Apex Legends Season 21 is right around the corner, releasing on May 7th. It brings a new villainous addition to the game in Alter, however, it’s one of the weapon balancing changes coming with this update that I’m most excited about. With surmounting pressure from pros and casual players alike, Respawn Entertainment has decided to remove the digital threat optic from the loot pool in Season 21. Shocking, right? Let’s find out what led to this huge decision.
Why is the digital threat optic being removed?
Let’s recap how digi was being abused in Apex Legends
The 1x digital threat optic existed in the game since its launch back in 2019. Though it has been in-game for more than five years, it is only recently that we started seeing backlash over the optic’s overpowered nature.
The optic became a nuisance with the Bangalore and Catalyst meta taking over the Apex Legends competitive scene over the last 6-9 months. We saw pros across the board, from TSM ImperialHal to Alliance Hakis, complain about the digital threat being too OP for comp
Apex. You can see the frustration in their X posts below.
After ignoring the complaints for a few months, Respawn first tried a stopgap solution to the problem. With the release of Apex Legends Season 19 (Ignite), the team removed the digital threat optic from the crafting rotation. This did mean that not every player on every team had a digital threat optic, but it did not mean the end of the Bangalore smoke plus Catalyst Wall meta was near.
So, with the release of Apex Legends Season 20 (Breakout) in February, Respawn decided to take some stringent steps to patch the problem. First, the developers decided to vault the digi threat optic for SMGs. Yes, this optic that lets you see players through smoke and clutter could no longer be equipped on guns such as the R99, CAR SMG, Volt, and others. They also reduced the spawn rate for digital threat optics by 20 percent.
Alongside this SMG nerf, Apex Legends rolled out the Legends perk system and gutted the two legends, i.e. Catalyst and Bangalore, which were leading to the excessive use of digi threats in comp Apex. While this further eased the situation, it still did not fix one of the biggest gripes the pro community had with digi threats; that it was overpowered in a competitive setting.
Though the aforementioned changes were healthy for the smoke digi meta, the optic still came equipped on the Wingman, a care package weapon (pistol) that had immense spam ability. Pros were up in arms about the strong nature of the Wingman, leading Respawn to quickly nerf the pistol two weeks after the season launch.
The 1x digital threat optic was removed from the Wingman and replaced with the 1x hcog that couldn’t be swapped with another optic. The ammo count was decreased, along with the Booster Loader hop-up. The change rolled out mid-scrims, and you can check out the reaction of TSM Verhulst and his team here.
Now, as confirmed in the patch notes today, Apex Legends Season 21 (Upheaval) will see the digital threat optic being completely removed from the loot pool. It’s just the 1x digital threat optic by the way; the 4-10x digital threat optic for snipers remains in the game.
This decision is only natural as the digital threat optic had become quite niche; only being compatible with two pistols and the shotguns in the game. So, Respawn calling the digital threat optic an imperfect optic and deciding to remove it from Apex Legends does make perfect sense.
With the legacy of the digital threat optic ending after five years, maybe we will get to see the Apex Legends competitive shift away from the snore fest that is the Bang meta. Some players would not agree, I know, but I feel this is a healthy change for the game in the long run. Apex Legends is one of the most competitive and skill-based BR games out there and the digital threat optic just ruined the fun. What is your take on this? Voice your opinion in the comments section.
