Apex Legends’ Legacy update will be one of the game’s biggest patches yet and it’s bringing significant gameplay changes with it.
The upcoming patch will remove low profile, adjust a series of characters, and introduce a starter kit—a bundle of items that players receive when they initially drop.
Here are the patch notes for what’s changing when the update goes live on May 4.
Starter kit
After Legacy, players will drop with a “starter kit,” a bundle of gear that consists of a white body shield, knockdown shield, and helmet, plus two syringes and a pair of shield cells. This will also remove level one helmets and knockdown shields from the loot pool. White body shields will still drop for shield-swapping, albeit more rarely than before.
Respawn also warned players that the addition of starter kits is “an ongoing project” and Apex may presumably change the formula at some point in the future.
Legend balance
The Legacy update is bringing in a series of changes to legends, including the removal of low profile from across the board and the loss of Lifeline’s rez shield. Octane and Horizon are also in line for nerfs, while Fuse and Loba will get some much-needed buffs when the update drops.
Lifeline will continue to use her drone, but without its revive shield. Her passive can revive two players at the same time and cancel the animation in progress in case players need to defend themselves.
Her healing drone will heal at an increased rate of eight HP per second (up from five) and will start healing 33 percent faster after deploying. Her ultimate is seeing a buff, too: a smaller cooldown and “guarantees an upgrade (if possible)” to either shields, equipment, or attachments.
Octane will go under the knife when the update hits with a reduced cooldown between stims (one second, down from four) and an increased health cost to using it. Activating his tactical will take 20 HP, or a fifth of a health bar, as opposed to the previous 12.
Horizon, another character who was proving particularly troublesome, is seeing some adjustments in Legacy. The speed of her Gravity Lift will drop by 30 percent, will get “reduced side-by-side acceleration,” and players will only be able to stand on it for two seconds. Her abilities will also get zapped by Wattson Pylons.
Loba and Fuse are slated for some necessary buffs, according to the notes. Loba will be able to run and slide at full speed while aiming the bracelet and while it’s in the air, and won’t be slowed after teleporting. Respawn is also pushing out a fix to several bugs that caused the bracelet to fail.
Fuse’s Knuckle Cluster got a buff in the form of an extra charge and a reduced cooldown (20 seconds, down from 25). “More help is coming, but we want to be very careful how we buff him so that he doesn’t just become the Legend that kills you with his abilities,” according to the patch notes.
Bangalore, Bloodhound, and Crypto are looking at some minor updates. Respawn will fix the thickness of Bangalore’s smoke, while Crypto’s drone will be able to scan and open care packages—but will lose its ability to “hijack” a respawn beacon while it’s in use. Bloodhound players will stop getting assists from their tactical.
Marksman category
The introduction of the Bocek Bow marks the addition of the Marksman weapon category, which groups the Triple Take, 30-30 Repeater, G7 Scout, and the Bocek together. Marksman weapons “are the sort of in-betweens of Assault Rifles and Snipers,” according to Respawn, and the creation of the new weapon type can help steer the balance of these weapons toward values more appropriate to their functions. The first step in that change is the ADS speed, which will be at some point between snipers and Ars.
Care package, fully-kitted rotation, hop-ups
The Legacy update is bringing a series of changes to the care package. The Peacekeeper is returning to floor loot, while the Triple Take will move to the care package. Both weapons will be adjusted to reflect their new stats.
Respawn will also rotate hop-ups with the new season. Hammerpoint Rounds and Skullpiercer won’t be in play during Legacy to make room for two new attachments: Shatter Caps and the Deadeye’s Tempo.
A new season also means a new rotation of fully-kitted weapons. During the game’s ninth season, the Bocek, Wingman, Helmok, R-99, and Sentinel will spawn as gold weapons in matches.
Weapon balance
The Peacekeeper will return to floor loot with reduced pellet damage (nine instead of 10), a slightly increased rechamber and reload time, and a bigger spread. The Triple Take, on the other hand, is getting a series of buffs to make up for its status as a care package weapon, including a slightly increased fire rate (1.3 rounds per second, up from 1.2), a faster charge time, and a nine-round magazine.
The Mozambique and P2020 will experience some tweaks to offset the loss of Hammerpoint Rounds. The shotgun gained an extra two rounds in the magazine, to a total of six, and had its spread reduced. The pistol, on the other hand, got a flat damage increase (18, up from 15) and a nerf to fire rate (6.25 rounds per second, down from 8.5).
“Most players couldn’t take advantage of the fast fire rate, so bringing that down while increasing the damage should help players win more early fights with the P2020,” the patch notes read.
The Wingman and Longbow will also have their power adjusted to offset the removal of the Skullpiercer, with a 2.15 headshot multiplier (up from two).
The Havoc and Spitfire will get small tweaks to their recoil, too. It’ll become harder to control in the LMG to tone its power down, but easier to control on the Havoc to offset its low headshot multiplier.
Respawn will implement some adjustments to assault rifles across the board. The headshot multiplier for weapons in this type will drop to 1.75, down from 2.0. The Hemlok is already adjusted to the base value.
The 30-30 and G7 Scout will also experience some fine-tuning to fit them into the new Marksman type, with increased movement speed when aiming down sights. The Repeater is also getting increased leg damage (0.85, up from 0.75), although the Scout will have reduced hip-fire accuracy.
Finally, Arc Stars as a whole will become slightly less deadly. Respawn will remove the slow and aim penalties when getting stuck to give enemies a fighting chance (or at least the opportunity to get away from teammates) without taking away the satisfaction of sticking someone with it.
These changes will go live when the Legacy update drops on May 4.
Source: https://dotesports.com/apex-legends/news/here-are-apex-legends-legacy-patch-notes
