Apex Legends devs are finally reverting accidental Wattson nerfs ruining Legend

Isaac McIntyre

Respawn have revealed they’re finally working on fixing the accidental Wattson nerfs that broke the Apex Legends character’s defensive ultimate and punted the French legend deeper into meta irrelevance in Season 10.

Wattson has been struggling to make an impact in Apex Legends over the past few months, thanks to a Season 10 glitch accidentally shipped in the battle royale’s Evolution update.

The main problem, Wattson players quickly discovered, was her Pylon ultimate was no longer blocking projectiles at the same range it was in Season 9 and earlier. Some grenades would also detonate in the radius despite the ult being live, directly nerfing Wattson’s strongest ability.

The glitch immediately tanked Wattson’s win rate.

Even worse, what Respawn has now confirmed is a coding error was popping up in Arenas and the Firing Range too, ruining Wattson across the entire game.

Wattson in Apex Legends
Wattson has been a very popular Legend since her release in Apex Legends Season 2.

That was on September 16, exactly a month ago, and Wattson has yet to be touched, despite the problem being flagged. The issues have seen many fans of the French defender jump ship over the past few weeks, dropping her Apex Legends play rate down to a meager 1.7% this season.

Breathe easy though Wattson players ⁠— the wait is over.

Respawn have remained relatively quiet on the accidental nerfs outside of a brief promise it had been “sent to the team” a month, but dev Ryan K. Rigney broke that streak on October 14 during an impromptu Q&A on Reddit.

Rigney confirmed Respawn’s dev team is already “working on the ultimate fix now,” but remained hushed about any other planned Wattson changes. He also added he was “unsure” about when the ultimate fix will ship.

There’s a good chance the solution may come sooner rather than later, however. Dexerto expects Respawn to aim for the Season 11 update in just over two weeks.

Wattson’s popularity and play rate were both skewered by the accidental nerfs.

Wattson is also in line for several changes in the Apex Legends Season 11 update, including a handful of buffs to make up for Respawn removing Low Profile from her, as well as several hitbox nerfs to “keep her in check.”

That’s not all Wattson players can expect next month either; designer John Larson has revealed the Apex Legends devs are working on increasing the French legend’s “fun factor” to bump her play rate up. He said, “There’s a lot of usability there we can change, a lot of changes with the ultimate.”

Wattson will be joined in the upcoming Season 11 patch notes by Gibraltar and Crypto. Valkyrie’s popularity spike put her in Respawn’s crosshairs too.

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About The Author

Isaac was formerly the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. Isaac began his writing career as a sports journalist at Fairfax Media, before falling in love with all things esports and gaming. Since then he's covered Oceanic and global League of Legends for Upcomer, Hotspawn, and Snowball Esports.