All the Balance Changes Coming to Apex Legends in Next Week’s Update
Alongside the launch of the Apex Legends Evolution Collection Event next week, on the 14th of September, Respawn has announced that a new balance update will be rolling out. This update will impact a wide range of Legends and weapons, as well as the performance of Shatter Caps. As the focus of the Collection Event, Rampart in particular will be receiving a major redesign.
Upcoming Apex Legends Balance Changes
The first recipient of balance changes in next week’s update will be Rampart. According to Respawn, Rampart has a place as the “ultimate defensive Legend” but she current lacks the ability to “be reactive and push with her team”. As a result, Sheila will no longer be a static emplacement – instead, it will be able to move! Not only will Rampart be able to move with Sheila, she will also be able to fire while moving. However, while in this mobile mode, Sheila will only get a single magazine and it will take longer to spin up. At any point, Rampart can still place Sheila down, at which point it acts as normal. However, it cannot then be picked up again.
Three other Legends are also receiving balance changes in the update. Bloodhound will now show their teammates in quick-chat how long ago an event took place when they ping clues using their passive ability. Octane, meanwhile, is getting a nerf. His jump pad’s horizontal distance is going down from 15% to 10%, while the rate of his Stim regen is dropping from 1.5 to 1.0 hp per second.
Upcoming Apex Legends Balance Changes – Weapons
- Bocek Compound Bow: The bow’s draw speed is going down from 0.56 to 0.54. However, its ammunition is going up; each brick will now grant 16 arrows instead of 14, and each inventory stack will now hold 32, rather than 28.
- Shatter Caps: The damage for Shatter Caps with the Bocek is going down across the board. Short draw shots will now deal 4 instead of 6. Medium draw is falling to 7 from 9, while full draw is dropping from 11 to 12.
- EVA-8: Headshot damage multiplier is going down from 1.5 to 1.25.
- Hemlok: The hemlok’s hipfire spread is being reduced, although hipfire should reset a little faster to counter-balance this.
- L-STAR: The cool-off time of the L-STAR is going up slightly, as is the replacement time of the overheat lens. The number of rounds fired before overheat is also going down slightly for all Energy Magazine tiers. Base will now be 20 (from 22), White will be 22 (from 24), Blue will be 24 (from 26), and Purple/Gold will be 26 (from 28). In Arenas, the cost of the L-STAR is changing too. Its base cost will now be 600, rather than 500. However, its Blue version will only cost 250, instead of 300, and its Purple version will be 350 instead of 400.
- Mozambique: Headshot damage multiplier is going down from 1.5 to 1.25.
- Triple Take: The ADS charge time is going down from 1.0 to 0.8.
- 30-30 Repeater (Shatter Caps): While this gun is staying the same, while using Shatter Caps, the ADS strafe speed will be increasing. The damage multiplier for charged pellets will also go up from 35% to 50%.