The pub lobbies have been sweaty the last two weeks - I've hopped into some ranked matches with a lot better success. Takes a little while to get your legs under you - but it'll come right back.

cr0wbar said:

---

The pub lobbies have been sweaty the last two weeks - I've hopped into some ranked matches with a lot better success. Takes a little while to get your legs under you - but it'll come right back.

---

Finally had my first dub last night, first since coming back. Felt just like old times. This game is such an addiction

It's a fun game... I put in a ton of hours when it first came out. I was OK at the beginning and slowly degraded into a terrible player.

I could probably have some fun jumping back in playing ranked (assuming the game matches me with the other scrubs!), but this is definitely a game that has shown how far my gaming skills have degraded in my mid 40's.

Hello, is this thing still on?

APEX SEASON 23: FROM THE RIFT





NEW UPDATES COMING WITH APEX LEGENDS: FROM THE RIFT

Go original and experience the beginning of Apex Legends again. Relive the rush of that first drop in Launch Royale then get reacquainted with Lifeline, revived with new abilities to take the frontlines, glide to reposition, and more. Tear through the Outlands with Rift Relics, offering cosmic abilities and weapons that dial up your power. Wield the Raptor's Claw, a new Universal Mythic Melee Cosmetic and harness the madness of science in the new Battle Pass Split 1.





NEW MODE: LAUNCH ROYALE





Step back in time to the experience that started it all: Launch Royale. This new LTM drops players into the original Apex Legends circa 2019it's the old school weapons, Legends, abilities, ruleset, and map that started it all. That means no EVO Armor or Ability Upgradesjust pure skill and your wits to survive the Apex Games.

If you're craving that old-school Apex vibe or just want to see how it all started, this is the best time to jump in and see where Legends were born. Conquer Launch Royale Challenges to unlock Legends and earn rewards like Apex Packs and more. Ready up, because we're going back to experience that first drop once again.

LIFELINE REVIVED

The original medic is now a frontline menace! Lifeline dives into action with an aggressive new kit, the ability to teleport D.O.C. to your allies, glide for unmatched mobility, and deploy an indestructible force field that amps up healing efficiency for your squad. She's not just saving livesshe's fighting her way to the Champions Podium.

PASSIVE: COMBAT GLIDE

Hold JUMP mid-air to use to D.O.C. to briefly glide.

Deploy D.O.C. to revive teammates, leaving Lifeline free to defend.

TACTICAL: D.O.C. HEAL DRONE

D.O.C. heals nearby allies. D.O.C. can be assigned to follow allies once deployed.

ULTIMATE: D.O.C. HALO

Throw D.O.C. to activate Halo Shield System. All players inside use Health & Shield consumables faster.

UPGRADES






From the Rift: Level 2
Battpack
+1 Battery per stack.
See Battery Count in Death Boxes.
Extended Flight
Increase time before D.O.C. runs out of fuel by 1.5s.
From the Rift: Level 3
Enhanced Radio
Increased D.O.C. assignment range by 50%.
Tactical Cooldown+
Reduce Tac cooldown by 10s.



RIFT RELICS

Rift Relics come from the unstable Rift in the sky, creating a temporary tear in reality that provides the contestants of the Apex Games with powerful weapons and a new Survival Slot item, Boost Kits, that may just give you a boost that you need. You could say they're aptly named. Grab the EPG-1 Launcher with splash damage and rocket-jumping capabilities. Unleash exotic Hop-Ups like Lifesteal, healing with every hit and instantly refilling health and armor on headshots.

Rift Relics will appear randomly throughout each match, across many rounds. They will be easy for you and your enemies to spot, and they'll also inform you if an enemy team has gotten there first. Destroy the Rift Relic to receive your reward, but be warnedthe Ring messes with their stability.

NEW: SUPPORT CLASS PERKS

Last season we gave the Recon and Controller classes unique gameplay perks to help define their areas of expertise in the game. This season will be the season of Support!

Alongside Lifeline's Revival, the Support Class is getting a specialization of their own through two new perks: Heal Expert and Revive Expert; empowering their reset and recovery role on the team, and continuing our efforts to bring more meaning and identity to the classes in Apex.

Support Legends will still maintain access to extended supply bins (blue bins), however, in the spirit of support, banner crafting is no longer an exclusive class perk and instead will be accessible to all Legends.

Support Class Perks

• Heal Expert
  
  • Support Legends now move at full walk speed while healing
  • Healing amount from small meds is doubled
• Revive Expert
  
  • Support Legends now have 25% faster revives (4.5s) and grant health regen to their ally on a successful revive
    
    • This health regen will restore an ally to full health, but can be canceled by incoming damage
    • Support Legends will also receive this health regen if revived
  • Additionally, Banner Crafting and Ally Death Boxes now spawn a Mobile Respawn Beacon
    
    • Support Legends can see Mobile Respawn Beacons inside Death Boxes

Collecting Banners will automatically take a Mobile Respawn Beacon in an ally deathbox if possible (will not replace current survival item).

SKILL DISPLAY IMPROVEMENTS



Into the Rift is bringing nostalgia, but we're also bringing something new: skill display improvements. This new feature will display the balancing of each match and update live as each player loads into the matchgiving you a true rank distribution of all players.

This is just the latest in our ongoing evaluation and improvement of Ranked. Players were looking for more insights and fairness in their matches and this is our next step.

NEW UNIVERSAL MELEE: RAPTOR'S CLAW

Sharpen your arsenal with the Raptor's Claw, a new universal melee cosmetic. Unlock the Raptor's Claw through the Void Mercenary Store from November 5, 2024-January 7, 2025. After acquiring this new universal cosmetic, you can unlock the Crystal Chamber Death Box, as well as 5 other deadly variants and their matching Death Boxes. After January 7, 2025, the Raptor's Claw will move to the Mythic Shop. Sleek, deadly, and ready to strikedon't miss your opportunity to grab this iconic melee weapon.





PATCH NOTES

BALANCE UPDATES

Battle Sense

Better health state awareness & feedback

• Added voice lines for when players are low on health
• Added voice lines for when players are low on shields
• Added prompt to heal when players are low on health
• Healing HUD icon will now flash when players are low on health

Better ammo awareness & feedback

• Added voice lines for when players are running low on ammo
• Ammo clip counter will pulse red when in a critical ammo state
• Lowered position of the Low Ammo prompt on the HUD

Both voice lines and on screen prompts can be toggled on/limited/off in Settings. The limited option provides a less frequent cadence for both voice lines and on screen prompts respectively.

