Should Silenced Weapons be introduced to Apex Legends?

Apex Legends has a very interesting weapon meta. Shotguns and SMGs rule supreme, and seemingly always have. The meta for weapon usage in competitive play has mainly stayed the same in the lifetime of Apex as a game (15 months), despite nerfs, buffs, reclassifications and vaulting of hop-ups. But while the weapons system is kept fresh by additions (almost) every Season in Apex Legends, there is surely room for more improvement.

Silenced or suppressed weapons could be just the thing to shake up the gun pool, and prevent Apex’s biggest problem from happening so often: third partying.

Third partying (and fourth, and fifth…) happens so often in any one match of Apex Legends, that there become no real winners of the match, merely opportunists. Now, this isn’t to say that third partying isn’t a legitimate strat for winning, because of course, it is. Coming in as the clean-up crew to someone else’s engagement is a tactic that many employ, but whether or not it’s “fair” is up for debate within the community.

Whether or not people enjoy third partying, and consider it an integral part of the game, there is a case for silenced and suppressed weapons, to try to deter the moths from the flame.

Silenced or Suppressed Weapons in other Battle Royales

Fortnite is the biggest Battle Royale game in the world and regularly rotates its weapon pool to include silenced or suppressed weapons.

During Season 6 and 9 of Fortnite, a Suppressed Weapon Eliminations Challenge was introduced. These included;

• Suppressed Pistol (Epic)
• Suppressed Pistol (Legendary)
• Suppressed Assault Rifle (Epic)
• Suppressed Assault Rifle (Legendary)
• Suppressed Sniper Rifle (Epic
• Suppressed Sniper Rifle (Legendary)
   

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This wasn’t the first time Epic Games introduced this silent format, in 2018 the Sneaky Silencer Limited Mode was in the game, with the only weapons being the Suppressed SMG and Suppressed Pistol, giving players no option but to use stealth to their advantage.

Although weapons in Fortnite are commonly vaulted and reintroduced, in the interim that they exist, the players either love them, or hate them, or want more. But, compared to their louder counterparts, suppressed weapons do tend to deal less damage, for obvious balance reasons.

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is another Battle Royale who hasn’t stayed away from a stealthier selection of weapons, and silencers can be attached to the majority of pistols, SMGs, assault rifles and snipers in the game. These mufflers only limit the audio distance of which your weapon can be heard firing from, and do not reduce damage or accuracy.

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Silenced weapons in Apex Legends would almost certainly stop most third-party attempts in their tracks. Introducing such a weapon to Apex at this late stage could become cracked and overpowered, meaning whatever type of suppressed weapon that could enter the game would have to be very rare indeed.

A workaround could be the addition of silencers as Gold barrel stabilisers, gold hop-ups, or a care package weapon. This could be of any gun type, such as SMG, Assault Rifle, Sniper, etc.

Which Apex Legends Weapons could benefit from being suppressed?

Deciding which weapons to add suppressive capabilities to would be the hardest choice for Respawn Entertainment (if those plans are even in the pipeline). In lieu of adding an entirely new silenced weapon, we have a few ideas.

R-99 – SMG

The R-99 is not only the fan favourite gun but also a pro player choice most of the time.

This fast and reliable submachine gun is the obvious choice for more players, but add a Gold mod such as a suppressor, and it could become a demon.

The R-99 spits out bullets like watermelon seeds, and isn’t the quietest gun in the game, and is probably to blame for alerting enemies to your location, and therefore most third-party attempts.

Alternator - SMG

The alternator is a fast and furious miniature submachine gun, but its tinny firing doesn't sound that ferocious. As it's nowhere near overpowered, a silencer could be just the thing this gun needs to take it to the next level.

Triple Take - Sniper (without Precision Choke)

Here you would be sacrificing damage for suppression, meaning the Triple Take could be silenced in the absence of a Precision Choke hop-up. The energy gun is quiet enough as it is, so adding a silencer isn’t out of the realms of possibility.

RE-45 - Pistol

The RE-45 pistol already looks and acts like a silent pistol, just with a faster rate of fire. Maybe a Gold barrel mod could be added here, to reduce speed but add suppression.

The call for silenced or suppressed weapons in Apex Legends has been around since the very beginning. Apex Legends was released on February 4, 2019, and a mere 8 days later, the first Reddit thread about silenced weapons was posted.

The rarity of a silenced gun or attachment would be the biggest issue for Respawn Entertainment to deal with, and most fans who are suggesting such as change do realise this.

A thread on EA Answers itself brings up the discussion again and tries to put the idea of a suppressed weapon being “OP” to bed.

We have yet to see a silencer attachment for any gun in Apex Legends gameplay… maybe inserting it into gameplay as a gold item only would be great and something to keep in mind… there’s nothing OP about a silencer though in my opinion.

As no new weapon was introduced with Season 5: Fortune’s Favor, the door is open for the introduction of a new gun at any point this season. Whether that is suppressed or not, we can only hope that Respawn see the necessity for such an item to entire the battlefield, and the loot pool.

Images via Respawn Entertainment, Epic Games & PUBG Corp