12 Things Apex Legends Players Can't Stand
While the battle royale game Apex Legends is still relatively new, players have already managed to see some patterns with stereotypical teammates. Even though most are still trying to get their bearings and learn the ins and outs of the game, there are many who have already mastered the battlefield. These gamers are the ones you want to have on your team, since they can usually keep you on the track to victory. But even with more experienced players helping out the noobs, there are still annoyances to be found in this battle royale.
Because Apex Legends forces players to be on teams of three, solo players will find the transition into this style of gaming difficult. It's not only the forced teamwork, but the lack of consistency between teams. You may have one match where things seem organic. You all communicate well and get along just fine. But by the time the next match starts, you're paired up with two complete strangers once more. And there's no guarantee that this new group will be nearly as good as your last. With the speed at which you start new games, it can be difficult to remember the gamertags of the good players. This means, you're likely to face some uncomfortable pairings on a regular basis. Even with a game as amazing as Apex Legends, there are things that could use perfecting.
Teammates who don't communicate
One of the most revolutionary things about Apex Legends is the way in which you communicate with your teammates. While you can use a mic, Respawn Entertainment has found a way to help out those players who prefer not to communicate verbally with others. The ping system is something other battle royale games were missing from their gameplay, and one thing that is giving Apex Legends a leg up in the competition. The ping system can be used to notify your team of an enemy, tell them the location of loot, and even suggest where your squad should go next. The system itself is nearly flawless in execution. That's what makes it so frustrating when a teammate refuses to use it.
When a squad has that one player who won't talk on the mic or use the ping system, things can get ugly fast. If it isn't utilized, your team will have no idea what your plans are and will lose out on important equipment and strategy. Unless you have a team full of mind readers, it can be incredibly frustrating to have a squad member who doesn't communicate with the rest of the team, especially when it's been made so easy for them. This can lead to confusion and the squad splitting up or getting separated from each other on accident.
Long story short: use the ping system. It's there for a reason.
Trapped in a room of death crates
The color-coded death crates that drop whenever a player is killed are not only incredibly useful but also very innovative. The colors on the outside of the death crates let players know the highest-quality item inside, so they can quickly decide if it's worth their time to investigate or not. There's a lot to be said for the system.
But one common annoyance is just how solid these crates are. You'd think they would be interactive items that are convenient and helpful, but they can be a bit of a hindrance. Because avatars cannot walk through them, it's possible to get stuck behind them. If your squad kills another inside a building, the room will quickly fill up with death crates as you take each enemy down. They can then block the doors and all escape routes, trapping you inside. In a game where staying mobile is key, this is obviously a big problem.
Many are hoping that there will be a patch soon to make crates just a bit less tangible. Avatars need to be able to easily pass through them, since getting stopped by them serves no functional purpose in the game.
Loot hogs
Apex Legends is all about teamwork. This is a different mindset than almost every other battle royale game out there. By nature, the battle royale genre is a fight to the death with one person standing at the end of it all. But with Apex, you're forced to be on a team with two other people, and that means that in order to succeed, you're going to have to make sure everyone is taken care of.
This is why it's so incredibly frustrating to have a teammate who doesn't care about sharing. The ping system can easily be used to alert your teammates to your needs. You can both tell them what ammo or gear you need and let them know that you've found some loot they might want. Because this is a team game, you'll want your entire squad to be geared up and well equipped. But sometimes you get a teammate who doesn't quite grasp this concept and decides to play selfishly instead. A teammate who hogs all the loot for themselves is one of the worst allies to have in Apex. And until all players realize that a squad game means not playing selfishly, they'll continue to annoy gamers everywhere.
A trigger-happy squad member
There are many different strategies in a battle royale game. Some players prefer to be stealthy, while others prefer a more direct approach. The thing about Apex Legends is that you're placed onto a squad with two total strangers. The chances that your fighting styles will be exactly the same aren't great, but as long as you're both skilled gamers, you should still manage to take home a victory. Most players understand when to fight and when to strike, and fighting styles aside, that's all you really need.