Dev Note: We are continuing our work that was started last season around providing better awareness to the state of the game, and this time we're tackling the health state. These additional mechanisms of feedback are incredibly helpful for some, but can be overwhelming for others. The addition of a settings menu allows for as much player customization as possible to best suit their needs when playing Apex.

Care Package

• Devotion returns to the floor
  
  • Spin up time decreased
  • Reverse Hipfire tightens slower and is less accurate
  • Removed Turbocharger slot
• Havoc enters the Care Package
  
  • Improved hipfire
  • Magazine size increased to 36
  • Damage increased to 19 (was 18)
  • Select Fire: Beam Shot
    
    • High ammo consumption
    • Deadly accurate
    • Devastating damage

Gold Weapon Rotation

• C.A.R., Hemlock, L-STAR, Longbow, Mastiff

GAMEPLAY UPDATES

Crafting Stations

• All Legends can now craft Banner Cards

Loot Bin Reset

• If a player is near a bin during the reset phase, that Loot Bin will now eject loot (even if that bin was not opened recently)
• Gold Bins now spawn fewer pieces of gold loot

Dev Note: Even after adding the 'recently opened Bins eject loot' logic last release, we're still seeing issues where players are racing to get that attachment or backpack they saw from afar in an open bin, and the loot bin slams shut denying the pick up. By adding a proximity check, now just being near a Loot Bin during Reset will ensure you can get what you want.

Mythic Bin Updates

• Can now be tracked and pinged through walls more easily
• Improved logic to consider if the weapon you have is already a gold weapon and instead grants a different upgrade
• Location is now announced before spawning, is marked on the mini & full maps, and a warning is issued in game
• Time to Open reduced to 10s (was 11)
• Updated Mythic Bin Icons for better clarity and consistency

Dev Note: Mythic Bins are a big spike in power for the opening team, but it can sometimes feel like a lottery when it appears, leaving little room for counter play. We're now messaging to the whole game when they appear to hopefully give players the chance to make an active choice to pursue the bin should they wish. This informed choice should feel more fair than it has in the past.

AMMO & ATTACHMENTS

Hop-Ups

• Boosted Loader
  
  • Now activates at 0 ammo
  • Now goes on the Sentinel
• Gunshield Generator
  
  • Shield recharge cooldown time decreased to 10s (was 12)
  • Reduced spawn rate
• Hammerpoint Rounds
  
  • Reduced spawn rate

Dev Note: We've rebalanced some of the Hop-Up spawn rates to compensate for the amount of power they bring to the table *cough* Hammerpoints *cough*. We like the big power swing and how they set up their respective weapons for the end game, but the consistency at which they were available felt a little too high.

WEAPONS

L-STAR EMG

• Damage increased to 18 (was 17)
• Gold Magazines now reduce the cool off time more than purple mags
• Smoothed out cool-off animations

Dev Note: The L-Star never really gained a benefit from Gold mags because it doesn't have a traditional reload. To show it a little love, we've improved the Gold mags on the L-Star which should make them a more exciting find over Purple mags. In addition we've done some animation work to make firing feel smoother; especially when feathering the trigger, something the L-Star excels at.

Longbow

• Damage increased to 60 (was 55)

Dev Note: The Longbow hasn't been fulfilling the fantasy of a sniper lately so we're taking a big swing at its damage to really push its relevance and carve out a place for it within the long range meta. We'll continue to monitor this change as the season progresses.

P2020

• Akimbo Only: base hipfire improved

Dev Note: Overall we're really happy with Akimbo and the P2020s are performing well but could use a little improvement to their overall consistency to remain a competitive option.

Rampage LMG

• Revved State
  
  • Increased decay rate
  • Reduced cost per shot
  • Significantly increased energized capacity
  • Successfully charging up the Rampage with a Thermite will also trigger a reload

Sentinel

• Charging up the sentinel with Boosted Loader equipped (and within activation criteria) will overload the next mag as though it were a Boosted Reload
• Increased energized capacity
• Increased energize total time

• Successfully charging up the Sentinel with a Shield Cell will also trigger a reload

Dev Note: The Sentinel is a beloved sniper but can be a little intimidating to run with its high risk and reward gameplay flow. We wanted to open this up a little bit and make it easier to engage with and more approachable so we're making the energized state a little more forgiving and adding Boosted Loader to temporarily increase its magazine size.

Spitfire LMG

• Damage increased to 19 (was 18)

Dev Note: Our LMGs have seen more play since the release of the Gunshield Generators but they still haven't quite been able to compete with our more versatile ARs. These updates continue the work to push them into being valuable primary weapons.

Peacekeeper

• Choke speed increased

Triple Take

• Choke speed increased
• Fire Rate slightly increased

Dev Note: Both the Triple Take and the Peacekeeper are doing well in the meta but are feeling a tad sluggish compared to the competition. These adjustments should make them feel a little more responsive.

LEGENDS

Support Legends: New Class Perks

• Heal Expert
  
  • Move at full speed while healing, small med healing is doubled
• Revive Expert
  
  • Revive speed increased and revives grant health regen
  • Mobile Respawn Beacons will spawn when crafting banners and inside ally Death Boxes

Dev Note: Support Legends are the restorative anchors of the team. They are the legends who should help their allies reset and recover quickly. This class change aims to infuse a more classical approach to the support role, allowing these legends to inherently excel in healing and recovery.

To ensure the class felt like it had mastery over that domain, we wanted to make a strong statement about their recovery potential. As a Support, securing a revive should feel powerful. Lessening the downtime before your ally can re-engage is a potency that cannot be ignored - allowing them to fight immediately or pop a shield med to be at full strength much faster. Similarly, access to Mobile Respawn Beacons through Death Boxes and banner crafting means a lot less jumping through hoops to respawn a teammate if you've clutched up to recover a banner or made the long trek to a crafting station.

Support Legends often suffer from a lack of mobility or offensive utility to stay alive and properly anchor the team. Leaning into the ability to reset faster themselves makes them a strong backline force in combat and gives them more options to stay in the fight themselves. Both these changes are powerful and we're eager to see how the more defined role alters the legend landscape in this support-focused season.

Conduit

• Savior's Speed
  
  • Now works on ally Death Boxes and crafters when a banner can be retrieved
  • Now works on Respawn Beacons and Mobile Respawn Beacons when carrying an ally banner
  • Now works without min range limit on downed allies, allowing Conduit to race all the way to her fallen teammate
• Upgrades - Battpack: in addition to the extra battery per stack, this upgrade now also shows battery counts in Death Boxes

Dev Note: Conduit's passive is great for helping to keep up with her team. Looking at her role as a Support Legend, we wanted to extend this passive to impact her recovery play potential as well. Additionally, we've combined Battery Collection and Battpack into a single upgrade to make it a stronger option for Conduit and other Legends (Mirage, Lifeline & Horizon).

