The Apex Legends community has voiced its opinion on Wattson, one of the playable Legends in the game. Some believe she is underpowered and needs to be more functional. However, a developer has responded to the demands, explaining that Wattson will not be receiving any buffs in the near future for Apex Legends.
With any online multiplayer experience, there will almost always be debates about the balance of the game. Whether it be an S tier character in Super Smash Bros Ultimate or an overpowered weapon in Call of Duty: Warzone, fans will find an exploit and take advantage. The same is true also true for characters, weapons, or perks that are underpowered, and therefore under-utilized. The community will stay away from parts of the game that don’t seem as fair or powerful as the rest. This is apparently true with Apex Legends, where players have started to complain about the “static defender,” Wattson.
In a rather large Reddit post, one player voiced their opinion about Wattson and it blew up, receiving plenty of upvotes and starting a massive conversation. But Daniel Klein stepped in, game designer at Respawn Entertainment, to push back on some of the narrative, as well as make it clear that Wattson isn’t getting any major overhaul anytime soon (similar to Mirage’s massive buff earlier this year).
Klein dissected each part of the Reddit user’s complaint, starting with the idea that Wattson was not being used in the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Grand Finals. The Redditor claimed that was not a single Wattson was used. Klein says this is not true. In fact, there were apparently 4 Wattson’s in the last 6 squads, and about 50%-60% for the whole server. It seems clear that Wattson is still a high level competitive/pro player Legend.
A successful Pathfinder for instance will get his team to high ground where they can engage from; a successful Bloodhound might mark an enemy team that’s out of position; again it leads to positive action where his team can push the enemy. A successful Wattson, however, is successful but [sic] creating absence of action: enemies will NOT come through his door/chokepoint, or enemies will not be using grenades at our position.
The other complaint is that even if Wattson is a great competitive Legend, she is less viable in standard public matches, where obviously the majority of the community spends its time. While it is true that Wattson is one of the least used Legends in Apex Legends, Klein wants there to be a distinction between effectiveness and pick rate. Wattson is a character that takes a lot of skill and teamwork, perhaps less easy to pick up and play compared to a Legend like Wraith, for example. But that doesn’t mean she needs a buff.
The Reddit user, as well as some commenters, brought up the fact that Wattson’s fences are too obvious and players aren’t fooled by them. But Klein claims that the point of Wattson is not to fool people, but to stop the progress of enemies and hold down positions. Some Legends will never be top tier, like Mirage, because the design of the character is based on fun over functionality, bamboozling over outmaneuvering. Perhaps Wattson is not as “fun” as Octane, for example, and that’s why her pick rate is lower. People choose to play games based on fun value, which may be why Wattson is picked less often. Meanwhile, competitive players are more in it to win it, which is why Wattson is often selected.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Switch version coming in 2021.
Source: Reddit
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