Apex Legends Launches Season 12
Apex Legends Season 12 started on Tuesday, February 9, 2022. After several trailers and much speculation, we’ve finally got access to Mad Maggie, in addition to a slew of in-game changes.
With the latest update to Apex, several legends moved around in terms of their relative strength. The first ranked split starts on Olympus, one of the more open maps in the game. Check out our Apex Legends Season 12 Legend Tier List!
S-Tier Legends (The strongest picks in Apex Legends Season 12)
- Bloodhound: Bloodhound remains the primary recon character even after Season 12 introduced a buff to Crypto’s kit. They consistently provide information to the squad with passive tracking, and the tactical scan is essentially a wallhack for your team. Additionally, Bloodhound gains increased mobility and kill potential when you pop their ult. You’re likely to see Bloodhound pop up on the majority of squads in ranked mode given their powerful kit.
- Gibraltar: Even though Mad Maggie is a decent counter to Gibby, this big boi remains S-tier for Season 12. Gibraltar is absolutely critical in the end game of high-elo games. Your team will often end up with little-to-no cover in the last ring, which makes Gibby’s bubble valuable for safely navigating the field. With the peacekeeper getting a buff via the latest hop-up, I won’t be surprised if many players combine this shotgun with Gibby’s arm shield for a high-damage playstyle. As an added bonus, his ultimate is great for both confirming kills and zoning your enemies. Gibraltar is the strongest defense legend in Season 12!
- Valkyrie: Valk’s ultimate has become a staple for rotating around the map in ranked. In Season 12, she remains atop the list of best movement legends in the game. Out of the jumpship, she provides the location of opposing squads landing around you. When redeploying using her ult, you can spot out-of-position enemies to secure a quick kill. If you are precise in placing her tactical ability, it is essentially a free stun on an enemy that can lead to an easy elimination. Just make sure to watch the fuel levels on her jetpack so you don’t end up falling back to earth at an inopportune time!
A-Tier Legends
- Mad Maggie: I was debating putting Mad Maggie in the S-tier, but her tactical ability is situational and has a fairly short range. Ideally, you land it on a wall to down a critical health enemy. Alternatively, you can punish Gibby teams who try to heal in his bubble. Out in the open, though, you lose some value with this ability. Maggie’s passive is incredibly strong in Season 12, especially given how prevalent shotguns have become. Lastly, her ult is a good way to close the distance on retreating enemies. She’s really fun to play and has a high skill season for those that put in the time.
- Wraith: Wraith is another legend who is borderline OP. With a small hitbox and one of the best rotating ultimates in the game, Wraith is a staple among many team comps. Since Olympus is so open, plenty of opponents will be running sniper rifles. Wraith’s passive ability alerts you to any danger, allowing your team to get behind cover to avoid damage. The only thing keeping her from S-tier is the slight delay when using her tactical ability. Remember to take into consideration this brief pause before you teleport Into The Void.
- Octane: This speed demon has been really strong for the last several seasons. He has high mobility, great escapability, and his jump pad is on a surprisingly short cooldown. Octane also has the unique ability of recovering his health over time. While it’s slow, it does mean he can minimize his use of healing items when he’s away from imminent danger. This is definitely not a full replacement for popping a med kit, but it does mean he can prioritize shields and stay in battle longer than his peers.
- Caustic: Our favorite gassy boi got a tweak to his gas traps in Season 12. The traps can now be taken out even after they are activated, but they have 150 total health. Additionally, the gas that has already dissipated will still linger after you’ve destroyed the trap. Overall, it feels like a very minor nerf which will likely not have a huge impact on Caustic’s play style. His ult is still the greatest indoor ability in the game and is great for punishing opponents who want to hide in buildings. Even without having movement abilities, he can still play around his traps to confuse and evade his foes!
- Loba: Loba is a weird one because the only part of her kit that benefits the team is her ultimate. It’s available really frequently and can provide a much-needed shield swap after battles, but it’s also useless when you aren’t near loot. Loba’s bracelet is a good tool for repositioning, but the open plains of Olympus mean she won’t always have a good place to throw it. That being said, she’s still better at providing gear upgrades than Lifeline and will cut down your total loot time in a match. This means you can take fights more regularly and rack up kill points!
- Ash: You can literally see where people are using Ash’s passive! This both tells you where to go for a guaranteed fight and where to avoid if you are low on shields. Her tactical can be tricky to actually land, but when it connects, there’s a high likelihood that you can secure a kill. Separately, Ash’s ultimate, Phase Breach, is a more straightforward version of Wraith’s ult. Use it to close the distance on retreating squads or to take your own team out of a fight. Just remember that this is a one-way portal which won’t return you to your starting point.
B-Tier Legends
- Pathfinder: We’ve reached Season 12 and still haven’t seen a much-needed buff to the friendly robot. Practically any legend can scan recon beacons these days, and his passive ability is so-so. You’ll likely only scan 1-2 beacons per game, so the passive doesn’t get a lot of us. Pathfinder benefits from being able to reach high ground quickly and provide a reliable method of repositioning his team. Get in the training grounds to practice with his grappling hook to make the most of Pathfinder’s kit.
