One of Apex Legends’ core weapon types has fallen under scrutiny in the community, and the debate rages on.
The weapon type in question is sniper rifles, with Apex players claiming in a recent Reddit thread on April 4 that they “seem to be a less popular weapon category and in many maps/modes people don’t pick them all.”
The ongoing discussion was filled with varying opinions in the thread, but many of them seemed to come to the same conclusion—this Apex season, sniper rifles just aren’t worth it, especially with other options available in Respawn’s battle royale.
“[Sniper rifles are] generally outclassed by marksman weapons, in my opinion,” said the commenter with the most upvotes in the April thread. “The extra damage per shot isn’t nearly as useful as rapid follow-up shots and decent mid/close range capabilities.”
And while others agreed, some were quick to point out both the Sentinel and Charge Rifle are problematic at long range in comparison to a marksman like a G7 Scout or 30-30 Repeater, but that doesn’t make them worth picking up in the endgame. “Anyone can crack a player with the sniper,” said another commenter. “But that really doesn’t help your team much…they just go heal and you’re back to square one again.”
It’s a fair point, since sniper rifles mainly feel like they’re used to chip away and apply pressure from afar, or offer suppressing fire as teammates push, unless you’re using a Kraber .50 Cal and taking players out with one well-placed shot.
Some dissenters stood up for sniper rifles, but pointed out that the long-range sniper scopes may be part of the issue, although that may have to do with a lack of aim assist on any scope longer than the 2x-4x.
Other Apex players were quick to say snipers feel very different depending on the platform you play on, with many agreeing snipers are more powerful on PC due to the added precision of aiming with a mouse. “Snipers are SO much easier to use on PC,” said one commenter. “I play on Switch and I suck with snipers. I hardly ever hit my shots. But, when I tried Apex on my friend’s PC, I played a match to try out snipers and hit EVERY. SINGLE. SHOT.”
It seems the pros agree about marksman rifles vs. snipers, too. According to ApexLegendsStatus, the pick rates for weapons in the NA’s Pro League Split 2 illustrate the same, with the Charge Rifle the only sniper in the top 10 of overall kills.
In a game like Apex with shields constantly being broken and recharged, it seems like a deliberate choice for sniper rifles to not be as powerful as they can be. And so the debate rages on.