Crypto

• Surveillance Drone: now takes ring damage (10% per ring tick)
• Upgrades - Off the Grid
  
  • Players within 20m of Crypto will now be able to spot a faint cloaking "flicker" effect every 1.5s to help identify hidden Cryptos nearby
  • Cloaked audio range and volume have been increased

Dev Note: Off the Grid has been a strong pick and has offered up some wild and creative new play patterns that feel on theme for Crypto, but it has also come with frustrations that have felt like unfair advantages or exploitable drone behaviors. These targeted changes aim to make it more possible to find a Crypto you know is in your immediate vicinity, and discourage ring-parking patterns without taking away the core of what the upgrade has brought to the Crypto fantasy. You'll still have to work to spot the glitch in the matrix, but you'll spend much less time scouring for invisible collisions with him.

Gibraltar

• Dome of Protection
  
  • Cooldown reduced to 17s (was 30s)
  • No longer destroyed by Crypto's EMP or Maggie's Wrecking Ball
• Upgrades: Level 2
  
  • Fresh Start: removed
  • Shots Shots Shots: removed
  • NEW Big Bruddah: increase Ult Radius by 20%
  • NEW Fast Shotties: move faster with shotguns and auto-reload shotguns on knocks
• Upgrades - Baby Bubble: now reduces cooldown to 12s (was 25s)

Shockwave: Level 2
From the Rift: Level 2
Fresh Start
Revives allies to 50HP.
Big Bruddah
Increase Ult Radius by 20%.
Shots Shots Shots
Auto-Reload Shotguns on knocks.
Fast Shotties
Move faster with Shotguns and Auto-Reload on knocks.



Dev Note: Much of Gibraltar's strength can come from the versatility of his dome. In From the Rift, we're removing the hard counters and allowing Gibraltar to play off his dome more frequently and utilize the new class perks more. With the new Revive Expert perk coming online, we've shifted his early game upgrades to offensive choices to play off the new dome frequency or lean into the power of his Ult.

Horizon

• Upgrades
  
  • Battery Collection: removed
  • NEW Battpack: in addition to the extra battery per stack, this upgrade now also shows battery counts in Death Boxes

Shockwave: Level 2
From the Rift: Level 2
Battery Collection
Shield Battery count shown above Death Boxes.
Battpack
+1 Battery per stack.
See Battery Count in Death Boxes.



Mirage

• Life of the Party: health bars no longer show during Ultimate to give away the real Mirage
• Upgrades: Level 2
  
  • Miracle Worker: removed
  • NEW Battpack: in addition to the extra battery per stack, this upgrade now also shows battery counts in Death Boxes

Shockwave: Level 2
From the Rift: Level 2
Miracle Worker
Revive allies with 75HP regen.
Battpack
+1 Battery per stack.
See Battery Count in Death Boxes.



Dev Note: The new Support Class Revive Expert perk made Miracle Worker obsolete, so we've replaced it with another minor support-focused choice…for now.

Newcastle

• Mobile Shield
  
  • No longer takes damage
  • Can now be repositioned even when Newcastle is downed
• Retrieve the Wounded: revive Shield HP/Tier increased by +50%
  
  • White 300 (was 200), Blue 450 (was 300), Purple/Gold 750 (was 500)
• Upgrades: Level 2
  
  • Thick Shield: removed
  • NEW Hero's Hustle: greatly increases move speed when reviving
• Upgrades: Level 3
  
  • Stronghold: Castle Wall HP improvement increased to 500 (was 250)
  • NEW Ultimate Savior: Castle Wall grants shield regen to allies in impact radius
    
    • Regen effect lasts for 15s and damage will pause regen for 2s
    • Won't begin regeneration until revived if downed

Shockwave: Level 2
From the Rift: Level 2
Thick Shield
Mobile Shield HP Increased by 250.
Hero's Hustle
Increased move speed while reviving.
Shockwave: Level 3
From the Rift: Level 3
Miracle Worker
Revive allies with 75HP regen.
Ultimate Savior
Allies in impact range gain shield regen for 15s.
Stronghold
Castle Wall HP increased by 250. Extends energized duration to 3min.
Stronghold
Castle Wall HP increased by 250. Extends energized duration to 3min.



Dev Note: With the new Revive Expert perk and the Mobile Shield simplifying to an invulnerable version, two of Newcastle's upgrades needed to be replaced. We've aimed to tap into the support angle of his kit with both, giving speed to make bigger revive plays and shield healing to encourage Newcastle to leap to his ally's aid. Additionally, Newcastle's shields are getting beefed up this season to allow more players to feel safe behind his sources of protection regardless of skill level.

Revenant

• Forged Shadows: shield will now regen up to 50HP instead of instantly refreshing after a 3s delay

Wattson

• Upgrades: Level 2
  
  • Fresh Start: removed
  • NEW Revive Expert: gives access to Support Class Revive Expert Perk

Shockwave: Level 2
From the Rift: Level 2
Fresh Start
Revives allies to 50HP.
Revive Expert
Revive allies faster and with HP regen.



Dev Note: The new Support Class Revive Expert perk made Wattson's "multi-class" revive perk option feel less relevant. So we're trying out a rather potent upgrade this season and letting Wattson tap into the power of the improved revives of the Support Class. We're keen to see how this kind of cross-class upgrade selection influences her overall power, pick rate and the identity of the new class ability in general.

MODES

Launch Royale

Take a trip back in time to experience what it was like to play Apex when it first launched. The following changes are meant to be a highlight of some of the most important differences and are not completely inclusive to all changes. Additionally, quality-of-life improvements from modern Apex Legends have been retained for a smoother experience.

