Crypto holds a niche spot in Apex Legends‘ meta. While plenty find joy zipping around Respawn Entertainment’s battle royale game, the surveillance expert calls for you to hang back and use your drone to scout out areas. It’s one of the few things that has likely led to him having a low pick rate, and Respawn is mulling over ways to make him more appealing without making him too powerful.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Apex Uncut podcast, Respawn Entertainment associate live balance designer John Larson explains that while he’s aware of the strength of the character in the right player’s hands, the pick rate is low. “I think Crypto, more than many characters, we’re pretty okay with him being a niche, off-meta pick,” he said, “because, in a fast-paced FPS shooter, a lot of us are just dumb lizard-brain people that like shooting bad guys. Crypto, for my taste, is far too cerebral.”
While Respawn is comfortable with him being an off-meta pick, Larson does say that the team is “definitely, actively working” on ways to make him more fun to play. “When assessing how to make him a bit sexier, I think streamlining the flow between Crypto mode and drone mode, and maybe distributing that power in a more healthy way, so it’s not quite as binary, would be a nice way of approaching that,” he explains.
“So, if we did that, we would have to address the peak power of people pushing off Crypto’s EMP. It’s something to keep in mind, and it’s something we are definitely, actively working on.”
Larson also briefly touches on the EVA-8 shotgun, and it sounds like bad news for you shotgun fans out there. He explains that the team thought the Apex Legends weapon was potent before it was buffed, making a conscious decision to strengthen it and shift the meta. That said, he wouldn’t be surprised if the EVA-8 caught a nerf sometime soon.
If you’re curious about other Legends that are good right now, our Apex Legends tier list will help you sort the wheat from the chaff as you come to the end of the season.