If there’s one thing that can sometimes feel impossible to predict when it comes to Apex Legends, it’s the battle royale shooter’s meta. Of course, we could spend hours debating who should top an Apex Legends tier list and which combination of characters is best for climbing Apex Legends’ ranks, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to tell how the players will react to any changes. The hidden Apex Legends Horizon nerf that Respawn Entertainment accidentally introduced (and has since removed) is the perfect example of this. We know the Apex Legends Horizon pick rate is recovering somewhat, but this character’s decline has seen rise to two new contenders for the top spot – and one of them might surprise you.
When it comes to popular Apex Legends characters, it may come as no surprise to you that Octane has benefitted hugely from Horizon’s decline. As per Apex Legends Status, Octane’s pick rate is up almost 5% across all ranks. Meanwhile, comparatively, Horizon’s is down over 8%.
When you look specifically at Platinum-rank players, these numbers are +10.2% and -13.3%. For Diamond-rank players, this swing is even more dramatic with Horizon down over 21% and Octane up 20.3%. If you want to go even higher, you’ll see that Octane is up a whopping 27.6%. Meanwhile, at these higher ranks, Horizon is down 20.8%.
Interestingly, despite this swing, Horizon still remains the most popular Apex Legends character in Master rank and above.
More interestingly, however, is the legend that is seemingly taking Horizon’s place in the meta: Pathfinder.
Yes, you’re reading that correctly. And, no, we’re not kidding you around. Across all ranks, Pathfinder’s pick rate has risen a respectable 4.2%. While this isn’t that surprising when you consider the fact that Pathfinder has great mobility, like Horizon, the pick rates at the higher ranks tells another story.
At Platinum rank, Pathfinder’s pick-rate is up 8.4%. At Diamond rank, this rises to 8.8%. In Master rank and above, Pathfinder is up just over 4% – and he sits just behind Horizon as the second most-popular pick. Octane may have proportionately benefitted the most from Horizon’s decline at this high rank, but it’s hard to deny that Pathfinder isn’t taking full advantage too.
This rollercoaster saga for Horizon is one Apex Legends story we can’t wait to see more of; following this character’s pick rate is an interesting reflection of how impactful nerfs can actually be on a character’s performance in-game. Even if the changes introduced seem minor on paper, they can have a huge impact on the character’s presence in-game – something that could very-well influence decisions further down the line.
But, isn’t this what makes Apex Legends one of the best battle royale games out there? Respawn Entertainment has completely changed the landscape of Apex Legends’ high-rank games due to a minor change affecting one aspect of a character’s kit – that doesn’t even impact the main utility of said aspect of said character’s kit.