Apex Legends will fix Wattson fence bug next week

Wattson smiles at the camera — (Image credit: Respawn)

Update: Apex Legends is set to fix a massive Wattson bug where the Legends' perimeter fences no longer slow or stun enemies. Respawn Director of Comms Ryan Rigney took to Twitter to post an update, writing that a Wattson fence fix and Arenas exploits

The visual stun and physical slow effects help increase the damage caused by the fences, so removing the latter drastically drops Wattson's damage potential. A video on Reddit posted by u/armyjackson shows just how broken they currently are, as Octane runs straight through 20 Wattson fences zig-zagging across a space and doesn't die.

Original Story: If you've jumped into Apex Legends lately and noticed something a little odd with Wattson's electrified fences, you're not alone.

Whereas previously running into the character's sizzling lines would cause enemy players to lose health and be stunned into slowing down, right now it seems players can move through her defenses without any slowdown and taking very little damage, too.

Here's a player showing off the issue on Twitter:

‼️HUGE WATTSON NERF... BUG...‼️fences no longer stun or slow enemies.🔎i'd imagine this is because the arc star stun/slow has been removed, and they probably had some shared code (...im an expert, totally)it's a massive nerf to her kit in the meantime. @rspn_pav pic.twitter.com/8lexLUTpdkMay 7, 2021

"I'd imagine this is because the arc star stun/slow has been removed, and they probably had some shared code (...im an expert, totally)," suggested Lila, who reported the issue (thanks, PCGN). "It's a massive nerf to her kit in the meantime."

Luckily for Wattson mains, it looks as though the glitch is not an intentional nerf, and an unverified Twitter account from someone claiming to work at Respawn reports that they've passed the issue onto the team.

Despite Apex Legends: Legacy launching with some serious server issues, Season 9's addition of Arenas, a permanent 3v3 mode, clearly intrigued so many players that they shattered Apex Legends' concurrent player record on Steam. Just 24 hours after its launch, Apex Legends reached over 300,000 peak players on Steam alone in spite of the game's server woes.

ICYMI, as well as the new mode, Apex Legends Season 9 also introduced new Legend named Valkyrie with wild new abilities, a bow, and several map updates, too.