How to play Mad Maggie in Apex Legends: Abilities, tips, more
Respawn EntertainmentSeason 12 of Apex Legends introduced the Rebel Warlord Mad Maggie. After having an incredibly low play rate for 2 Seasons, her Season 14 buffs aim to make her the best counter to some of the best Legends in Apex.
Mad Maggie arrived at the start of Apex Legends Season 12, and, after the initial hype behind her release, fell off with the community. Her play rate in Season 13 was 1.9%, making her one of the least played Legends for the season.
While play rate isn’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to game balance, Maggie certainly wasn’t a popular pick at a pro or casual level.
So, rather than just buffing Maggie’s numbers, Respawn have decided to add a few new mechanics to her ultimate in order to make her a more attractive pick in Season 14.
Mastering Mad Maggie’s kit isn’t an easy task. But, with her Season 14 buffs making her a direct counter to Legends that place structures, those who know Maggie well will reap the rewards now more than ever.
Contents
How to use Mad Maggie’s abilities in Apex Legends
Passive: Warlord’s Ire
Respawn EntertainmentMaggie’s Passive ability Warlord’s Ire temporarily highlights enemies she’s damaged, allowing her to track them for a short period of time after they’ve moved behind a wall or object.
On top of this, she’s also able to move faster while wielding a shotgun, giving her the ability to catch up with her enemies and eliminate them from a match.
Tactical: Riot Drill
Respawn EntertainmentMaggie’s Tactical ability Riot Drill is a fire drill that attaches itself to an obstacle and burns enemies on the other side. In total, the ability deals 160 damage over 9 seconds, and if it hits an enemy directly, it does 5 damage and bounces off them.
Keep in mind, the drill cannot be destroyed once it’s locked onto a wall, but the drill will disappear if the object it’s burrowed into gets destroyed. It will also deal partial damage to any player-placed structures and doors.
Ultimate: Wrecking Ball
Respawn EntertainmentMaggie’s Ultimate ability Wrecking Ball allows her to throw a disruptive ball that releases speed-boosting pads and detonates near any enemies in its path for a maximum of 20 damage.
It’s worth noting, the ball bounces off floors, ceilings, and walls and has a 90-second cooldown. When it comes to the speed boosters, they provide a 30% movement speed buff that lasts for 3 seconds.
Mad Maggie’s ultimate also deals damage to player-created structures and immediately destroys Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection.
Key tips & tricks for Mad Maggie in Apex Legends
1. Pay attention to your x-ray Passive
While Maggie’s x-ray ability is certainly not as powerful as Bloodhound’s scan, it is invaluable when attempting to predict what an enemy is going to do next.
It’s key that after tagging an opponent, you pay attention to Warlord’s Ire and look to pre-aim the position of your opponent. This will give you the best chance at coming out on top in a gunfight.
Rather than just noting the direction they’re heading, look to see if they’re healing, or even trying to hide in a corner. The information from her Passive is unbelievably useful, so make use of it and communicate with your team.
2. Always have a shotgun in your back pocket
Respawn EntertainmentJust like Rampart with LMGs, Maggie is a huge fan of shotguns and even gets a movement speed buff while one is equipped.
This means it’s always important to have one in your pocket to switch to on the fly, as the boosted speed will come in handy when pursuing opponents, or when you’re looking to escape a dangerous situation.
Combined with the speed pads from her Ultimate, Maggie can chase down any opponent, even an Octane.
3. Turn her Ultimate into a fireball
Respawn EntertainmentA simple trick has been discovered involving Maggie’s Ultimate and her Riot Drill Passive that allows her to set the Wrecking Ball on fire. The technique is incredibly easy to perform and involves you shooting the Tactical into the ball once it’s been unleashed.
This will maximize the power of the Ultimate and even give it some AoE burn damage as it’s rolling through a set of enemies. Just remember, it’s best to practice this tip in the Firing Range and if you want to see it in action, check out our dedicated guide.
Additionally, this same mechanic can be applied to doors.
Using Maggie’s Riot Drill on a door gives you a flamethrower on a pivot. If an enemy is hiding in a corner, turning her Riot Drill to face them can flush players right out of the corner and into the line of fire.
4. Rolling out the red carpet
Mad Maggie’s Season 14 buffs gave her a much more versatile ultimate. An increased duration on her ultimate combined with the fact that she can damage player-created structures makes her ultimate much more versatile.
With some caveats.
The fact that Mad Maggie’s Ultimate now destroys player-deployed structures now gives you more reasons to hold onto her ultimate cooldown. However, her ultimate is a little inconsistent. It outright destroys some player created structures, damages others, and is flat out negated by a few abilities.
Here’s a short list of Mad Maggie’s Ultimate interactions.
- Destroys: Horizon Ultimate, Loba Ultimate, Seer Ultimate, Revenant Ultimate, Rampart’s Amped Cover (shield part only), Gibraltar’s Dome, Caustic Barrels
- Damages: Newcastle Ultimate, Rampart’s Amped Cover (base), Rampart’s Ultimate (placed)
- Negated by: Wattson Ultimate, Newcastle Mobile Shield (sort of)
Newcastle’s mobile shield is only damaged from the back by Mad Maggie’s Ultimate. If the front of his shield is hit, her ball bounces right off of it. It’s hard to say whether this is a bug or an intended interaction.
That said, Mad Maggie’s ultimate has some great use cases. Being able to 1-shot powerful Ultimates like Horizon’s makes her ult good for more than just getting into fights and countering Gibraltar.
Just keep an eye out for Wattson. Her ultimate is your worst enemy, as it will instantly zap your ball out of existence.
Hopefully this guide has given you plenty of tips and tricks to completely master Mad Maggie.
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