That's why it can be so frustrating when you get paired up with someone who doesn't seem to understand the concept of stealth. If you're unfortunate enough to be teamed up with one of those people, you may just have to hope that they either die quickly, or that they don't take you down with them. A teammate who jumps into any fight they can with no regard for if the squad is properly geared up or not is a danger to the entire team. These players see an enemy and automatically go for the kill. And when your squad is unprepared for that kind of loose cannon, it usually results in a complete and utter failure for the whole team.
The silent jumpmaster
When it comes to Apex Legends, every player has a different degree of familiarity with the gameplay. While a veteran player may have every inch of the map memorized, someone new may want to tag along on the first few rounds in order to learn the ropes. Apex allows the role of jumpmaster to be relinquished if the person assigned to the position doesn't feel comfortable taking the reins. In fact, most players would rather you pass the title along if you aren't sure what to do with it, since your landing position could mean the difference between victory and instant death.
When someone decides to keep the role, you'd assume they're doing it because they know the best strategy. It's frustrating when they don't use the ping system to let their squad know where they intend to land. Not only does this keep the entire squad guessing, but it prevents them from breaking off from the group. Breaking away at the last minute can be a great way to spread the loot around and make sure everyone on the squad gets enough gear right from the start. But if your team has no idea where they're going to land, this becomes almost impossible. It's the jumpmaster's job to keep their squad in the loop to ensure success for the entire team.
Players who never use abilities
Each legend in Apex comes with special abilities. It's ideal if the players using these characters know the best way to us them for maximum effect. But when you get players on your squad who never use them, things can go downhill quickly. You're supposed to combine the abilities of your squad to create a foolproof strategy. The tactical aspect of a squad takes the luck out of the game and makes you rely on skill. But a new player may not be using their abilities the way they should.
This is particularly annoying when it comes to players who pick Lifeline as their legend of choice. Though it's frustrating to have a teammate who doesn't use abilities on any of the legends, Lifeline is a unique problem. Between all of the available heroes, there's enough crossover in offensive, defensive, and strategic abilities to make up for one bad player. Usually, there will be another squad member to pick up the slack. But Lifeline is the only healing class in the game. If the player using her doesn't use her abilities, no one else can pick up the slack. Players who choose Lifeline must use her correctly for the good of the team.
When the color-coded system fails you
Most battle royale games have some sort of reward system for killing off other players, like the loot from the corpses of your fallen enemies. In Apex Legends, Respawn has found a way to make looting a bit easier. The death crates are color coded to the rarity of the items inside. If you see a purple crate sitting next to a white crate, you can make the wise decision to prioritize the purple, knowing there will be something epic inside.
This all sounds well and good, until the system completely fails you. All too often, players are finding that the high-level crate they decided to go after wasn't actually the best choice. It can be incredibly frustrating to find yourself in a fast-paced match with little time to spare, only to find that the purple crate you opened had something inside that you already possessed. The rest of the loot was complete garbage. Meanwhile, the white crate sitting right next to you contained common items, but they were things that would actually be useful, like extra ammo. This is a problem that can't necessarily be solved since it's all a guessing game when it comes to knowing what exactly is in the crates, but it's still frustrating every time it happens.
Apex Legends is a team sport
Selfish gaming has been a bit of a problem in Apex Legends. No matter how much you try to drill the idea of cooperative playing into gamers, there will always be those few who still have an "every man for himself" mentality. This can end up getting the squad killed in record time. But while players who try to snag all the loot for themselves are frustrating, things can get worse when you find yourself doing the lion's share of the work while a player reaps all the rewards. And as a thank you, they don't revive you until it's convenient for them.
