The Apex Legends balance evolved a lot with the start of Season 3. From legends to items to mechanics, many things changed. It’s safe to say that even if we were still in Kings Canyon, it would play like a different game. All things considered, one group of players seems to be more blessed by the new meta than anyone else. I am talking about Bangalore mains.
Season 3 gave Bangalore a buff the community has been requesting for a while now. The damage of her ultimate ability, Rolling Thunder, is double what it was. It went from a negligible 20 to a slightly concerning 40. That’s great and all, but it’s not the only buff she got. To be specific, Bangalore’s pre-existing skill set is what automatically makes her stronger in the new Apex Legends meta.
The patch notes state that the Season 3 balance changes aim to “encourage and improve longer range gunfights”. Sniper duels are becoming a bigger part of the meta. This is in part thanks to the Charge Rifle with its tracking beam, plus the Anvil Receiver hop-up. It also doesn’t hurt that the new map is full of wide-open spaces and tall buildings overlooking them.
Bangalore is uniquely anti-sniper by design. Her passive makes her hard to hit at long range. She can also deploy a smokescreen to protect her squad and allow them to re-position safely. Incidentally, her smoke screen gives her perhaps the biggest advantage of all. With it, she can execute finishers with more relative safety than any other legend, with the possible exception of Caustic. And finishers are a valid gameplay mechanic in Season 3, because all legends have the Executioner perk. Finishing a downed legend fully restores your shields, and Bangalore can take full advantage of that.
Will these buffs make Bangalore a contender for competitive Apex Legends play? We can’t say for sure just yet. The current tournament pantheon of Wattson, Pathfinder, and Wraith is hard to break into. But the competitive meta is already being challenged with the inclusion of Crypto and with Respawn alluding to impending Wraith nerfs. Perhaps we will soon see Bangalore climb into the high tiers.
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