Breakthrough in the Beast Mode Event
Bring on your Beast Mode, Legends! It’s three weeks of ferocious modes from March 25-April 15, 2025. You’ll have the power when you find and equip a Power Sword with unique abilities in Power Sword Royale for the duration of the event. Next up, you know we’ve got some chaos up our sleeves for April Fool’s. Then, it’s time to once again prove your mettle on your own with Solos. It’s Skirmisher’s time to shine with two new perks and some fresh upgrades for Alter. Plus, unlock unbeatable items as you make your way through the event before we jump right into the next one. We won’t ask if you can handle the heat, just prove in the Outlands. PUBS LTM: POWER SWORD ROYALE The Power Sword is in your hands…if you can find it that is. At the beginning of each match and once per round, a Power Sword will spawn and be up for grabs. Imbued with strength and close range attacks, you can wield this new piece to launch energy slashes while ADSing which also provides some additional defensive coverage. CREATOR COMMISSIONERS Creators continue to take the reins in the latter half of this season starting with Apryze’s selected modes for April Fool’s April 1-7 and the return of Solos April 8-14, 2025. Over two weeks you’ll chase glory together to complete challenges and ultimately determine how many Apex Packs † will be up for grabs the following week. Participating in week one doesn’t automatically earn you rewards, so you’ll want to jump into matches that second week as well. Plus, earn a Banner Frame when you tune in to your faves on Twitch via Twitch Drops and a free Creator-themed tracker set in the Featured store to gift your friends! If you haven’t already, be sure to connect your EA account with your Twitch account in order to receive drops: instructions can be found here. Upcoming Creator Commissioners and their Legendary choices: April 1-14: Apryze “Bone Breaker” Legendary Mastiff skin April 15-28: Kaminari Qpi “Tombstick” Legendary Mastiff skin SKIRMISHER CLASS UPDATES You might’ve seen this one coming: it’s the Skirmishers time to shine with our mid-season update. Many Skirmisher Legends are well known for using their mobility to either lead the charge into a fight or rotate early looking for one (leaving their allies behind). With this in mind, we wanted to give them a chance to turn that inherent nature into squad utility and allow their allies to keep up with their high mobility playstyle. We also wanted Skirmishers to feel free to be more aggressive with their abilities—knowing that if they perform, they’ll be able to earn that free charge to quickly escape or stay in the fight longer. Our hope is that Skirmishers are more confident diving into a fight and staying alive if they do well, and their squad is more likely to be close behind if they don’t. Trailblazer: your squadmates receive a speed boost when sprinting towards you Allies must be at least 20m away to receive this bonus Charged Knock: Skirmishers gain an extra ability charge and 50 HP regen on knock Extra charge lasts for 30s or until used Extra charge applies to all Skirmisher Legends’ Tacs except Octane who gains an additional Ult Charge instead HP regen will first heal health then shields if applicable, and can be interrupted by damage Alongside these new perks, most of our Skirmisher Legends have received updates to their abilities, Legend Upgrades, or both. And the Skirmisher’s perfect pairing, SMGs, are getting some buffs as well. BEAST MODE EVENT ITEMS Unstoppable limited-time cosmetics are up for grabs as you progress through the Beast Mode Event. Each item received during the event counts towards bonus rewards that are automatically unlocked at milestones along the way including 20 total Exotic Shards. All items will be available in Beast Mode Event Packs † for the duration of the event, with each pack having a chance to unlock the new Universal Melee Power Sword. Each event pack contains one event item and two standard items, and there are no duplicates of event items in these packs. After unlocking the Power Sword, the power is in your hands. Customize your new Universal Melee item with a Death Box and three striking color variants. Own more than one variant? You can swap ‘em during the match as well! REWARD SHOP Earn Credits by completing daily event challenges, then check out the Beast Mode Reward Shop to redeem them for rewards (including two Beast Mode Packs) and see your progress with all four event badges. Offerings will rotate halfway through the event. PATCH NOTES BALANCE UPDATES Gold Weapon Rotation P2020, Prowler PDW, Volt SMG, Devotion, G7 Scout Heat Shields Now take damage when any part of the dome connects with the ring (Previously took damage when the core was in the ring) Now take ramping damage based on how far away the ring is from the core Dev Notes: Heat Shields had a few quirks that lead to some weird play patterns around the ring’s edge. These changes should smooth that out and make them feel more consistent when not fully engulfed by the ring. LEGENDS Skirmisher Class Perks New perks: Charged Knock and Trailblazer (detailed above) Alter Void Passage Now has two charges Maximum portal depth increased to 30m (was 20m) Cooldown reduced to 20s (was 30s, Tac Cooldown+ upgrade integrated into base kit) Health Bars shown on enemies after going through your own Void Passage (Void Vision upgrade integrated into base kit) Maximum length of Void Siphon (interactable rope with tactical portals) created from ceilings increased to 45m (was 30m) Also now created when placing unreachable portals on walls with a maximum length of 20m Placement preview now shows where a Void Siphon will be created, if there will be one Void Passage briefly highlights enemies on the other side immediately after placement Void Nexus Now reusable with each player having their own 30s cooldown Two can be active in the world at the same time (integrated part of Multidimensional upgrade into base kit) Interact directly with a Void Nexus to 'summon' your knocked allies, and summoned allies can move and use their knockdown shield Ult is otherwise not interactable from a short distance, making it easier to revive a squadmate without accidentally triggering the Void Nexus Gift from the Rift: can now grab Banners when using passive on a squadmate’s Death Box Upgrades: Level 2 Ringmaster: removed Void Vision: removed NEW “Friends”: gain all support perks (access Support Bins, faster revives with health regen, gain MRB with Banners (works with Gift from the Rift)) NEW Eye to Another World: gain all Recon Perks (access Recon Beacons, gain threat vision when ADSing) Upgrades: Level 3 Multidimensional: removed Tactical Cooldown+: removed NEW Void Breacher: using a friendly Void Passage grants move speed and improved reloads NEW Staring into the Void: Void Passage scan duration +15s for Alter (lasts duration of the Void Passage) Note: scan requires line of sight to enemy from the portal exit and to the portal entrance for Alter Dev Note: We've always loved Alter's playmaking potential, but the limited utility of her kit made her a tough pick. By adding an additional Tac charge, the improved wall-based Void Siphon, and new Level 3 Upgrades, we're giving Alter's Tac more playmaking potential across a wider range of situations. Additionally, her Upgrades now allow you to build Alter into either what your squad needs or what best suits your playstyle. Want to play strategically? Take the more Recon style upgrades to make plays around or hunt your enemies. Want to provide a rock solid back-line for your squad? Take the more Support style upgrade and bring people back from the brink of elimination—which works extremely well with the new Ultimate rework. The changes to the Void Nexus aim to reduce the friction around the ability. Being able to re-use the Ult allows your squad to not only use it in case of emergencies, but anytime it might be advantageous. And allowing Alter to recall her allies manually ensures that she can still help those who may not fully understand her kit and secure some clutch revives. Ash Void Breach: Ult Cooldown increased to 2min 30s (was 2min) Dev Note: The Skirmisher class perk changes should rival much of Ash’s dominance, but we’re easing off on the Ash pressure valve with a minor Ult adjustment to make those double long phase tears slightly less common. Horizon Upgrades: Level 2 Big Bang: Removed Battpack: Removed Tac Cooldown: moved to Level 2 Ult Cooldown: moved to Level 2 Upgrades: Level 3 NEW Conservation of Energy: Spacewalk grants 25HP shield regen on soft landings NEW Combat Reserve: access Assault Bins, carry extra ammo per stack, and extra grenade slots Dev Note: Horizon’s maintained a pretty strong position despite her fairly downplayed upgrades. These fresh adjustments should allow for some early improvements and then a choice for players: play into her squirrelly escape antics off her passive or lean into some of her combat efficiency and those grenade combos with her Ult. Loba Escape Artist: reduced shields regenerated to 25 (was 50) Pathfinder Upgrades: Level 3 Down and Away: removed NEW Grapple Cooldown+: decrease Tac Cooldown by 10s Dev Note: With the Skirmisher Class perk, Pathfinder’s Down and Away upgrade needed to be replaced, so we’ve added a simple cooldown reduction…for now. Revenant Assassin’s Instinct: allies now see the the low health tracking marker like Revenant Shadow Pounce Activation time reduced by ~30% Cooldown reduced to 20s (was 25s) Forged Shadows: Ult Shield HP increased by 25 Upgrades Level 2 Murder Machine: removed NEW Try To Hide: doubles the duration of the passive mark when getting enemies to low health Upgrades Level 3 Grim Leaper: removed NEW Agile Assassin: reduces Shadow Pounce activation time and charge time by half Tac Cooldown: now reduces to 15s (was 20s) Dev Note: Revenant’s fallen significantly from his reign of dominance, so we were looking to reinvigorate him in a few ways with this Skirmisher split. His raid-boss Ult has been less potent with the regen structure and we wanted to give him more strength back into the initial activation of his Ult, especially amidst the new TTK this season (we’ll keep an eye on this though). However, his Shadow Pounce had a long cooldown and required a significant amount of windup to use, so it was often saved for the right moment to disengage rather than to close-in aggressively. We’ve reduced this wind-up time both by default and through the Upgrade to allow him to feel more free to use it to engage and secure those knocks to take advantage of the new class perk. Fly, death kitty, fly! Wraith Original 3P run animation has returned Into the Void Cooldown decreased to 20s (was 25s) Tac activation time decreased to 0.8s (was 1.25s) Can now exit from the void at any time by pressing Attack or Tactical buttons Dimensional Rift Cooldown decreased to 