Apex Legends pick-rates force players to demand Newcastle buff with Season 14
Respawn Entertainment Recent pick-rate figures for Apex Legends Season 13 reveal that the game’s most recently added character, Heroic Defender Newcastle, is in desperate need of a buff with Season 14.
Apex Legends’ unique and diverse character pool is one of the most acclaimed aspects of the battle royale, with fans always keen to try out new Legends as they drop and even shake up their main character.
Naturally, though, we see metas emerge in which the strongest Legends are typically most-used, while the weakest barely get a look in.
While characters like Rampart and Crypto have long found themselves at the undesirable end of the Apex Legends spectrum, the least-picked Legend in the game is now, remarkably, the most recently added.
Newcastle’s abilities in Apex Legends.Apex Legends fans call for Newcastle buff amid awful pick-rate
The character in question is Newcastle, who was added with Season 13. While he started off fairly popular, he has fallen away massively as the season has developed, now sitting at a pick-rate of just 1.6%.
That’s lower than some of the game’s most historic undesirables – with Crypto marginally higher, Mad Maggie at 1.9% and Rampart at 2.3%.
The result was, understandably, fans calling for prompt and meaningful buffs to Newcastle when Season 14 drops in August.
One player suggested he’s simply a more awkward version of Gibraltar, saying: “His ability is a bit more technical than Gibby’s and needs a buff for sure. But for now if you’re being chased, throwing down at your feet helps keep the fire off you.”
Another said that the issue with his shield is how easy it is to destroy: “The number of times… I throw a shield at my feet and it just gets burned and I die. Whereas with Gibby that would never happen. It seems to me like in lobbies with worse players Newcastle actually does worse.”
Respawn have thus far been tight-lipped about the changes coming with Season 14 but, as it approaches, we expect details to creep out. Here’s hoping a Newcastle buff will be high on the agenda.