Apex Legends dev defends Wraith nerfs coming in Season 8

John Larson, Live Balance Designer at Respawn Entertainment, has defended the changes Wraith is set to undergo in Apex Legends Season 8, following comments from Daniel Klein. 

Balancing legends has long been a contentious topic in the Apex Legends community, with mains of various characters keen to see buffs. The admission, for example, that Mirage will never be a top-tier character irked many of the legend’s biggest fans.

The focus of the community is currently on Wraith, the Interdimensional Skirmisher who has long been in the upper-echelons of Apex Legends. However, comments from developer Daniel Klein about Respawn’s efforts to get Wraith “under control” in Season 8 led many to believe that she is set for significant nerfs. Unsurprisingly, this caused considerable discussion among Wraith players – and those sick of coming up against her.

His comments generally revolved around fixing Wraith’s hitbox – rather than nerfing her equipment to any greater degree. However, many believe she has been nerfed enough and further weakening is not the correct response.

Redditor ‘QuikScopeDash’ is one who took this stance, joking that they would main Crypto because Wraith has been nerfed so significantly.

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This prompted a lengthy reply from John Larson, a Live Balance Designer at Respawn. He prefixed his comment by explaining that he is a Wraith main and wants her to remain viable.

“Wraith’s kit has been nerfed and tweaked more than any other legend’s, but her win rate and encounter win rate has remained an anomaly,” Larson said. “The common argument is that mechanically gifted players are drawn to her kit, but when we filter by skill brackets (rank, average damage, you name it) she’s still head and shoulders above everyone. So what does this mean?”

Issues with Reddit moderation resulted in large portions of Larson’s comment being removed, but his point remained clear. Despite the various nerfs Wraith and her kit have suffered, her stats suggest she is still performing incredibly well.

He went on to compare Wraith with Pathfinder, explaining that “we never want to nerf legends to the point where they lose their identity.”

Many fear Wraith is approaching that point, and want the Voidwalker to remain as powerful as she’s always been.