Five Years of Apex Legends: Top Weapon Skins of all-time

Apex Legends celebrates its 5th year anniversary today, but across those five years what are the best weapon skins of ALL-time? We're talking, timeless classics.

As part of esports.gg's celebration of five years of Apex Legends, we're not only ranking the top 5 weapon skins of all-time, but also the top 5 skins with improved iron sights and the top 5 reactive skins across all 19 seasons of Apex Legends. Let's get into it!

The Heat Sink skin for the Flatline AR is widely regarded by most Apex Legends players as the best weapon skin in the game. It was particularly notorious for its iron sights being better than most optics in the game's loot pool. The iron sights were eventually nerfed, but they're still quite effective.

However, the Heat Sink skin is popular for more than just that. It's got great aesthetics. It's a reactive skin that was released as a level 100 reward for the Season 4 Battle Pass. As the player gets more kills with the weapon, it releases blue pulses from its vents. The intensity of these pulses increases with more kills. It's an enjoyable skin to use with its sleek design, improved iron sights, and reactive effect.

The recency bias is strong with this one, but there's no denying the Ku Pow skin for the R99 is one of the best weapon skins in the game. Added as part of the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth event in Season 19, this skin has a wholesome pink theme overall and features many minor details referencing the Mogs from the Final Fantasy series. It also has great iron sights, which offer a slight advantage in fights. The best part is that it synchronizes with Wattson's character and her Final Fantasy VII Rebirth skin.

The Amethyst Apathy skin for the R-301 is an underrated skin that goes under the radar. But that's what makes it special. Its sleek lines with a subtle neon purple glow give it a unique aesthetic that stands out compared to other weapon skins in the game. The iron sights aren't great, but they're certainly an improvement over the stock R-301 skin. The beauty of this skin is that it retains the R-301's core identity and stock design but is pretty enough to warrant a legendary tier rarity.

The Alternator has many great skins, but this one is one of the most popular. It was added quite early to the game. As the name suggests, LED Rez is a skin that embellishes a black Alternator with neon blue LED strips. As a result, the Alternator gets a cyberpunk makeover that goes really well with some legend skins that employ the same theme. Additionally, LED rez also has great iron sights, making it quite useful in combat while ADSing.

The Kraber isn't a weapon you use often in the game, but the Snowpiercer skin will make you want to find one and use it as much as possible. What stands out about this skin is that it is one of the most realistic skins in the game. The Mountain Rescue theme and coating give it the look and feel of a real-world rescue rifle. Combined with the Kraber's bolt-action animations, this skin can make the gun incredibly immersive.

Other esports.gg Apex Anniversary content:

Apex Legends has a lot of unlockable and purchasable skins that improve the iron sights on weapons. These five are among the best.

The Zero Point R99 skin is easily among the most notorious skins for improved iron sights. ADSing with this skin equipped provides a clear, focused view of the target, allowing players to aim and control the gun's recoil with relative ease.

The Repeatron, a recolour of the Super Speedway skin for the 30-30 repeater offers excellent iron sights for a long-range weapon. Both skins can accurately pinpoint a target when the player is ADSing and the Repeater, with its hard-hitting heavy ammo is incredibly effective thanks to the increased movement speed reduction on impact.

The Frontier Faithful and Outlands Obliterator skins are former Battle Pass rewards and give the CAR SMG improved iron sights. These sights aren't quite as effective as the R99's Zero Point skin, but provide the added benefits of an unobstructed view around the player, allowing them to maintain awareness of any threats interfering as they fight.

The Spitfire can be an incredibly difficult gun to manage thanks to its erratic recoil pattern and relatively slow ROF. The Heavy Construct skin makes this much easier, because of its unique iron sights. These sights allow players to effectively hit targets by ADSing and tracking them through a reticle in the middle of a square frame.

The Cyber Shock skin for the Peacekeeper is a sleek-looking skin, but what makes it unique is the iron sights. The Peacekeeper is incredibly effective when the player is ADSing because of its choke, making it deadly close-range peeking battles. Players usually don't prioritize equipping optics on shotguns, especially in the early game. So having improved iron sights on a Peacekeeper, which gains an advantage from ADSing is an added bonus.

Reactive weapon skins gain animation effects whenever the player performs in-game actions like getting kills with the weapons. These skins are usually rewarded for levelling up the premium Battle Pass.

Of course, the Heat Sink is among the best reactive skins in the game. Getting kills with the Flatline when this skin is equipped makes the gun's vents glow blue or red and move erratically, giving the gun an animation that implies instability. The Heat Sink and Heavy Metal skins were added to Apex Legends in Season 4 as premium battle pass rewards.

The Fatal Injection skin for the Volt was the Premium Battle Pass reward for Season 10, alongside the Symbiotic Relationship reactive skin. These skins gain a creepy arachnid animation, making the Volt look like a spider whenever the player gets kills with it.

The Frostbite and Blood Stone skins for the Peacekeeper were the premium Battle Pass rewards for Season 3. The Frostbite Skin in particular looks amazing, especially on World's Edge around snowy areas. Every time a player gets a kill with the peacekeeper with this skin equipped, it adds some ice on the Peacekeeper with a frostbitten animation effect. The Peacekeeper was already a very satisfying weapon to get kills with, and these skins make the gun all the more sweeter.

The Supersonic and Hypersonic skins for the G7 Scout were rewarded to players hitting level 100 and 110 respectively in the Season 6 battle pass. These skins make the G7 Scout look like a futuristic weapon with unique afterburner effects whenever the player gets kills.

The Attention to Detail and Precision Caliber skins were added to Apex Legends in Season 5 as premium battle pass rewards. These skins give the Wingman a unique steampunk vibe and reactive animation. Whenever this skin is equipped, getting kills on the Wingman, the reactive animation pops out. The gun gains clockwork gears with a satisfying ticking sound.

A friendly disclaimer that these weapon skin suggestions are personal opinions and yours may differ. Apex Legends has a talented cosmetics team that churns out many incredibly unique weapon skins every season.

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