Respawn has gone back to work on one of their favorite punching bags in Apex Legends, giving Wraith a very peculiar nerf.
As it stands, Wraith is still dominate across most metrics in Apex Legends. Because of this consistency – which has existed since launch – Respawn has continued to explore different avenues towards ideal balance.
Wraith and Pathfinder have received a decent amount of nerfs in particular, as the two legends have reigned supreme in competitive and casual contexts. The latest patch notes acknowledge this bittersweet history, noting the desire to keep Wraith's abilities in-tact this time around. Instead, they took out her notorious "Naruto run" in favor of an animation far more awkward, and certainly less individualistic. Rest in peace, weeb Wraith – you will be sorely missed.
As sad as it is, Respawn's reasoning does make sense. When Wraith runs in the old animation, she hunches over and it creates a smaller hitbox. Having a smaller hitbox in the FPS genre provides an edge, so counterbalances have to take effect. This was the primary reason for Caustic and Gibraltar's Reinforced perk, for example. Still, it's sad to see such a cool animation get scrapped.
In a surprising turn of events, however, Pathfinder has been buffed – breaking its nerf spree. Now, our robotic friend has a dynamic tactical grapple, ranging from 10 to 35 second cooldowns. This means that scuffed grapples won't be as damning, so Pathfinder mains can sleep a little easier at night.
This patch is a triumph in the realm of cosmetics. The new skins show a new level of commitment from the design team, as each legend has never looked better in this batch. Heck, even Wraith mains can only be disappointed so much considering how sleek her new skin looks.
Last but not least, there's cross-play now! Players can turn this feature on or off, so no worries if you prefer to stay with your pack. For a full list of Apex Legends' latest map, balance, and playlist changes, check out EA's blogpost here.