• General Changes
  
  • Original Kings Canyon Map and POIs
  • Original Loot Distribution and loot items
  • Players drop with no equipment or healing items
  • Armor Core/Evo has been removed, each piece of armor is pickup only and does not evolve. Original shield swapping mechanics are now in play.
  • Original Ring timings and damage
• Legend Changes
  
  • No Class-based Legend Perks, fortified perks removed
  • Each Legend has had the majority of their stats and abilities reverted to the first season's balance.
  • Re-introduced being able to "bunny hop" while healing
  • Re-introduced "punch boosting" where punching the ground behind you gives a slight speed boost
  • Players can infinitely jump on ziplines, max 3 interactions before cooldown is removed
  • Shields are not automatically regenerated on finishers, now exclusive to Gold Armor
• Equipment Changes
  
  • Equipment items and attachments have their original tunings from the first season
  • Gold Items have their passives changed to their original state:
    
    • Gold Knockdown - Self Revive
    • Gold Backpack - Fast Heal
    • Gold Armor - Shield Regeneration on Execution (this is not a trait granted by default anymore)
  • Original capacities on all Magazines
  • No Laser Sights, Sniper Magazines, Energy Magazines (they didn't exist yet!)
  • Original HopUps: Select Fire, Energy Choke, Turbocharger, Skullpiercer
  • Helmet protections have been reverted to balance in first season
  • Ammo stacks in inventory has been changed to match original carrying capacities
• Weapon Changes
  
  • Original Attachments equipped on every gun
  • Original tunings on all weapons, Launch Royale variants have been created to authentically recreate the feeling of the original weapon handlings
  • All hipfire is reverted to its much tighter spread
  • All original Gold kitted weapons are restored
  • Global headshot damage is now 2.0x (with some exceptions per weapon)
  • Original Crate weapons come down in care packages: Mastiff, Kraber, LSTAR

Straight Shot Revival

• Includes Rift Relics
• Weekend Rotations
  
  • November 22-25, 2024
  • November 29-December 2, 2024

Trios Revival

• Includes Rift Relics
• Weekend Rotations
  
  • December 6-9, 2024
  • December 13-16, 2024

Rift Relics

The items available in Rift Relics will be updated regularly, adding an additional weapon to the lineup as well as rotating the available Boost Kits.

• Boost Kits
  
  • Hover: ADS in the air will allow the player to hover, keeping them afloat and steadying aim
  • Void Reflex: damage that would knock a player instead sends them into the Void for several seconds, returning at critical health
  • Reactive Regen: Health/Shield bars regen over time
  • Squad Heal: using a health/shield consumable also applies it to nearby teammates
  • Nessies: summon Nessie companions to fight on your behalf
• Relic Weapons
  
  • Relic Alternator: Launch Royale Alternator modified with Disruptor Rounds
  • Relic Mastiff: Launch Royale Mastiff
  • Relic L-Star: Launch Royale L-Star with high fire rate and limited magazine capacity
  • Relic Spitfire: Launch Royale variant with fast reload, improved hipfire, and heavy ammo
  • Relic Wingman: Launch Royale variant with Skull Piercer
  • Relic Prowler: Launch Royale Select Fire (automatic) Prowler with high power scope
  • Relic G7 Scout: Launch Royale G7 with sniper scope
  • Relic 30-30 Repeater: players heal for a percentage of the damage dealt to enemies and monsters
    
    • If the player succeeds in landing a headshot, health and armor are immediately highly refilled
    • Embedded Dual Loader
    • Mag size of 12
    • SkullPiercer Hop-Up
• Special Weapon - EPG-1: single fire, direct energy propelled launcher

MAP ROTATIONS

Pubs & Ranked

• Broken Moon
• Storm Point
• World's Edge

Mixtape

• November 12-December 16, 2024
  
  • TDM: Habitat, Zeus Station, Skull Town
  • Control: Lava Siphon, Thunderdome, Barometer
  • Gun Run: Skull Town, Fragment, Wattson
• December 17-January 6, 2024
  
  • BigTDM: Habitat, Skull Town, Party Crasher
  • Control: Thunderdome, Production Yard, Lava Siphon
  • Gun Run: Fragment, Wattson, Skull Town
  • Lockdown: Zeus Station, Monument, The Core

RANKED

Entry Cost Tuning

• Lower entry cost above Platinum Tier
  
  • Platinum: 45 RP (was 55 RP)
  • Diamond: 65 RP (was 70 RP)
  • Master+: 90 RP (was 100 RP)

Ranked Skill Display Changes

• Disclosure of Ranks for all match players
  
  • Updates live as you and your opponents enter a match
  • Shows the true rank distribution of all Players as the match starts

Dev Note: This has been added specifically to address matchmaking and perception of unfairness in matches. We believe that this change gives our Players the right amount of information so that they feel informed about what they are up against as they enter a match.

GRAPHICS

• DirectX 12 is no longer a beta! Compared to DirectX 11, our data indicates that DirectX 12 has been both faster and more stable for most players, especially in BR matches when the game is more frequently bottlenecked by the CPU.
  
  • Fixed the most significant cause of stuttering and extremely low FPS in the lobby, which occurred while preloading maps for the first time. Framerates may still be reduced on low-end CPUs, but much improved compared to before.
  • Cursor should now be correctly aligned when using aspect ratios that don't match screen resolution
  • Tooltips in inventory and Death Box menus should now be correctly placed when the game is in full-screen mode
  • Significantly improved shader compilation times in the main menu and the lobby for machines with 4 or fewer CPU cores. On a 2-core CPU with hyperthreading, we found that compiling shaders could be up to 5x faster.
  • Remaining known issue: streaming in higher levels of detail for models can still be slow on very low-end machines, leading to stuttering and sometimes missing or low-quality models in game.
• With Season 23, Apex Legends utilizes the extra performance of the PS5 Pro. Players can expect slightly higher resolution and more stable frame rates, as well as increase model quality in Performance Mode (120 Hz)

BUG FIXES

Looking for something else? Our public Trello board is updated weekly with the status of bugs that we can talk about ahead of the patch note drops. We also update our game status here for those of you not on other social platforms.

• All Legends will now be unlocked for Bot Royale
• Ballistic's Ult will once again speed up the L-star's overheat animation
• Fixed an issue where players would receive an aimpunch, when in a heat shield, when outside the ring.
• Gunshield Generator and Gibraltar arm shield should now respect the incoming direction of the projectile when deciding to deal carry over damage to the player
• Low Ammo indicators will no longer display when inside of Fight Night on Olympus
• Players will now be highlighted in the void when using PS5 performance mode

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Big Maudes is now stocking Akimbo Mozambiques and P2020s
• Mobile Respawn Beacons deploy much quicker
• Newcastle's Castle Wall: improvement to allow the expanding wall to try to curve more (reduces cases of wall ending early in some scenarios)
• Health bars vs. smoke improvements
  
  • Added delay to the destruction of the smoke volumes to better match the smoke dissipation
  • Overall makes health bars less visible through the edges of smoke or during a smoke fade
  • Slightly expanded the size of the smoke volumes to better match the smoke visuals

Apex Packs

• BP Retro packs: new limited-time pack containing previously released Battle Pass items from a specific season
• Retro packs: bringing back content from previously released event packs such as the Raiders CE, Grand Soire, and Legendary Hunt retro packs
• Loot Pool Browser: allows you to clearly preview the possible loot pool, probabilities, disclosure information, and any already-owned items enhancing visibility into what items can be obtained
• Mass pack opening: an easier way to open multiple packs that also gives players the option to select the pack type they want to open. Players can now easily see their inventory of Apex Packs, the loot pool of certain packs, and have the choice to open all or a select number of the type of pack they want to open.
• Spark Bonus Meter: earn limited-time rewards by filling the meter as you open eligible packs (marked by a "Spark" icon). This feature will be available for limited periods during the season.

