NICKMERCS outlines major Apex Legends Ranked changes needed to save the mode

Apex Legends competitive player and Twitch streamer NICKMERCS has outlined a number of changes he wants to see in the BR’s Ranked mode, claiming Respawn have “so many options” to save it.

NICKMERCS’ transition from Twitch streamer to Apex Legends Global Series competitor took many in the gaming community by surprise.

In spite of his past as a Fortnite and Gears of War pro, few thought he would adapt to high-level Apex Legends as well as he had.

However, Nick has been critical of Apex Legends’ Ranked mode, claiming that it needs to do more to engage its varied player-base.

He believes that, currently, there’s little reason for players to get truly invested in the mode and, in a September 2 Twitch stream, he delved into the “options” Respawn have to overhaul Ranked.

NICKMERCS wants major Apex Legends Ranked changes

Outlining the varied player-base of Apex Legends Ranked, Nick explained that Respawn need to do more to satisfy the community.

He said that the top players – like sweetdreams and ImperialHal – don’t care about Ranked in its current form. As a result, he wants to see better rewards, more tournaments and in-game leaderboards.

“You have a variety of players in these Ranked lobbies,” he said. “So in order to have people play correctly you have to incentivise it enough for them to give a f**k… The only way you’re gonna change that is by incentivising it.”

He went on to advocate for character skins and weapon skins as rewards, as well as “Blings” like in Fortnite.

On top of that, NICKMERCS specifically called on Respawn to offer more support through the organization of tournaments and cash prizes.

He said: “There’s so many things you can do. You could have a tournament at the end of every split with the top players in Ranked… A lot of pros would definitely care and grind it out. A little heirloom would be cool. And on top of that, there’s just so many options. Skins, heirlooms, cash, tournaments.”

The streamer rounded off his suggestions by asking why Ranked leaderboards are not available in-game and players have to go to a third-party site to access detailed rankings.

Respawn have not responded to any of Nick’s suggestions but plenty of viewers echoed the desire to see them implemented, with many spamming “Save Apex Ranked”.

Here’s hoping we see the mode develop and improve as we move towards Season 15.