If you find yourself stuck alone as an enemy squad approaches, there are only so many things you can do. You can ping your teammates to let them know a threat is nearby. But after that's done, you have to retreat or try to hold them off until your backup arrives. Oftentimes, if you're placed on a squad with a selfish player, you'll find yourself constantly defending your position against enemies on your own. Your selfish teammate can usually be found looting nearby buildings while you fight for your life. The worst thing is when you manage to destroy the squad on your own, but your teammate comes along to take the loot before you get a chance to look through it because you're too busy healing from your solo fight.
Laggy voices from the Void
Of all of the abilities the legends possess, Wraith's abilities have proven to be fan favorites. Teleporting squad members from one place to another is convenient, but her passive ability is the one that stands out for offering a strategic leg up in the competition. Wraith's Voices from the Void passive ability will alert the player when an enemy is nearby or, more importantly, when they're being targeted by an enemy. If you're able to warn your squad of a threat before you even see it, you have a much better chance of getting out of that situation alive.
The problem is that it often doesn't work the way it should. In theory, Voices from the Void is the perfect way to keep your squad alive. But too often, players are finding that lag is thwarting that benefit. When this happens, players will hear the voices whispering to them about a nearby threat after they've already been downed. Whether this is mainly due to lag or a bug isn't clear, but the one thing that is clear is that it's highly inconvenient for everyone involved. Except for maybe your opponents.
Inexperienced jumpmasters
As previously stated, being the squad's jumpmaster isn't for everyone. It's a responsibility that requires skill, planning, and knowledge of how the game is played. Because of this, Apex Legends offers players the option to relinquish their position as jumpmaster if they don't feel comfortable with the role. Problem is, not everyone realizes that they aren't quite cut out to be the jumpmaster.
The biggest mistake is the early launch. New players will often jump out of the ship at the first sight of a landing spot, not bothering to take any sort of strategy into account. This usually results in landing your squad in an overpopulated area with loot that has already been claimed, and few places to hide. Your entire squad will be killed fairly quickly.
The jumpmaster needs to be someone who is familiar with the map and the flow of the game. Someone who understands that the spot with the most loot isn't always the best place to land if you want to stay in the match as long as possible. If the jumpmaster doesn't ping the location of your destination either, you're sure to find yourself in last place every time.
Excuses galore
Apex Legends is still fairly new. This means that there aren't an abundance of "experts" like you may find in other battle royale games like Fortnite. For the most part, players are still trying to figure out the nuances of this game and the best ways to play it. And because this game is still fresh, people tend to be more forgiving of mistakes made by teammates. After all, nobody is perfect, and learning the ropes in a new game can be difficult. But sometimes, you'll get that one player on the team who has an excuse for every single time they fail. And oddly enough, the excuses never involve their own skill.
No one expects players to be perfect in a game with so many small details and extensive possibilities for strategy. But no one expects their squad member to constantly make excuses either. And yet, we've all had that one person on the team. The one who blames your compromised position on something other than the fact that they began shooting on an enemy squad when no one else was prepared. The one who blames their death on you because you didn't get to them quickly enough, even though they were the one who failed to tell the team what they were doing. That player. Though Apex Legends is constantly improving, there doesn't seem to be a fix for "that player." At least the rounds eventually end, right?
The lone mic user
There are usually two reactions when you see that someone on the squad has a mic set up. The first is excitement because you have another gamer who can communicate with you in a way far more detailed than the ping system. The other is dread as you hope they aren't an oversharer or, even worse, a jerk. The worst situation comes when only one person on your squad has a mic set up and doesn't seem to realize that you have no way to answer their elaborate plans with the simplistic ping system. Apex Legends' ping system is perfect for what it was built for: a simplistic method of communicating where ammo, enemies, or destinations are. But when your over-talkative squad member rambles on for minutes about their strategy then asks for your opinion, a ping showing where ammo is isn't quite going to be the response they were hoping for.
Plus, that guy is just constant noise. Whether they're way too talkative for their own good, or simply a loud breather who doesn't realize you can hear every little exhale they make, the extra noise in a game that demands your attention is never welcome. Remember: the mute option is your friend.