Firing Range

• Death Boxes: dead players now spawn Death Boxes
  
  • Each player can only spawn one Death Box, and the previous one will dissolve if another death occurs in short succession
  • Death Box dissolves after 90 seconds
• Full Combat Hard Dummies: new option to fight against HARD Full-Combat dummies
  
  • Take cover, Much more aggressive and accurate with shots
  • and execute juke maneuvers when closer to a player
  • Use a variety of weapons, and can throw Thermites
• Nessie was a little late to trick or treating this year, but she brought a friend to make up for it

Season 24: Takeover dropped a week ago. Last season was all about the Support Class - this one is all Assault. Lowered TTK and some pretty nifty Ash movements feels like a fresh coat of paint. Que up those updates, Legends!



OVERVIEW
There's no better way to kick off year seven of Apex Legends than upping the heat of battle. Two heavy hitters that have been in the background a bit too long make their way center stage with updates worthy of Apex Predators, and revamped perks raise up the rest of the Assault Class. No weapon is a bad weapon with buffs across the board for every piece that you can get your hands on. This new meta is cooking and it's safe to say that this anniversary season flips the season of Support to one of aggression. Coupled with some strong updates for Armor and Helmets, greater access to weapons with the new Arsenals, and reduced visual clutter and time-to-kill has never been faster. It's a whole new Outlandsbe ready to fight.
LEGEND BUFFS

Leading the charge this season are two Assault Legends who've been flying under the radar and are ready to explode: Ash and Ballistic.
ASH
Ash sees a number of improvements this season to her Arc Snare and Phase Breach to make them more effective and reliable. Her snare change lets her snag targets against the strong edge of the tether more often. Her Ult goes farther, travels faster, and endpoint detection has improved to make the targeting stickier and less prone to accidental bad snapping.
The big change for Ash is her new passive: Predator's Pursuit. This grants her an omnidirectional short-range dashenabling her to close the gap on a tethered target or evade swiftly in a close-quarters skirmish. With these changes, Ash is set to become the Apex Predator she was always meant to be.
BALLISTIC
Ballistic sees some of his favorite upgrades, the extra charge and sling levelling, integrated into his base kit, giving him more utility and versatility in the early game. A new Level 3 upgrade allows him to double his Whistler charges, opening up his utility and crowd control potential immensely.
Tempest, his Ult, now also grants a speed bonusmaking him a frightening force when he and his team bare down on you. But the big guns? Ballistic's sling can now carry crate weapons, which can spool with infinite ammo when Tempest is active. In Takeover, Ballistic may very well relive his glory days.
ASSAULT CLASS PERKS
Assault Legends are walking arsenals: forged in combat and always ready for a fight. Their abilities grant them incredible combat utility that helps disrupt enemies, threaten their positions, or give them openings to strike. These Legends are enhanced with perks that let them worry less about their weapon economy, bring more explosive power to the table, and give them the combat edge to capitalize on one of core moments in any combat encounterthe shield break.

• Combat Reserve
  
  • Carry extra ammo per ammo stack
  • Have two new grenade-only slots in inventory
  • Retain access to Red Extended Supply Bins
• Stowed Reload: stowed weapons automatically reload after 2s
• Battle Surge: breaking an enemy's shields grants a speed burst, fast reloads, and highlights the target enemy for 4s

WEAPON BUFFS, HELMETS AND ARMOR
Over the years, Apex has evolved in so many ways to provide players with more agency and deeper options for how to play, survive, and express their skill. Through that evolution, the benchmark damage for our weapons has stayed stable, but has grown stale. We want to make sure the nuanced flow of combat remains tight and weapons are lethal in order to provide exciting gameplay options.
Battle Royales are all about strategy and timing. These are the mechanisms to success, but strategy goes right out the window if encounters are taking too long to resolve and you're dealing with your 3rd, 4th, or even 5th party. This latest suite of changes is designed to keep you in the drivers seat by providing the tools to resolve conflicts faster, getting you back to if the 3rd party is coming and not when.
In addition to sweeping weapon buffs, we have taken a look at the defensive side of loot in Apex with some hefty streamlining. Low tier Helmets (white, blue, and purple) have been removed, and rare high value Helmets that provide meaningful gameplay perks have been added in their place. As for Armor, you will no longer level into red tier (125 shields) at Level 4 but will instead be capped at Level 3 (100 shields). However, red shields will still be available in the form of the new Mythic Armor Upgrade Helmet.
MUZZLE FLASH
Visual clutter in gunfights is no joke. In an attempt to combat this, we've reduced the effects and particles you see when you fire your weapon. We believe this update balances increased visual clarity while still selling the impact and fantasy of firing our weapons.

• All 1P weapons muzzle flashes have been updated
  
  • 95% less visual noise over the line of sight (sparks, smoke, glows etc)
  • Noise/visuals kept below line of sight
  • Reduced size of muzzle flashes
  • Optimized particle count
  • Cleaned noise from shells ejects
  • Cleaned lingering elements (smoke, sparks, etc)
  • Light toned down to avoid flickering on weapons and environment models

PATCH NOTES
BALANCE UPDATES
Care Package

• R-99 returns to the floor (balance details below)
• Peacekeeper enters the Care Package (balance details below)

Gold Weapon Rotation

• Alternator, R-99, Wingman, 30-30 Repeater, Rampage LMG

EVO

• Max level achievable by earning EVO is now Level 3 (Purple Armor)
  
  • Red Armor no longer earnable through leveling
• EVO required to reach Level 3 increased to 1700 (was 1350)

Dev Note: Red armor allowed for a much wider health disparity in the mid to late game which reinforced activities like farming damage on the outskirts and avoiding encounters to collect resources. By lowering the total Armor available to these actions and the levels required to earn them, you can now get end-game ready more easily and focus on what matters mostthe fight.
Accelerated Weapons

• Assists with an Accelerated Weapon equipped will no longer grant the extra 30% ult charge in Mixtape Modes

GAMEPLAY UPDATES
NEW Arsenals
These stations provide players with easy and deterministic access to weapons and ammo of their choice.

