Apex Legends is massive, with over 50 million players already. That doesn’t mean that the game is perfect, however, and Respawn Entertainment is working hard to fix some of the game’s biggest issues – balancing. In the first important balance update for the game, you will find Apex Legends weapon balance adjustments and some fixes. Then, the developer also explained changes to hitbox sizes and Legends balance changes coming with the start of Season 1 and more. The update with these Apex Legends weapon balance changes is live now on all platforms.
Related: Annoying Apex Legends Crash Finally Fixed With Latest GeForce Drivers
Respawn’s Community Manager took to Reddit to reveal all the changes in the live balance update, including some Apex Legends weapon balance changes which strangely, doesn’t include adjustments to the P2020 or Mozambique. There are also some general fixes and improvements. Let’s kick things off with the Apex Legends weapon balance changes.
Apex Legends Weapon Balance
First off, Respawn explains how they feel about the current Apex Legends weapon balance in the game, stating that:
Overall, we feel that the current weapons present solid options for a variety of gameplay styles. We’ve found that the Skullpiercer Wingman has been on the stronger end, but it’s designed to be a weapon with a higher skill ceiling. Our adjustments are attempting to move it more into the hand cannon space and away from full auto Deagle. We’ve also adjusted the rate of fire of the Peacekeeper with Shotgun Bolt attachment, so players will have a larger window of vulnerability if they miss their shot. Additionally, the scarcity of energy ammo and lower number of energy weapons overall has made those weapons difficult to main, so we’ve increased energy weapon and ammo availability.
The two big weapon balance changes for the game revolve around the Wingman and Peacekeeper weapons.
These weapons’ availability has also been reduced in all zone tiers, while the availability of energy weapons and ammunition has been increased in all zone tiers. Changes to both the Wingman and Peacekeeper weapons can be found below.
Wingman
-
Rate of fire reduced from 3.1 -> 2.6 shots per second.
-
Skullpiercer Headshot damage multiplier reduced from 2.5 -> 2.25
-
Increased base hip fire spread and decreased the rate at which hip fire spread decays (shrinks back down).
Peacekeeper
-
Shotgun Bolt rechamber rate has been reduced for the Peacekeeper only.
-
Level 1 mitigation 10% -> 7.5%
-
Level 2 mitigation 20% -> 13%
-
Level 3 mitigation 25% -> 16%
-
As mentioned earlier, there are no changes to the P2020 or Mozambique. Respawn jokingly notes that “We love y’all’s ‘Bique memes, so we’re hesitant to lose that” before explaining that it is because they want a power curve in weapons:
In all seriousness, our goal is to have a power curve of weapons. “Power curve” just means that some weapons will be weaker and more common, while others will be stronger and rarer. Some weapons are intentionally less powerful until fully purp’d with hopups and attachments, while other weapons on the bottom of the power curve are your early game, better-than-melee, but-gotta-upgrade-out-of-ASAP weapons. We’ve seen some good feedback from players about how to make these pistols more exciting without losing out on the goal above that we’re listening to. We’ll be continuing to watch player data and feedback and trying things out internally but for now, they’ll remain the same.
Additional Apex Legends Fixes
The additional fixes in the Apex Legends balance update all revolve around some nasty crashes that some players have been experiencing.
- Fixed some script errors that we identified were occasionally causing disconnects during matches.
- Caustic occasionally causing disconnects while throwing is Ultimate.
- Pathfinder occasionally causing disconnects when activating a Survey Beacon.
- Players occasionally causing disconnects when removing an attachment.
- Gibraltar occasionally causing disconnects when pulling up his Gun Shield.
- Players occasionally causing disconnects when entering Spectate Mode.
Legends Hitbox Adjustments Coming In Season 1
Respawn has heard the community feedback on Legends hitboxes and plans to make adjustments to three characters when Season 1 kicks off. Further, the developer has outlined some minor balance adjustments to a total of five Legends.
For Legends balance, the developer has looked at a combination of factors, including win rate, matchups, pick rate and, of course, player feedback. The result of this research has led to the following balance changes, as Respawn explains:
Overall, we want to try to increase the power level of the large rig characters, before we consider large nerfs to everyone else. While we’ve made small adjustments, we’re hopeful that increasing the power of large rigs is healthier than nerfing everyone else.
Major balance changes:
-
Hit box size reductions and optimizations for Caustic, Pathfinder and Gibraltar
-
We’re better sizing hitboxes to character gear & model
-
Since these adjustments have a MAJOR impact on the game, we want to make sure there aren’t any major bugs, so we didn’t want to rush them out
-
If these adjustments prove to be insufficient, we’ll consider additional adjustments during Season 1
-
Minor balance changes:
-
Caustic
-
Traps – Reduced cooldown to 25 seconds from 30 seconds
-
Traps – Increased radius and proximity radius by about 10%
-
Traps – Removed a 1 second delay on the smoke dealing damage to players
-
-
Pathfinder
-
Insider Knowledge – Increased the number of beacons in the world to 12 from 10
-
-
Lifeline
-
Care Package – Removed slight chance that level 4 armor and helmets will drop
-
-
Wraith
-
Into The Void – Cooldown increased from 20 -> 25 seconds
-
-
Bangalore
-
Double Time – Reduced move speed bonus to 30% from 40%
-
What do you think about the Apex Legends weapon balance changes and the planned changes regarding hitbox sizes for some characters when Season 1 kicks off? Let us know in the comment section below.
