NICKMERCS wants Apex Legends aim assist to get buffed?

After Respawn Entertainment announced the removal of the "tap strafing" movement mechanic in the upcoming Collection Event, the Apex Legends community was in an uproar. Among the players most significantly affected were KBaM (keyboard and mouse) users, which the change would affect directly. Among the many complaints by these players were that controllers would no longer be balanced.

This ultimately prompted the developers to release a statement saying that they would "continue to evaluate" aim assist in Apex Legends to better establish gameplay parity between the two input options. Youtube star, Nick "NICKMERCS" Kolcheff, recently shared his opinion regarding the upcoming changes and outright trolled KBaM players that opposed the change.

What does NICKMERCS  think about aim assist in Apex Legends?

In a video entitled "Goodbye controller players" posted on his second YouTube channel, NICKMERCS said: "Apex Legends put out a tweet [...] discussing the way aim assist works on Apex Legends. I think they want to make some changes."

MOVEMENT TECH AND MOBILITY IN APEX

Read: https://t.co/IW7hy1bh3j

— John Larson | JayBiebs (@RSPN_JayBiebs) September 1, 2021

He went on to say that he didn't know what kind of changes they were considering. "I don't know if they want to nerf aim assist or buff aim assist," he said before trolling KBaM players by commanding his "controller gang" to spam "buff'" in the comments section of the video.

It's sensible that Respawn would be looking to nerf aim assist on controller inputs since the "tap strafing" mechanic can only be executed using the keyboard and mouse.

NICKMERCS continued to criticize the call by KBaM players to nerf aim assist, by saying: "It’s funny. All these keyboard and mouse guys are talking about aim assist being broken, right, but they’re on keyboard and mouse."

It's tough to beat the pinpoint accuracy of using a mouse or the ability to bind any key or mechanic using the keyboard. Controller players are indeed restricted in this way and have a limited degree of movement, aim and speed, compared to KBaM players, especially over longer ranges.

On the other hand, aim assist certainly confers an advantage to controller players during close-quarters combat. 

Whilst there are inherent pros and cons to both input options, it's clear that NICKMERCS feels that nerfing aim assist is not the solution. One user correctly pointed out that "you need game sense and positioning in both [inputs] but the raw aim and recoil control skill needs to be trained and is the core game element to master."

It will be interesting to see how Respawn plans to address this contentious topic and endeavour to update you as soon as more information becomes available.

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Header image via YouTube / NICKMERCS.