• Stations across all POI's on every map with fixed locations
• Ammo type provided randomizes each match
• Equipped with an enhancing terminal that upgrades one weapon matching the ammo type per Arsenal
  
  • Enhancing grants an upgraded attachment and provides an optic if one is missing

Healing

• Cells now take 2.5s to complete (was 3s)
• Syringes now take 4s (was 5s)
• Cells & Syringes now stack up to 6
  
  • Players now start with 4 Cells and 4 Syringes (was 2 each)
• Battery and Medkit spawn rates have been slightly increased

Dev Note: Players will undoubtedly need to continue popping meds whenever they can with lowered max health, a universal gold helmet perk, and a ton of weapon buffs. We've decided to shave down some of those sharp edges to make healing a little easier across the board.
Helmets

• White, blue, and purple have been removed from the loot pool
• Players no longer start with a white helmet

Dev Note: Finding and equipping Helmets has always been a bit lackluster in both feeling the impact of wearing one and making the potential damage output a bit murky. Removing headshot damage reduction from the game makes damage more consistent, understandable, and easier to calculate.
Gold Helmet

• Reworked into Gold Armor Upgrade Helmet
• Offers Improved Minor Healing perk that doubles the output of Cells & Syringes
• Sets the player's Armor to 100 regardless of Level
• Leveling still required to unlock Legend Upgrades, but no longer affects armor while equipped
• No headshot damage reduction
• Chance to appear in Gold Bins after Bin Reset

NEW Mythic Armor Upgrade Helmet

• Red tier introduced
• Sets player's armor to 125 regardless of level
• Leveling is still required to unlock Legend Upgrades, but no longer affects armor while this item is equipped
• Red helmets offer no headshot damage reduction
• Appears in the Mythic Bin & late game Care Packages

Dev Note: Both the new Gold and Red Helmets are designed to pull some of the passive power embedded in Legends and put it into the loot pool to create new items to chase and fight for. They'll also create dynamic gameplay options for players to strategize which squadmates don these powerful new items.
Knocked Down State

• Significantly increased crawl speed while knocked with and without knockdown shield raised

POI Names on Drop

• Now able to see the name and loot tier of each POI projected over the POI during first drop
• Also includes Arsenal info to help drive drop choice

AMMO & ATTACHMENTS

• Hop Ups: Hammerpoints have been removed from the loot pool
• Gold Magazines: time to reload while stowed decreased to 2s (was 5s)
• Optics: 1x Holo optic has been removed from the loot pool
• Replicator: reduced the amount of ammo to 1 stack per weapon (was 2 stacks)

WEAPONS
AR
Havoc Rifle [Care Package]

• Damage increased to 21 (was 18)
• Headshot damage: 27
• Beam Shot damage increased to 70 (was 53)
• Beam Shot headshot damage: 105

Hemlok Burst AR

• Damage increased to 20 (was 19)
• Headshot damage: 26

Nemesis Burst AR

• Damage increased to 17 (was 16)
• Headshot damage: 22

R-301 Carbine

• Damage increased to 14 (was 13)
• Headshot damage: 18

VK-47 Flatline

• Damage increased to 19 (was 18)
• Headshot damage: 25

LMG
Devotion LMG

• Damage increased to 16 (was 15)
• Headshot damage: 20

L-STAR EMG

• Damage increased to 20 (was 18)
• Headshot damage: 25

M600 Spitfire

• Damage increased to 21 (was 19)
• Headshot damage: 26

Rampage LMG

• Damage increased to 30 (was 26)
• Headshot damage: 38
• Reduced the decay rate of the revved state over time

MARKSMAN
30-30 Repeater

• No charge damage increased to 43 (was 39)
• No charge headshot damage: 69
• Full charge damage increased to 58 (was 53)
• Full charge headshot damage: 93
• Slightly increased projectile size at long range

Bocek Compound Bow [Care Package]

• Damage increased to 75 (was 70)
• Headshot damage: 120
• Fire rate slightly reduced
• Removed Deadeye's Tempo passive
• Shattercaps damage per pellet increased to 13 (was 12)

G7 Scout

• Damage increased to 35 (was 33)
• Headshot damage: 56
• Fire rate slightly reduced
• Slightly increased projectile size at long range

Triple Take

• Damage per bullet increased to 22 (was 21)
• Headshot damage: 105 (all bullets)
• Slightly increased projectile size at long range

Dev Note: Marksman weapons sit between the mid-range arsenal and snipers, but find themselves often outclassed by one of their neighbors. Their adjustments this season should make them feel more consistent at range, improve their performance when tracking enemies, and staying on target while providing headshots without stealing the play-making potential of our snipers.
PISTOL
P2020

• Damage increased to 24 (was 21)
• Headshot damage: 30

RE-45 Auto

• Damage increased to 14 (was 13)
• Headshot damage: 18

Wingman

• Damage increased to 48 (was 45)
• Headshot damage: 72
• Base magazine size reduced to 5 (was 6)
  
  • With added magazine - White: 6, Blue: 7, Purple/Gold: 8

SMG
Alternator SMG

• Damage increased to 18 (was 16)
• Headshot damage: 22

C.A.R. SMG

• Damage increased to 14 (was 13)
• Headshot damage: 17
• Added Laser Sight barrel attachment

Prowler PDW

• Damage increased to 16 (was 15)
• Headshot damage: 19

R-99 SMG [Floor Loot]

• Damage decreased to 13 (was 14)
• Headshot damage: 16
• No longer has damage fall-off
• ADS strafe speed normalized to other SMGs
• No longer eliminates movement penalty when equipped
• Recoil increased

Volt SMG

• Damage increased to 16 (was 15)
• Headshot damage: 19

SHOTGUN
EVA-8 Auto

• Damage per pellet increased to 8 (was 7)
• No longer deals increased headshot damage

Mastiff Shotgun

• Damage per pellet increased to 16 (was 14)
• No longer deals increased headshot damage

Mozambique Shotgun

• Damage per pellet increased to 16 (was 15)
• Headshot damage: 60 (all pellets)

Peacekeeper [Care Package]

• Damage per pellet increased to 12 (was 9)
• Headshot damage: 135 (all pellets)
• Choke speed significantly increased
• Fully choked blast pattern is significantly tighter
• Pellets pierce dealing 50% damage after the first enemy hit

Dev Note: Shotguns are receiving a base damage increase, but losing their ability to deal increased headshot damage. They already represent incredible burst damage, but hitting those headshots create sharp output spikes that's difficult to account for. This change creates a more understandable damage landscape that encourages players to land as many pellets as possible (instead of aiming for the head and whiffing half of them). Mozambiques will retain their headshot damage as a hybrid shotgun-pistol and the Care Package version of the Peacekeeper also keeps it to really lean into that slug shotty territory.
SNIPER
Charge Rifle

• Base damage unchanged
• Headshot damage (min. distance): 135
• Headshot damage (max. distance): 198
• Autofire headshot damage (min. distance): 101
• Autofire headshot damage (max. distance): 149
• Limb damage reduced to 70% (was 90%)