- Horizon: I don’t think enough people talk about Horizon. She’s definitely not as strong as she’s been in prior seasons, but she has solid mobility and can easily get her entire team to high ground. Since Olympus has many open sightlines, her ultimate ability should see more value in Season 12. Overall, a good legend who provides a modest amount of team utility.
- Revenant: Rev could be higher here, especially when paired with a friendly Ash. Using Revenant’s Totem followed by Ash’s Phase Breach can put you in an ideal position to wipe out an entire squad! Rev also pairs well with Octane for the same reason. It comes down to team synergy on this one, since the Totem duration is too short to fully take advantage of without a movement ability. Aside from this, Revenant can climb most buildings on Olympus and crouch walk faster than every other legend to get the drop on his foes. He’s well-rounded in Season 12 and can be devastating with proper coordination.
- Seer: Seer is fine. He still has wall hacks and is good for checking upcoming POIs for enemies, but he lacks umph since his nerf. His tactical is harder to land since launch and has a long-ish cooldown. I appreciate how much information Seer’s ult can give the team, especially when properly placed near a building, but Bloodhound is still a better overall tracker. I’m fine with this. Apex doesn’t need two super strong recon legends. Seer remains a niche pick in Season 12 for the folks who have played him a bunch in the past.
- Bangalore: It’s like beating a dead horse here. Bangalore needs her time in the sun. Respawn, please buff her into the upper echelons of the Apex world! Temporary speed boost is good. Smoke grenades are good (when placed correctly). Her ult still takes about 14 days before the explosives start to detonate. Bangalore seems like a good starter character who is straightforward to learn but doesn’t have as high of a skill ceiling as other legends.
- Lifeline: If you like to be a support character in shooters, Lifeline is your lady! She can revive downed teammates while staying in the battle, she gives her team extra loot – albeit, slowly – and her heal drone has great value. It is perfect for teams that too often find themselves fighting in the storm and need to regain their health once they’re in safety. These factors combined with her small hit box make Lifeline a good choice in Season 12. However, Gibby is still a better support legend and Loba is still better at getting loot. There isn’t really anything that Lifeline excels at in her current iteration other than strictly healing and revives.
C-Tier Legends
- Mirage: Mirage is so fun to play, and it’s a great feeling to bamboozle enemies! His ultimate actually confuses opponents now and it’s cool that he can become invisible when reviving. Unfortunately, most people are good at spotting decoys now. Plus, with all the recon legends in the game, it’s harder for him to fool enemies. There’s a good reason why you rarely see any pros inserting Mirage into their starting lineup. He will likely continue to have a low pick rate in Season 12 of Apex.
- Rampart: The idea of having a big gun that you can take on the go is a good one. Even with this buff, there are very few Ramparts running around Olympus. Fewer still are the number of Ramparts who opt to walk around with her ultimate ability in-hand. With the addition of Mad Maggie in Season 12, Rampart’s walls become less valuable. She’s not as good at holding buildings as Caustic and her passive ability only applies to LMGs. Rampart does have team utility, though, which keeps her from the bottom rungs of the Apex ladder.
- Fuse: As an “explosives expert”, Fuse remains an underwhelming option. It’s rare that you’ll be in a position to launch more than 2-3 explosives in one battle. It’s nice to have added precision on where you throw them, but maybe they should do added damage from Mr. Fuse? His ultimate isn’t remarkable and can only be used outside. The Knuckle Cluster grenades are probably his saving grace from landing in D-Tier.
- Wattson: Wattson ranks amongst the best legends when it comes to late game survivability. The problem is until you get to the late game, Wattson is all but useless. In a rotation focused battle royale, Wattson’s trench forming kit does you little to no favors. Rumors point to Wattson receiving a rework in upcoming seasons. We look forward to what the developers come up with. In the meantime, Wattson is the weakest defensive legend in Season 10.
- Crypto: Crypto got a buff to his drone, but it wasn’t as meta-changing as the community was hoping for. The drone will move slightly forward without Crypto being in “pilot mode”, but it doesn’t cover enough distance to be meaningful. He is a legend that requires a high level of coordination with the rest of the team to be good. Without this, Crypto regularly leaves his other two teammates in fights where they are outnumbered. I’m hoping Respawn gives another small buff to Crypto’s drone this season to see him move up the ranks.
D-Tier Legends
I’m not putting any legends in D-Tier for Apex Legends Season 12! Everyone is playable, several characters are strong, and no legends are useless.
As always, if you are super effective with a particular legend, it doesn’t matter where they fall on a tier list. The most important thing is finding a character who matches your playstyle and mastering their kit.
Be on the lookout for an updated tier list when Apex hits the Season 12 ranked split!
TAG Apex Legends Season 12 Tier List
What do you think of these Season 12 rankings? Would you move any legends on the list? Join the conversation in the comments section!
