Xiomara Contreras, AKA "Vantage", is Apex Legends' newest playable recon legend. Raised on the wild planet of Pagos by her mother, Vantage found her way to civilization after an accident on a derelict prison ship caused her to be seriously injured. With no choice left, Vantage's mother activated the ship's S.O.S. beacon, allowing herself to be captured and her daughter to be saved. Now healed and without a mother, Vantage enters the Apex Games in an attempt to draw attention to her mother's case and earn her freedom.
Gameplay-wise, Vantage hasn't gotten off to a good start. While most of her abilities are similar to those of other legends, they don't quite stack up to them. In fact, it is quite difficult to see just how she fits into the Apex Legends meta as a recon legend. But while Vantage may not have the wallhack abilities of other legends in her class, she does provide some vital information by way of her passive ability.
This Visor Isn't Just For Show
Spotter's Lens is Vantage's passive ability. With it, she can pull up a bullet drop indicator to see where her shots will land whilst aiming down sights while unarmed or with a weapon that has a mid-to long-range scope. The passive ability is useful for marksman weapons and sniper rifles like the 30-30 Repeater and Longbow DMR, whose bullet drop distances are much shorter compared to other weapons in their class. Though Spotter's Lens makes perfect sense when used in conjunction with mid-to long-range scopes, its functionality isn't as apparent when Vantage is unarmed, though it does provide her with a base 3x magnification when aiming down sights.
This is because Spotter's Lens has a hidden, unexplained feature to it. Aiming at an enemy or looking near their general direction will display a ton of information on Vantage's visor. This includes what legend the enemy is playing as, their distance from Vantage, and what armor they and their squad are wearing. While these nuggets of information may not seem as important as knowing enemies' current locations (information provided by legends like Bloodhound, Seer, and Crypto), they can end up influencing a lot of decisions a Vantage squad makes.
There's More To Recon Work Than Wallhacks
Breaking down the pieces of information Spotter's Lens provides is essential to understanding its usefulness as a recon ability. For starters, being able to identify enemy legends allows Vantage to know what abilities that specific squad has, allowing her and her squad to adapt accordingly. Recognizing Crypto from a distance, for example, will allow Vantage to relay the information to their team and allow them to watch out for Crypto's Surveillance Drone and his Drone EMP ultimate ability.
Gauging the enemy's distance from Vantage is important as well, as it lets players know what kind of engagements to expect. Vantage's abilities and large hitbox make her more of a sniper who picks off enemies at range, so allowing her to set up prior to an engagement is essential for her squadmates. This feeds into another piece of information Spotter's Lens provides, which is showing an entire enemy squad's armor levels. In addition to accuracy, bolstering one's defenses is an integral part of survival in Apex Legends. To ensure that Vantage doesn't get knocked down by an enemy sniper, she can check what type of armor they are wearing and compare it to her own. Enemies with a higher tier of armor than Vantage should be treated with caution while those with lower tier armor are prime targets for Vantage's weapons and her Sniper's Mark ultimate ability.
Barring the distance to enemy targets, all the information that Spotter's Lens provides can be relayed to Vantage's allies via Apex Legends' intuitive ping system and voice lines. This removes the need for Vantage players to communicate with their team via voice or text chat, as not everyone is vocal when it comes to playing online multiplayer games. Vantage's abilities need a lot of work, but her Spotter's Lens passive ability is a step in the right direction if Apex Legends wants to avoid being a game dominated by wallhack characters.
Apex Legends is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