Kraber .50-Cal Sniper

• Damage increased to 150 (was 140)
• Headshot damage: 210

Longbow DMR

• Base damage unchanged
• Headshot damage: 108
• Limb damage reduced to 70% (was 80%)

Sentinel

• Base damage unchanged
• Headshot damage: 126
• Limb damage reduced to 70% (was 90%)
• Removed Deadeye's Tempo passive

Dev Note: For our Snipers, we've tuned their headshot damage to be much more impactful rather than increase their base body shot damage. This is to key into their role and fantasy as precision weapons that reward patient and skilled gameplay. To hammer this home, we've reduced the amount of damage they deal to limbs. These weapons benefit greatly from well placed shots and we don't want that to change.
LEGENDS
Assault Class Perks

• New perks: Combat Reserve, Stowed Reload, & Battle Surge (detailed above)
• Removed Carry Extra Ammo & Access Weapon Supply Bin perks (now integrated into Combat Reserve)

Support Class Perks

• Heal Expert Removed: Support Legends no longer heal double with small meds or have increased movement speed while healing

Dev Note: The Support Class was very strong last season. The faster movement and double small med heals gave these Legends rapid combat-reset potential that made them effective skirmishers, but didn't inherently have a team-oriented feel. While this was great during the season of Support, we felt their identity was stronger as revival experts and this change will let them focus on that team-oriented specialization rather than feeling hard to kill.
Ash

• Predator's Pursuit
  
  • Removed ability to scan Death Boxes to reveal killers, but they'll still show on the minimap and map with info on how recently they died
  • NEW: press the Jump key while in the air to perform a dash
• Arc Snare
  
  • Tether plants at location of projectile on impact rather than the hit player's location
  • Tether is slightly harder to break and no longer gets instantly broken by some abilities
• Phase Breach
  
  • Range increased to 100m (was ~76m)
  • Travel time reduced
  • Improved reliability of placement
  • Removed one frame delay on placement preview
  • Now has VFX to show max range when in placement mode
• Upgrades: Level 2
  
  • Murder Machine: removed
  • One Minute to Live: removed
  • Greedy Snare: moved to Level 2
  • NEW Dual Breach: adds additional ult charge
• Upgrades: Level 3
  
  • NEW Ghost in the Machine: adds additional Dash charge

Dev Note: Ash was overdue for some improvements to her kit to resurge her as a top Apex Predator. Many of her changes aim to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of her abilities: the improved placement, distance and speed of her Ult, and the snare's tether point snagging from the projectile's point rather than her escaping target. Most notably, Ash sees the addition of a brand new movement passive - reminiscent of her titan's ability of yore. Her new dash is an incredibly effective mid-combat repositioning tool or distance closer making her a more effective skirmisher when closing in on her prey or quickly out-maneuvering in a duel. We expect to see a lot of impressive Ash players rise to the top with many of her upgrades doubling her abilities this season.
Ballistic

• Sling
  
  • Now upgrades with Level by default
  • Can now carry Crate Weapons and they will gain infinite ammo with Ult
• Whistler
  
  • Tac now has 2 charges
  • Overheat reaction time increased to 1.2s (was 1s)
  • Smart Bullet on ground damage increased to 20 (was 10)
    
    • This damage is now equal to the direct hit damage
• Tempest: squad gains a speed boost when empowered by Ult
• Upgrades: Level 2
  
  • Sling Shot: removed (integrated into base kit)
  • NEW Killing Time: increases duration of Ult by 15s
• Upgrades: Level 3
  
  • Extra Bullets: doubles the number of Tac charges (was +1 charge)
  • Quiet Time: Overheat now also silences enemy for 6s

Dev Note: Ballistic has had a few updates, but has never really found his footing to lead the charge. Integrating the Sling and extra bullet upgrades into his kit gives more players access to the core of the Legend while empowering his Ult with speedincreasing his natural combat effectiveness and encouraging his squad to push and engage. Allowing Ballistic to carry a Crate Weapon in his Sling has always been something we've been dubious of, but this season we're taking a bold stance to let Ballistic go…well, ballistic. The increased number of Tac charges should also allow players to more freely deploy the Overheat into their combat patterns or control the field if they also opt into the lasting bullet upgrade, giving more range of play and options for Ballistic.
Crypto

• EMP: once again destroys Gibraltar's Dome of Protection

Loba

• Ult back to starting at 50% charge

Dev Note: This was always intended as a short term buff to help Loba shine among an all-star Support lineup. However, it messed with the delicate dance that is landing off drop, which impacted long standing 'good' player behaviors around landing near your squad, looting, and using abilities into slightly more disruptive behaviors.
Maggie

• Wrecking Ball
  
  • Once again destroys Gibraltar's Dome of Protection
  • Will now destroy Newcastle's Mobile Shield

Dev Note: We're returning these hard counters to empower Maggie in this Assault-focused season…for now.
MAPS
Pubs

• Kings Canyon
• Olympus
• Broken Moon

Ranked

• Kings Canyon
• Olympus
• Storm Point

Mixtape

• February 11-March 24, 2025
  
  • TDM: Thunderdome, Habitat, Skull Town, Estates, Zeus Station
  • Control: Lava Siphon, Barometer, Labs, Caustic, Thunderdome
  • Gun Run: Wattson, Estates, Thunderdome, Fragment, Skull Town

MODES
Takeover: Mythic Mayhem Royale (February 11-March 3, 2025)

• Rampart's new experimental care packages deliver three Mythic R-301 weapon variants
• Hornet (Yellow): faster movement and reload speed, Tac charge on shield break, Ult charge on knock
• Limelight (Green): helps replenish your squad's health and shields when damaging enemies
• Vermilion (Red): increases critical hit damage and triggers Thermite on knocked enemies

Takeover: Redemption Trios & Duos (February 25-March 3, 2025)

• In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Ninjayla
• Respawn Tokens are a new Mythic rarity Survival Slot item only available in this Takeover. If you are eliminated with this item in your inventory, you'll immediately respawn back into the action
• At the start of the match, all players are given one Respawn Token
• Collect additional Respawn Tokens from: eliminating other players, Care Packages, and Mythic Supply Bins
• No respawn limit and no penalty for respawning multiple times
• Usable until the start of the final ring, then any equipped Respawn Tokens will be exchanged for EVO Armor XP
• They only last a short while when on the ground, so pick one up if you need one!
• Respawn Beacons can still be used to bring back players without Respawn Tokens

Takeover: Relic Weapons Trios & Duos (March 4-10, 2025)

• In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Ninjayla
• Weapons spawn fully kitted
• Only weapons on the ground are Gold and Mythic tier
• Sights can be looted and swapped out, but all other attachments come with the weapon
• Increased supply drops each round which carry two Mythic tier weapons
  
  • The second Mythic weapon replaces the Evo Caches
  • Reduced Evo for scanning Care Packages

Standard Trios & Duos

• March 11-24, 2025

LTM: Three Strikes Mystery Legends (March 11-24, 2025)

• In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Oraxe
• Three Strikes returns with a twist modifier
• Mystery Legends
  
  • All Legends will be selected for you before entering the Drop Ship
  • Respawning will select a new random Legend
  • Squads can have duplicate Legends
  • With each EVO level up, you'll gain all upgrades for that Level automatically and your Level will be maintained through respawns

RANKED
NEW Road to Ranked Challenges
Introduced a new set of challenges to unlock Ranked for new players and returning players who have not yet reached the level requirement.

