Despite Rampart only arriving in Apex Legends Season 6, many players are already calling for her emplaced minigun, Sheila, to be re-worked or strengthened.
When Rampart was announced prior to the launch of Season 6, some fans expressed reservations about her Ultimate Ability, the Emplaced Minigun a.k.a Sheila.
The idea of a turret, many argued, would encourage negative play-styles and be incredibly difficult to balance.
Despite the fact that both her Tactical and Passive abilities – Amped Cover and Modded Loader – are geared towards strengthening her hand when using Sheila, some believe that the minigun is far too cumbersome and weak to truly influence the game’s meta.
With Season 6 now well underway, the dust has had time to settle on Sheila, and verdicts are not particularly positive. Rampart’s vulnerability while using the minigun, in particular, has been singled out for criticism. She is more or less a sitting duck to any enemy not coming under fire.
One player composed a list of their positives and negatives with Rampart, and the negatives by far outnumber the positives.
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Among other things, they highlighted the recoil and lack of mobility as big issues with Sheila, as well as how easy it is to locate enemies using the minigun.
Another player suggested that Rampart needs a “complete redesign”, proposing a few ways in which Respawn could strengthen her moving forward.
“Add a shield to her turret,” they said, “or make her turret moveable, or give her turret more health. But, honestly, I think Rampart is flawed at the fundamental level, and it doesn’t matter how many changes you make to her kit, she needs a complete overhaul of both her Passive, Active and Ultimate.”
Some players responded that it is too soon to suggest a rework of a Legend only added this season, but pick rates do indicate just how unpopular Rampart has become, in a seriously short space of time. We’ll have to wait and see how Respawn decide to play this one.
