After a myriad of server issues and connectivity problems, Season 9 of Apex Legends is now well underway. As with every season, this season brought about a series of balance changes as well as a new Legend that is shaking up the meta quite a bit. To rank each of the Legends, we look at their overall kit, what they bring to fights, and what they bring to their teammates. With all that in mind, here is Season 9's character tier list.

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S-Tier

Bloodhound - Bloodhound is the quintessential tracker in Apex Legends. They can reliably follow enemy tracks thanks to the clues the enemy leaves behind. Bloodhound's scan can reveal any enemies in a large area ahead of them, and Beast of the Hunt is great for pushing teams and closing in for the kill. Overall, Bloodhound is great for those who like having a tactical advantage and those who love playing on the aggressive side. There are no Legends better at tracking down and finishing off enemies than Bloodhound.

Gibraltar - Gibraltar will always be S-Tier as long has he can survive a Kraber shot, thanks to his Arm Shield. With a deadly ultimate in Bombardment, and a Dome Shield to provide safety in the open, Gibraltar is an absolute unit that is hard to take down. Survivability is the name of the game for Gibraltar, and no Legend does it better than him.

Revenant - Revenant started at the bottom of the tier list when he first launched, but after some substantial buffs, he's skyrocketed to the top and remained there for some time. His Death Totem allows players to push a team with little repercussion, and his Silence is absolutely brutal when it comes to shutting down a team. When Revenant is in play, players cannot rely on their abilities, and that changes the game completely.

Valkyrie - The new face on the Apex Legends playing field, Valkyrie is the queen of the skies and has mobility that nearly every Legend wishes they had. Valkyrie's abilities are all about freedom of movement, with a splash of area damage to boot. She can fly around thanks to her VTOL jets, fire a missile barrage straight out of a mech anime, and then use her ultimate to redeploy her and her entire team. Valkyrie is a menace in the skies and has shaken up the meta so hard that it's caused Horizon mains to question their entire existence. When movement is such a pivotal part of the game, how could someone like Valkyrie not be at the top of the charts?

A-Tier

Crypto - What Crypto lacks in combat abilities he makes up for tenfold in scouting capability. His drone can scan survey beacons, pick up teammates respawn banners, respawn teammates, scan enemies, open doors and loot bins, and the list goes on. Crypto's drone is incredibly versatile and can safely scout a location before having the team push in. The EMP from Crypto's drone is also a great engagement tool and should definitely be used to start a fight. While he encourages a slightly less active play style, Crypto is very useful to a team.

Fuse - Throwables have always been powerful in Apex Legends, and they have never been more powerful than they are in Fuse's hands. He can throw grenades an obscene distance thanks to his passive. Additionally, his Knuckle Duster now has two charges to add some chip damage mid-fight, and had its cooldown reduced by five seconds. Fuse is just an all-around solid Legend that really leans into one specific role: demolition.

Lifeline - Next to Valkyrie, Lifeline is the hot-button topic with the Season 9 update. Respawn removed Lifeline's revive shield, which was key in reviving teammates safely mid-fight. She can still revive people mid-fight with her D.O.C drone, but it makes both her and the downed teammate bigger and easier targets. To make up for this, she can revive two players at a time, and can cancel the revive if needed. Her Drone also heals faster now, which is a nice bonus.

Lastly, her Care Package now guarantees an upgrade of some kind (if possible) based on her entire team's loadout for Body Shields, Weapon Attachments, and other equipment (helmets, backpacks, and knockdown shields). She's still in a strong spot in the meta as the game's only healer, but she just has to be more careful with her revives.

Mirage - Mirage received a substantial rework right before the launch of Season 7, which made him a lot more challenging to fight against if playing against a Mirage main. In the right hands, Mirage's decoys can really add a layer of confusion to a fight that can turn the tides in an instant. His decoys copy his movements, and if shot they show the enemy's location. They take more than one shot to take down, so they are incredibly useful at confusing enemies. His ultimate can also get him out of a bad situation by flooding the place with decoys. Overall, he's one of the most fun Legends to play as, and can be a menace in the right hands.

