'Rampage-Less Apex Legends' is Better, Players Say Despite Nerf
The saga of the Rampage LMG and those calling it overpowered continues as after about a week went by with the weapon disabled in-game due to an exploit, players are re-expressing their discontent with its return in Apex Legends.
As seen on plenty of occasions in the past across numerous competitive titles, balancing light machineguns can prove to be a difficult task. This situation appears to be no exception.
On Jan. 5, Respawn Entertainment announced that they pushed out an Apex Legends update to temporarily disable the Rampage and Sentinel in all modes due to an exploit that reportedly allowed players to permanently charge the Rampage and the Sentinel for entire games when done so together.
We've just pushed out a @Playapex update temporarily disabling the Rampage and Sentinel weapons in all modes due to an exploit.
— Respawn (@Respawn) January 6, 2022
The update also disables the MIL-SPEC Bangalore skin. It is, however, still purchasable from the store and will be present once fixed and re-enabled.
While the Sentinel was seemingly caught in the crossfire, as the handful of those who main the gun called for its return to come sooner rather than later, the Rampage was almost entirely bashed online for its questionable versatile utility.
"I'm tired of the trend in Apex for legends and guns to be able to do everything," StaphAttack said on Reddit. "When you pick a weapon or legend you are making decisions about what capabilities you want and which ones your willing to give up. With the Rampage as is, you get to have it all. A weapon at mid range that can slay, put damage on at long range, and with a quick charge can out gun an SMG in close quarters.
"In Diamond everyone just runs a Rampage, packs thermites, and run a PK as secondary. They get to have it all, in all situations."
Fast forward to Jan. 13, and despite Respawn also sharing that they've worsened the Rampage's damage per bullet and termite consumption per shot, players seem to be overwhelmingly peeved that it's been added back at all.
You may notice the Rampage feels a bit different. We decreased the damage per bullet down from 28 -> 26 and increased the thermite consumption per shot in its charged state. Give it a try and let us know what ya think. As always, we appreciate your patience, legends.
— Respawn (@Respawn) January 13, 2022
"Please nerf it again there's literally no difference," @Admiral_Oink said on Twitter. "[W]hy tf does an lmg do that much damage and have 0 recoil. First game in ranked after its re-added and everyone's using it ffs."
On Reddit, SesuKyuga detailed how the Rampage stray away from the brokenness of the Spitfire and instead follow in the footsteps of the L-STAR EMG and Devotion, two weapons that seemingly require players to take "time to be good" with them.
"After the last nerf The lstar feel very balance to me right now," SesuKyuga said on Reddit. "The devo is a good example of how hard a lmg should be to use. I dont see ANYONE ever use a devo after first 5 mins of the game, because almost no one can land a shot with that thing and the ramp up makes it not the best for close range or if someone catches you by surprise."
Ultimately, with there being plenty of spirited feedback on the weapon posted on Reddit and Twitter, it will be interesting to see how Respawn handles the Rampage in Apex Legends moving forward.