With the release of Apex Legends season 6, Respawn finally decided to move away from the R99 meta.
Apex Legends season 6’s new weapon meta has been very diving among the Apex Legends player base. While some players are finally pleased to see some real change in the weapons meta, there are still a lot of diehard R99 fans who are still upset as R99 has been moved to the care package with some extra buff.
At the same time, devotion made a comeback to the normal loot pool. And it was so effective in melting players across the map that players immediately started to ask Respawn for an immediate change. After many complaints, Respawn released a hotfix to address the devotion.
Additionally, the tier list is tailor-made for returning players who want to know how this new season has changed their favorite loadouts. Is your preferred loadout still in the current meta? This list will help players decide on their own. Furthermore, this tier list is only valid for season 6 and is also very subjective, with further buffs and nerfs this list will also change.
S-Tier Weapons
Kraber .50-cal
Kraber is still the most powerful sniper in the arena. Therefore it is only available via care package drop. One headshot from Kraber will knock players immediately regardless of their armor level. And that also includes characters with fortification perk like Gibraltar. Therefore, it is still an easy candidate for an S-tier rank.
Peacekeeper
Even in season 6, Respawn still believes the peacekeeper to be a perfect fit for the care package. And like every other care package weapon, it has some extra buffs to make it eligible for that status. At the end of the day, it is still the most powerful shotgun in the game.
R99
In season 6, Respawn finally decided to shift the whole meta in a new direction as the R99 is now a care package only weapon. As a result, players who are fed up with the whole R99 meta from season 1 can breathe a sigh of relief. However, Respawn did slightly buff the R99 as it is now a care package only weapon.
A-Tier Weapons
Devotion
The devotion is back to the normal loot pool in season 6 alongside the turbocharger hop-up. Even though the devotion is no longer a care package only weapon, a fully kitted devotion can be very lethal. And with the ability to craft weapons and attachments, players are now experiencing the full wrath of the devotion in the Apex games.
Volt
Volt is the new energy-based SMG gun that is replacing the R99 as the new meta. And its effectiveness in the game is really promising so far. Although it is still not as good as the old R99. The prowler SMG is its only real competition. However, it is slightly better than the Prowler as of now.
Mastiff
Mastiff got demoted from being a care package weapon to a discounted peacekeeper with some expected nerfs back in season 5. And now in season 6, it is still the same. Mastiff is still a pretty reliable shotgun only if you can find a level three shotgun volt.
Prowler
Prowler saw some slight change from season 5 with some minor nerf to the auto mode. Even without the select-fire hop-up, this gun can be really effective at close-quarter encounters after the recent buffs to its burst mode.
Wingman
The Wingman is still a pretty effective gun especially with the skull piercer attachment giving it some extra kick with headshots. Currently, it is way closer to the OG wingman that players love to hate.
B-Tier Weapons
R-301
R-301 is still a b-tier weapon in season 6 as it is still outclassed by the new VOLT SMG in terms of TTK. Meanwhile, the Flatline outclasses it in DPS. Both of them combined gave the R-301 a B-tier status. Even after the removal of the R99 from the normal loot pool, the introduction of Volt SMG still holds it back from being an A-tier weapon.
Flatline
Now in season 6, Flatline is really effective at different ranges but the only thing that still holds it back is its recoil. It definitely hits harder than the R-301 but the recoil can be a real pain to handle sometimes. Like previous seasons, Flatline can be viable if the player is confident in his/her ability to handle its recoil.
Havoc
In season 6, Respawn decided to give HAVOC a new recoil pattern. The new pattern made the gun a little bit more consistent in terms of the recoil. As of now, the gun is still in a pretty decent state.
Longbow
Longbow saw no real change in season 6. Currently, this gun is in a decent place as a sniper rifle. With the addition of sniper rifle ammo into the game last season, it dropped to a b-tier weapon cause players can’t spam it as much as they would like anymore. Since skull piercer is still available from the last season, it is still a great choice.
Spitfire
Respawn decided to heavily buff all the LMG’s in the game in season 6. And this season they really improved the recoil controllability of this weapon. As a result, it is actually a really good option for early to mid-game until you find a devotion.
C-Tier Weapons
G7 Scout
G7 Scout in season 5 was just a good weapon with decent fire rate and damage numbers. Respawn really didn’t change anything with this gun in season 6. However, G7 scout did get the premium battle pass skin treatment this time.
EVA-8
Last season EVA-8 was a really good weapon only with the double-tap hop-up. And in season 6, they didn’t change anything. In a world where mastiff exists Eva 8 can’t really do much. However, with the double-tap hop-up, it can be deadly at close range encounters but the recoil can be really hard to control sometimes.
Triple Take:
Triple take also got some decent buffs in this season with a built-in choke hop-up that can be toggled on or off. Additionally, they also increased the fire rate alongside the magazine capacity of this weapon.
L-Star
Now in season 6, the L-star is still a widely available weapon in the game. Even though it is a powerful LMG that deals huge damage, the only problem with this weapon is its bullet travel time. It has a painfully slow bullet travel time which still holds it back.
Sentinel
Respawn gave the Sentinel some buffs in season 6 as it only requires one shield cell to charge if the player has the gold armor. This change slightly encouraged more Sentinel uses in the game. However, most players still prefer the Longbow as an alternative.
Hemlok
Hemlok saw some good buffs in this new season. Respawn decided to give it less vertical recoil while in the burst mode. Additionally, the time between each burst shot is also lowered to encourage more players to pick up this gun in the game. As a burst weapon, it is actually quite good right now in season 6.
D-Tier Weapons
Charge Rifle
Charge Rifle has seen its fair share of nerfs ever since season 3. However, in season 6, Respawn made some changes to its magazine capacity. And this gun is still nowhere near as good as it once was back in season 3.
Alternator
The Alternator is still a great placeholder for an R-301. With Disruptor rounds out of the picture, this weapon can be a viable choice only in the early stage of a game. Although with its superior control it can deal some decent damage until you find something better like an R-301. And also this season Respawn didn’t make any real change to the Alternator.
RE-45
RE-45 was actually a pretty decent option back in season 5 as it used to deal quite a lot of damage. In season 6, Respawn also didn’t make any real changes to the RE-45. Respawn just removed it from the GOLD loot pool.
E-Tier Weapons
P2020
In season 6, Respawn did make some changes to the P2020. They buffed the base damage a little bit while nerfing the hammer points at the same time. P2020 is not a very effective weapon even in the early game but if you find hammer point hop-up it has the potential to become an S-tier weapon as it deals considerably more damage with the hop-up. But in order to do that much damage, players have to break their opponent’s shield first.
F-Tier Weapons
Mozambique
Apex Legends players already know where Mozambique would fit in any tier list. Back in 2019, when the game first released it became a meme on how weak and ineffective the weapon was. Sometimes it is still better to hit your opponent with your bare hand rather than shooting with this monstrosity. However, with hammer points, it can be really effective but even then players are probably better off with using a P2020 with the hammer point. Although in season 6, they increased its magazine capacity from 3 to 4.
Keep in mind that this list is only for the current meta. This list will change with time as new weapons are added to the game in the future.