Pathfinder - Pathfinder mains have had a rollercoaster of a time following their favorite legend's changes. As of Season 9, Pathfinder is incredibly strong, though not absolutely busted. Grapple has a variable cooldown that is fair (for the most part), Pathfinder no longer has Low Profile, and while his scanning ability was passed along to all other Recon Legends, his scans also helps reduce his zipline cooldown. Few legends can navigate both short and long distances with the ease and speed that Pathfinder can, and in Apex Legends, speed and mobility are king.

Wraith - Wraith has always been a popular Legend among the competitive crowd. With the ability to dodge incoming damage with her tactical as well as an ultimate that can be used to move her team over long distances, she brings a lot to the table for both solo-focused players and those playing with their squad. Her passive also notifies her if an enemy is aiming at her, so she has a decent way to tell if a situation is getting ready to get bad. With the removal of the Low Profile debuff, Wraith is better than last season, which has allowed her to move back up to the A-Tier.

B-Tier

Bangalore - Bangalore has typically been a constant within the Apex Legends meta. She assumes the role of the typical "soldier" class, and her abilities reflect exactly that. A well-minded Bangalore player can really change the tides of a fight to swing it in her favor, but her abilities aren't game-changing enough to shake up the meta drastically. Her smokescreens are great for confusing enemies or covering a retreat, and her ultimate is a great zoning tool. Season 9 fixed a bug that thinned Bangalore's smoke, so she's just as good as ever.

Horizon - Horizon has been a menace since she launched two seasons ago thanks to her ability to constantly be in the air with her tactical ability, and a must-pick for those looking to really climb the ranks. Her zone control with her ultimate was also quite powerful. However, with this season's update Horizon can no longer just sit atop her Gravity Lift to heal or deal damage. The Gravity Lift will lift players 30% slower, has less side-to-side acceleration, and players can only sit on top of it for 2 seconds. Horizon is still a powerful legend, but she's a lot more balanced now. After all, only one legend can control the skies, and that's Valkyrie.

Loba - Loba has been the laughing stock of most Apex characters due to her laughably bad tactical ability. Not only did it essentially stun the player for using it, it was also unreliable at best when it came to actually registering a valid teleport location. However, Loba's tactical no longer limits player movement, and instead allows for running and sliding while the bracelet is in-air. It will also no longer slow players down following the translocation. Her Black Market received a cooldown increase, bringing it to 120 seconds, but it's still just as powerful and useful as ever. Loba may finally be a viable character in the Apex Games following the Season 9 update.

Octane - Apex Legends' resident speed demon, Octane has gone through some interesting changes over the past couple seasons. With the launch of Season 9, Octane's stim cooldown has been severely reduced but in exchange the stim costs 20 HP instead of 12. Additionally, in-air accuracy is now lower after launching off a jump pad, but the jump pads themselves remain unchanged. Octane is still great for navigating in and out of fights, but now players need to weigh the cost of the stim a little more than they did last season, where Octane was also in B-tier.

C-Tier

Caustic - Poor Caustic received the nerf hammer last season, receiving a huge damage nerf to his titular caustic gas. Instead of ramping up damage the longer enemies are inside the gas, it instead deals flat damage per tick. This turns Caustic's gas from a lethal defense system into a minor inconvenience as enemies just bolt through it while taking minimal damage. He's still good at adding additional chip damage into a fight, especially in the final circle with his ultimate, but players have to be aggressive while enemies are in the gas traps. The nerf was a bit severe, so perhaps Caustic will get a small buff in the future to bring him back up the tier list.

Rampart - Rampart has always struggled to fit into the Apex Legends meta since her introduction several seasons ago. After a series of minor buffs to her amp walls, which still have some issues to work out, she's a bit more viable now, but is generally one of the lowest-picked Legends. Sure, her ultimate can dish out a lot of damage, but it leaves players incredibly open to counterattack if the enemy has even remotely better positioning. Overall, Rampart doesn't need buffs, she needs reworks to be truly viable.

D-Tier

Wattson - Wattson is in D-Tier due to a technicality. At the time of writing, Wattson's tactical ability is bugged. Instead of damaging, slowing, and disorienting enemies that pass through the fences, they simply deal their measly amount of damage and that's it. Wattson has always been a mid-to-high tier character, especially for Ranked teams looking to hold a zone in the late-game, and once her tactical ability is fixed, then Wattson will return to her rightful place around the B-Tier.

Apex Legends is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

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Patrick Kirk

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