• Level 20 minimum still required to access Ranked and this is reflected as one of the challenges
• Existing players above Level 20 retain access
• Party restrictions apply: all members must complete challenges to access Ranked

Dev Note: The previous system of only requiring Level 20 was very prone to abuse by third-party bots, and could also be achieved by players who preferred Mixtape or LTMs. This new system will ensure that all new players joining Ranked have done the required work in BR matches and tested their mettle to a sufficient level to earn a spot in the competition.
SYSTEM
NEW Bot Royale Tutorial

• Notes will appear to assist with Legends, weapons, loot, and gameplay scenarios
• Low ammo or health items also receive prompts to ping nearby desired loot items
• On by default for accounts below Level 20 and will turn off once that threshold is reached
  
  • Can be manually turned on/off through the System menu under "Tutorial Systems"

Weapon Mastery

• Trial simplification
  
  • Re-designed all trials
  • Removed weapon level restriction for trials

Dev Note: The current Weapon Mastery system presented some issues, including overly complex gating mechanics that disrupt progression, trials demanding high player skill levels, and excessive reliance on randomness that can slow or stall progress. These new trials remove unnecessary randomness, shifting the focus back to the essence of weapon usage: dealing damages and eliminating enemies. If you've already completed trials and earned rewards they will remain unaffected. If your trials were partially completed or 90% done, no problem! Your progress will be converted, no need to start over.
BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue where the Mythic Bin could become merged with a Gold Bin
• Fixed more firing range realm spawning issues:
  
  • Thermite VFX
  • Maggie ball bouncing off of invisible doors
  • Mirage decoys getting stuck on invisible doors
• Fixed rare issue that could prevent the ring VFX and other particles from spawning
• Mixtape: swapping to secondary akimbo weapons from loadouts will no longer play the first draw animation
• PK will no longer occasionally lock up after using the Choke
• Rechamber times can no longer be bypassed on the Sentinel and PK by swapping attachments
• Reactive weapons will no longer lose their reactive state after swapping
• Squadmate animations once again play during Legend selection
• "View upgrades" button in Legend locker will no longer take you to friends list

LEGENDS

• Alter / Ash / Wraith: Void Vision (enemy highlighting) no longer applies on enemy portals
• Alter: Upgrades Tactical Cooldown+ and Void Vision returned to correct tier placements
• Lifeline
  
  • Crashing will no longer occur when gliding or using the D.O.C. Heal Drone
  • Gliding will no longer occasionally lower performance
  • Pathfinder grapple can once again attach to D.O.C. Halo
• Mirage
  
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when using Mirage's Ult near Gravity Cannons
  • Lifeline's D.O.C. now cloaks properly to prevent revealing Mirage (previous hotfix)
• Newcastle: Ult no longer canceled by Ash's snare
• Revenant
  
  • Resolved rare crash that could occur when pouncing
  • Shadow Pounce now plays leap audio when spectating a Revenant
• Wattson: fixed upgrade that was allowing the placement of two interception pylons
• Valkyrie: Tac now working inside of D.O.C. Halo and near Dome of Protection's edges
• Vantage: sprinting no longer available while using Ult Accelerant

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Added further hardening to prevent hipfire cheats
• Added Account Level details
  
  • Info about your Account Level progress and rewards granted at each future level
  • Accessed via Lobby (top left), also displays XP bar and level progress
• Adjustments to Match Summary
  
  • XP Gain, Challenge, and Pass progression added to end of match flow
  • Squad Summary section now picks from a small set of stats instead of always showing "Revives," "Respawns," and "Time Survived" for unranked Duos and Trios
• Mixtape: disabled assist Ult gain with accelerated weapons which allowed for some Ults to be used too quickly
• Reactive skins now show their effects in the lobby menus
• Some Rat Spots have been eliminated across all maps

AI Bots: Cover and Peeking

• Can now use geometry in the environment as cover
• Can also utilize "peeking" behavior to provide more of a challenge
• Plethora of bug fixes across all parts of the Bot experience
• Improvements and tuning on Easy and Normal difficulty Bots (E1 - N3 Difficulty)

AUDIO

• Added Mono output option for players with limited hearing
  
  • Mono audio combines left and right sound channels into one, making it easier for players with hearing impairments to hear all audio cues. It ensures no important sounds are missed, regardless of ear or stereo positioning.
• Friendly footsteps volume and audible distance reduced
• Friendly skydive volume reduced to allow for strategizing during drop (enemy volumes unchanged)
• Increased importance for zipline attach/detach and doors to ensure they are heard more consistently
• Reduced volume of squadmate and ambient audio while enemies are being revived
• Reduced volume for Fuse's Tac and Ult
• Reduced volume for Survey Beacons and Ring Consoles for self and squadmates (enemy volumes unchanged)

Dev note: Audio can be crucial whether you're the squad attacking or the one being attacked. We've adjusted multiple audio cues to assist with combat effectiveness, and have a few more initiatives in the works to optimize audio throughout the match.
GRAPHICS

• Improved CPU rendering performance on all consoles

DX12 (PC)

• Changed the way that ultrawide monitors handle 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions in full-screen mode. They will now have pillarboxing (black borders on left and right) and no stretching. This behavior can be disabled with +mat_wide_pillarbox 0 launch argument, if stretching is desired.
• CPU rendering performance improved 5%-10% (situation based) and some frame drops may be reduced
• Added a launch argument +mat_minimize_on_alt_tab 1 that allows behavior similar to DX11 where tabbing away from/clicking out of the fullscreen game causes Apex to minimize
• Improved loading performance after compiling shaders for the first time (up to 30% faster on some systems). Note that shaders always need to be pre-loaded to minimize gameplay stuttering.
• Added a launch notification for players with incompatible GPUs that DX11 support will be discontinued