The play style diversity in Apex Legends is plentiful and allows players to find a loadout that best suits them. Sniper rifles may not be every player's cup of tea, but they are essential to many. Apex Legends has four sniper rifles, excluding Vantage's special ultimate. Snipers dominate long-range and are great at punishing other players caught in the open. A team of snipers can guarantee a knock with coordination by shooting a specific legend.
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Sniping favors certain legends, such as Gibraltar, as his arm shield provides extra protection. Dedicating one teammate to a sniping role will go a long way in getting an advantage in most encounters. The teammate with the sniper will damage an enemy and create an opening for their teammates to push. Snipers are also great at preventing enemies from pushing and countering other snipers. A sniper role is essential in many teams as it adds flexibility to team plays.
Out of all the weapons in Apex Legends, the Charge Rifle is the most disliked. The Charge Rifle is the only hit-scan weapon, meaning the bullet instantly reaches its target without delay. This results in an easy-to-use sniper that will reliably hit its target at far distances. While the Charge Rifle does not deal as much damage as other snipers, it is the easiest to use. Additionally, players using a Charge Rifle do not need to factor in any bullet drop and only need to aim directly over their target.
The Charge Rifle has gone through reworks and only works best at far distances. Other snipers will outshine the Charge Rifle at medium range as they will be easier to use. Players will not need to account for the same degree of bullet velocity and bullet drop in longer ranges. The Charge Rifle has a low DPS of 39 and a full attack will deal 45 damage to the body. Attacks will deal less damage if a player misses any portion of their Charge Rifle attack.
While the Longbow originally started as a marksman weapon, it was converted to use sniper ammo that was added in season 4. The Longbow is one of the two main sniper options that most players will consider using. The semi-auto sniper rifle packs a punch and holds up to 12 bullets with a purple sniper magazine. On an enemy with red shields, the Longbow will require five shots to the body to secure a knock or three shots to the head. The fire rate of the Longbow is 78 RPM, giving players a short delay between their next shot.
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Reload times are short but will take an entire extra second if players reload on an empty magazine. Reloading with only one bullet left will save players 1 second in their reload animation. Due to being classified as a sniper rifle, the Longbow is capable of devastating headshot damage as it has a base headshot multiplier of 2.15. Equipping a Skullpiercer increases the multiplier to 2.5, making the Skullpiercer one of the best hop-ups in Apex Legends. The Longbow has a DPS of 72 but will deal 77 damage to purple helmets or 84 with a Skullpiercer.
The Sentinel is superior to the Longbow in many ways. With the rate of fire being slower, the damage is the key differentiator. The Sentinel is a bolt-action sniper rifle with a longer delay between each shot but is excellent at peek damage. Snipers using the Sentinel must play around cover to keep themselves safe after firing shots. The Sentinel has high base damage that can increase by charging it with a single shield cell.
By charging the Sentinel, it enters an amped state and increases the damage for a short duration. An uncharged Sentinel will deal more headshot damage than a Longbow equipped with a Skullpiercer. An amped Sentinel headshot will deal 119 damage to players with purple helmets. A charged body shot will deal 88 damage. Hearing a charged Sentinel will leave most players cautious about engaging from a distance. The Sentinel has received many buffs that have paved its path to being the best floor loot sniper in the game. The addition of Deadeye's Tempo Hop-up to the Sentinel, which raises the fire rate when using the weapon repeatedly, was a notable improvement.
The Kraber was once capable of downing any enemy with a headshot and struck fear into the hearts of players. While still a powerful late-game weapon, the Kraber was nerfed to prevent one-tap headshots in the late game. Players with purple shields and helmets will be immune to the one-tap potential the Kraber once had. Players should still not ignore the massive damage potential the Kraber possesses and its usefulness in the end game.
A body shot will deal 140 damage to enemies or 119 if they are using a fortified legend. A headshot will deal 189 damage to purple shields, which will cause that player to spend a lot of time healing. Using numerous grenades and other ordinances to hurt a player who was recently headshot by the Kraber to get a knock is a tactic used by many players. A headshot from a Kraber may not be an instant knock, but it will require the enemy player to spend valuable time healing. During the last zone, players are limited by time, and a Kraber headshot is essentially a death sentence. The only downside to the Kraber is its limited ammo, so make each shot count.
Apex Legends is currently available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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