200 IQ fan proves controller is better than mouse in Apex Legends

After years of debate, one particularly bright Apex Legends fan did the math to determine whether controller or mouse and keyboard is better.

Apex Legends players have been debating over which input device is much better to use for a long time now. Now, it seems that the community is closer to finding that answer as an Apex fan used the power of math and statistics to solve this debate. Their data consists of the top 10,000 players of R5 Reloaded, a modded version of Apex Legends that has tools and game modes for people to improve their performance in actual games. This means that most of the people who use R5 Reloaded are players looking to take Apex Legends seriously.

After combing through a mountain of data comparing mouse and keyboard users to controller players, here’s what the Apex genius discovered.

Is using a controller better in Apex Legends?

In Apex Legends, controller players have statistically better accuracy compared to mouse and keyboard users.

The analysis comes courtesy of Reddit user lifeisbadclothing who analyzed matchmaking data from R5 Reloaded. The math clearly shows that controller players have the advantage, as they have better average accuracy than mouse and keyboard players. According to them, there are only four players in R5’s top 1,000 that use mouse and keyboard. The rest of them use controllers.

Another point to drive is that the average accuracy of the top 4% mouse and keyboard players is equivalent to the average accuracy of all controller players included in the data. This goes to show that controller players in general hit their shots a lot more. Controller players also have a much better kill and death ratio compared to mouse and keyboard. Controller players have a 1.15 KD while mouse and Keyboard have 0.87 KD. A higher than 1.0 K/D means that you can carry your weight by being able to kill at least one opponent before dying.

Lastly, nearly the top 400 most accurate players use a controller. The most accurate mouse and keyboard player falls at rank 391 with a 38.9% accuracy.

Should Apex Legends players switch to controllers?

There are professional Apex Legends players who made the switch and some who stayed with mouse and keyboard, leaving it still up to preference.

It largely depends on how serious a person is taking the game. For pro players like Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen, they change inputs because they want to win championships for their organization and in turn earn more money. These people do it for a living.

For players who take the game casually, it’s much better to use an input that’s much more comfortable for them. However, nobody is also stopping anyone from trying out other inputs. Its always best for a player to use whatever is comfortable for them, even if that something is extremely unusual.