It’s been just over a week since the launch of Apex Legends’ 17th season, Arsenal, on May 9, and it appears the emergence of one character in the ever-adapting meta has already begun to lose the respect of some players.
According to battle royale stats tracking site Apex Legends Status, Loba’s pick popularity has grown at a rate of 27 percent in recent days. While that might not sound all that threatening at first blush, it seems the recent changes driving the trend could be hurting the health of Apex‘s gameplay loop.
With the season 17 patch, Respawn Entertainment looked to buff the Support class, and it delivered big time in several ways. Not only can legend banners now be crafted by any player who has a Support in their squad, but Support bins now also award mobile respawn beacons for dead allies even if you don’t have their banner card.
Related: Complete Apex Legends season 17 patch notes
Then there’s the fact that with the accompanying ranked mode overhaul, the system has been made to reward better placements over kills. This change was initially welcomed by many top players, before the season launched and many realized that the new system was very unbalanced with low LP entry costs, allowing players to consistently gain ladder points by not fighting at all and hiding for higher placements.
As such, the signs for Loba’s recent pick rate spike do, unfortunately, seem to point to a discouraging reason—her ability to run away from fights and hide.
Out of the five Support legends, Loba is easily the most well-equipped to run away from fights thanks to her Burglar’s Best Friend teleport bracelet, and the recent changes have perhaps seesawed too far in letting teams go for full resets.
Until further changes are made to take things back in the other direction, don’t be surprised to see plenty of passive Loba players in ranked for the foreseeable future.
