The Wingman-and-Peacekeeper combo is quickly taking over Apex Legends, and with good reason—it owns. The combination is also having an unexpected consequence on me: I found myself actually invested in a video game’s meta.
The Wingman is a pistol that can kill a player in three headshots, and the Peacekeeper has the potential to deliver 110 damage via body shots if all the pellets land. In the hands of a skilled first-person-shooter player, this combo can be unstoppable. In my unskilled hands, they bridge a skill gap and challenge me to play more effectively.
I’m not usually one to care much about guns in a game, but Apex Legends is changing my perspective a bit. In my quest to become a better player, finding a Wingman and a Peacekeeper on the map always feels like an opportunity. They’re the weapons that have granted me my measly handful of kills, but more than that, I know that if I get more practice using these guns, I can learn to be a great player.
It doesn’t hurt that the community is basically obsessed with them as well, reinforcing my opinion that these guns own. Just this morning I scrolled through the Apex subreddit and found this post:
In the comments, one player bemoans the ubiquity of this loadout, saying, “Everyone is always rocking it. So much so that I get excited to hear a Devotion spinning up even when it’s in my face. ‘At least I didn’t get 2 tapped by a Wingman’ – Anyone after a loss.”
They’re not wrong. I usually get killed by a few Peacekeeper body shots or a well-timed Wingman headshot. But I’m learning something fromthe community’s mass consensus that this is the best loadout in the game. Watching a new game form its meta in only a few weeks has been fascinating to me as an outsider looking in, like in the case of Overwatch.
I always used to think, “If everyone’s complaining about the meta, why don’t they try to find their own ways to play successfully and have fun?” Now that I’m actually playing a competitive game, I understand that the power of peer pressure is undeniable. I’d never pick up a Mozambique, for instance, even though I watched a video of someone getting a squad wipe with the much-maligned gun this morning. And if I see a Wingman or a Peacekeeper, I’ll always grab it, just because I know they’re “better.”
Every time I have a Wingman and a Peacekeeper, I feel like a smarter player for knowing what the best guns are. It doesn’t mean I actually play better, though. That will just come with time.
Comments
9 responses to “Apex Legends Has Me Caring About A Game’s Meta For The First Time”
Should be noted that this is the best loadout on console, with auto aim helping the wingman tremendously.
On PC, the Wingman is far less dominant.
Is there auto aim on console? OMG I am worse than I realised :O
Is this a joke? As a primarily PC gamer I am finding aiming in game hard to master on the ps4 pad unlike games that do have aim assist like GTA and RDR etc.
? – I can’t remember the last console shooter that didn’t have auto aim.
last of the proper Halo games I guess? – shame most FPS seem to go for the COD-style generic auto-aim snapping instead of Halo’s ‘sticky crosshair’ which was tuned meticulously for each weapon
Well the reddit seems to think that this is one of the few games that is assist free on consoles and based on my experience I also can’t believe it has auto aim or i’d be able to get more kills.
Still I could be wrong.
A quick google isnt really clear either way. If it has AA, its far more subtle than other games that have it, so that could be something giving a false negative. Few comments from someone in the know.
https://imgur.com/a/1UUXH8t
To me, that reads that somethings there, just not as much as other shooters.
Splatoon says hi 😛
Ah the meta I always find metas are horrible and game destroying.
Really rips the fun out of games.
God rolls and metas.