There are more than skins coming for Apex Legends players this week when the game’s first official crossover event begins. There’s also a full list of balance updates coming to the game, and we’ve got the patch notes for the midseason update.
Want to know exactly what’s changing in Apex this week outside of the Final Fantasy event? Read on below.
Full midseason patch notes in Apex Legends: Balance changes, Final Fantasy, and more
Legend changes: Did Horizon get nerfed in Apex?
You could say that Horizon got nerfed a tiny bit, but really, the changes here seem to try to make her audio work the way it’s supposed to. Players may no longer have to worry about enemy Horizons silently dropping on them from a height or taking a Gravity Lift behind them without their knowledge. It’s happened to me and it’s probably happened to you, but it might be a thing of the past.
Horizon’s changes will get the spotlight, but there are also some tweaks to Catalyst, Newcastle, and Rampart.
Horizon
- Overall audio improvements to make Horizon less silent.
- “Hard” landing audio matches other legends now.
- Soft landings from Spacewalk passive now play audio for other players.
- Exiting the Gravity Lift now emits audio in a greater range.
Catalyst
- Piercing Spikes now require enemy line-of-sight to activate.
- Piercing Spikes that aren’t “activated” still slow players.
Newcastle
- Castle Wall deployment now destroys Conduit ultimate.
- Mobile Shield is now destroyed by Crypto’s EMP.
- “Delayed balance adjustments from the season 19.0 patch are now fully integrated.”
Rampart
- Amped Walls no longer destroyed by friendly Crypto EMP, Mad Maggie Wrecking Ball.
Weapon changes: SMGs finally taken down a peg
The highlight from the weapon balance changes are undoubtedly both the R-99 and the CAR SMG getting damage nerfs. At the same time, the Mastiff has been buffed, meaning the weapon meta will likely shift ever so slightly out of controller players’ comfort zone and back toward the realm of mouse and keyboard users.
Personally, I’m ready to pick up a Peacekeeper or other short-range option more often, so I welcome a solid SMG nerf. We’ll see how it plays out when the patch goes live.
Mastiff
- “Tactical reload” reduced time goes from 1.03 to 0.9
- Empty reload time goes from 1.7 to 1.6
- Draw time goes from 0.8 to 0.45
R-99
- Damage reduced from 12 to 11 per bullet
CAR
- Damage reduced from 13 to 12 per bullet
Weapon Crafting rotation
- Hemlok and Alternator enter the crafter
- R-301 and Volt SMG return to ground loot
Storm Point updates
The Storm Point changes were well-received by basically everyone in the community, but there’s still room for improvement. And that’s exactly what the devs are bringing to the map with the new update. Extra cover, less ambient noise, changing around Ring Consoles, Replicators, and Tridents; it’s all happening on Storm Point.
The biggest nerf to any single POI seems to be Thunder Watch, which will lose Ring Console, Survey Beacon, and crafting Replicator. There’s also a nerf to the guaranteed rare loot in Pylon, and the ZEUS Station balloon will now get players up its zipline 25 percent faster. They’re all changes that will affect you and me but will also play a big role in the upcoming ALGS Pro League.
- Added and adjusted cover at ZEUS Station and ECHO HQ
- Added Ring Console to Coastal Camp
- Added Trident to Barometer
- Adjusted the position of the Ring Console, Survey Beacon, and Crafting Station at Lightning Rod
- Reduced volume of ambient audio at ZEUS Station and ECHO HQ
- Removed Ring Console, Survey Beacon, and Crafting Station from Thunder Watch
- Resolved a number of additional bugs and rat spots
- Restored missing Ring Console at Command Center
- ECHO HQ
- Added four new staircases at ECHO HQ to improve vertical navigation around the perimeter
- Rooftop of ECHO HQ is now out of bounds. Zipline and rooftop hatch removed
- Wattson’s Pylon
- Adjusted position of the ziplines at Wattson’s Pylon to improve consistency of mantle jumping
- Reduced amount of ultra rare loot at Wattson’s Pylon
- ZEUS Station
- Added additional cover and ziplines at ZEUS Station for mixtape modes only
- Increased the speed of the redeploy balloon zipline at ZEUS Station by 25 percent
Extended Supply Bins: Trying to flush the heat shield abusers out of ranked
The extended war with players achieving high ranks by hiding away from everyone else continues. Teams will now be limited in the number of heat shields and med kits they can receive from extended Support class supply bins (or the blue bins, for short).
We’ve all died late in a ranked game only for our spectator camera to shoot across the map to a team that’s hoarded as many heat shields and med kits as possible, surviving outside the Ring and getting high placements by hiding. This is another step to hindering those players.
Final Fantasy event
Of course, it wouldn’t be a midseason patch without an event. In addition to the LTM that the Final Fantasy event will bring, there are also plenty of skins and an Heirloom players can go after.
Battle Royale map rotation
- World’s Edge
- King’s Canyon
- Storm Point
Mixtape map rotation
Control
- Lava Siphon
- Caustic Treatment
- Barometer
Gun Run
- Skulltown
- Fragment East
- ZEUS Station
Team Deathmatch
- Wattson’s Pylon
- Party Crasher
- Overflow
Bug fixes, QoL, and more
There’s also been plenty of bug fixes to weapons, legends, and more if you’re into all the nitty-gritty details of what’s going on in the game. You probably won’t feel or see every last one, but there’s a full breakdown from Respawn.
