’s tracking is probably the strongest for roaming strength. Once you’re on the trail, you can pretty much guarantee a flank on an enemy. This naturally provides team assistance/enabling and an effective offense alongside the ult usage’s target acquisition ease and movement speed increase. Bloodhound is also in the small hitbox group. During ult, Bloodhound has amazing outplay potential and great defense from the speed, but suddenly has no options whatsoever in these two attributes without ult activated (majority of the time). Therefore, Bloodhound doesn’t have a strong defense in “any situation” or consistent outplay potential.
Gibraltar — C Tier:
Gibraltar has incredible defensive abilities for any situation with the arm shield and dome drop. The dome can also assist the team for Pathfinder using a beacon, getting a revive/respawn, looting, or using a recovery item. The ability to drop the dome gives decent roaming strength and the ult is amazing for offensive strength, but requiring an ult charge and being a big target (largest hitbox in the game, more than double Wraith’s size) somewhat negates both of those criteria checks.
There is also very little outplay potential since enemies can use your dome and can get outside your bombardment zone before it hits. Your arm shield doesn’t become more durable throughout the game either, so its usefulness deteriorates once you’re against enemies with fully kitted weapons, throwables, and high-quality armor.
Pathfinder — C Tier:
Pathfinder is probably the highest risk/reward character in the game. However, the kind of reward Pathfinder gains doesn’t really suit the current meta. Using the grappling hook and zipline for high, otherwise out-of-reach angles is great until you realize snipers aren’t as offensively effective as closer ranged options. You also can’t easily finish an enemy when they’re weak or downed on a regular basis. This alongside not being effective in close range engagements due to being one of the three big hitbox characters causes Pathfinder to struggle. Pathfinder also doesn’t have an effective defense in any situation due to the slow startup time with the grappling hook. If you’re under fire, you’re going to have a hard time getting out alive.
The zipline and beacon reading provide great team assistance/enabling and fantastic map movement/roaming strength. And, the grappling hook and zipline provide a fun variety of outplays. Landing a grappling hook on an enemy almost guarantees their defeat and you can effectively punish a weakened enemy or rapidly gain a drastically different angle to catch the enemy by surprise.
Caustic — D Tier:
Caustic sits alone at the bottom for many reasons. He is one of the three big hitboxes, has extremely situational defensive and offensive abilities (in bad situations like roaming, these abilities are almost useless), can’t roam effectively with no movement speed options, and affects teammates almost as much as enemies with his abilities. The only box he can check is “Outplay potential.” In the right situations (indoors), his traps can block doors, disorient other players, cloud their vision, and deal damage to enemies. There are a lot of crazy plays you can make in close-quarter environments with Caustic, especially with doors. However, most games involve eventual roaming and fighting outdoors due to the zone closure and/or the desire to obtain better loot. Also, Caustic can be countered by characters like Mirage to make the traps work against him.
Summary:
I’m sure these characters may shift positions over time. A balance patch previewed by Respawn indicates nerfs to Bangalore, Wraith, and Lifeline with buffs to Caustic, Pathfinder, and Gibraltar to start Season 1. I’m excited to see if these changes move characters to different tiers and where new characters will be placed. For now, you’re safe with sticking to one of the five small hitbox characters.