2min 30s (was 3min) Now ramps up to max speed much faster when using Ult Upgrades: Level 2 Ult Cooldown: now reduces to 1min 30s (was 2min) Upgrades Level 3 Fast Phase: now decreases Tac activation by 30% (was 20%) This reduces the activation time to 0.5s (was 1.0s) Tac Cooldown: now reduces to 15s (was 20s) Dev Note: Wraith is getting a number of adjustments to return her closer to her original form. Her sped up activation allows her to be both more reactive and aggressive with her Tac—especially when paired with the new Skirmisher perk. We wanted her to assert more control over when she exits phase to get her back into the fight sooner, which is why Wraith can now control when she exits the Void. The Ult adjustments aim to allow her more active access to her rotation potential and, alongside the speed ramp, it will make it easier than ever to set up a portal rotation for her squad. Also, the run is back. Enjoy. AMMO & ATTACHMENTS Accelerated Weapons Accelerator Hop-Up has been removed from: C.A.R. SMG, G7 Scout, Nemesis Burst AR Accelerator Hop-Up has been added to: P2020, Volt SMG, Wingman Lasers: increased laser effectiveness at all tiers WEAPONS SMG Alternator SMG Increased mag size across all tiers Base: 20 (was 19) White: 24 (was 23) Blue: 27 (was 26) Purple/Gold: 29 (was 28) C.A.R. SMG Increased mag size across all tiers Base: 20 (was 19) White: 23 (was 22) Blue: 25 (was 24) Purple/Gold: 28 (was 27) R-99 SMG Increased mag size across all tiers Base: 18 (was 17) White: 21 (was 20) Blue: 24 (was 23) Purple/Gold: 27 (was 26) Volt SMG Increased mag size across all tiers Base: 20 (was 19) White: 22 (was 21) Blue: 24 (was 23) Purple/Gold: 27 (was 26) Dev Notes: We’re taking a pass at most of our SMGs ammo capacity to make them a little more lenient when challenging our more bursty shotguns and consistent LMGs. We’re hoping a little more ammo in the mag can help close out those tight engagements before being forced into a reload. AR Nemesis Burst AR Charge deplete time increased to 8s (was 6s) Delay before charge starts depleting increased to 8s (was 6s) Increased barrel effectiveness at all tiers Dev Notes: With the Nemesis losing the Accelerator Hop-Up we wanted to make sure that it’s still an appealing option for players. We’re making some QoL changes that should make it feel a little smoother. LMG Devotion LMG Reduced the intensity in first few shots of the recoil pattern L-STAR EMG Removed Reverse Hipfire mechanic Dev Notes: The L-STAR has proven to be a powerhouse weapon that gets away with murder at every engagement range. We’re happy it’s seeing so much play, but want to make sure it doesn’t outclass the rest of the roster. Removing its reverse hipfire should help it feel a little less oppressive in CQC and create some room for our SMGs to shine. MARKSMAN 30-30 Repeater ADS Charged shot increased to 65 (was 58) ADS Charged Headshot damage increased to 104 (was 93) Dev Notes: The 30-30’s charge shot isn’t quite as impactful as we’d like for an opener so we’re increasing its damage so that slower more methodical gameplay feels rewarding and worth spending the time on. G7 Scout Damage increased to 36 (was 35) Headshot damage increased to 58 (was 56) Slightly increased fire rate Dev Notes: The Scout is getting an adjustment up to compensate for losing the Accelerator Hop-Up. PISTOL P2020 Normalized laser effectiveness to other weapons Dev Notes: The P2020 had worse-than-average scaling with the lasers as the base hipfire was better than its peers. We’ve decided to remove this and lean harder into its hipfire accuracy being a part of its identity. Wingman No longer takes Boost Loader Hop-Up SHOTGUN EVA-8 Widened blast pattern MAPS Pubs E-District King’s Canyon Storm Point Ranked E-District King’s Canyon Storm Point Mixtape (March 25-May 5, 2025) TDM: Skull Town, Fragment, Zeus Station, Estates Control: Barometer, Caustic, Labs, Production Yard Gun Run: Wattson, Estates, Skull Town, Fragment MODES Pubs: Trios & Duos (March 25-May 5, 2025) Pubs LTM: Power Sword Royale (March 25-April 14, 2025) A new Pub Trios Event mode that includes the Power Sword! Power Sword spawns at the beginning of a match and once per round Power Sword Event Melee Weapon Strong and fast close range attacks Longer range coverage with the ability to launch energy slashes with ADS Provides defensive coverage by absorbing incoming damage with ADS Can produce an energy blast that hinders nearby enemy players and buffs nearby allies LTM: April Fools(April 1-April 7, 2025) In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Apryze A remixed April Fools mode returns! LTM: Solos (April 8-April 14, 2025) In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Apryze Solos returns with some twists! Now features 30 player matches Systems’ balance and Ring timings have been adjusted accordingly Respawn Token All players start the match with 1 Respawn Token, allowing them to redeploy after dying Late in the match, respawning will be disabled and players with a Respawn Token are awarded a large amount of EVO Unlike Redemption Trios, the Respawn Token is not found in loot and is not a Survival item Arsenals and Kitted Weapons Arsenals will upgrade the weapon by 1 tier until Purple, and Gold upgrade is available once Loot Bin reset has triggered If a higher tier scope is equipped on a lower tiered weapon, the upgrade will preserve the custom scope selection If no scope is equipped, the upgrade will grant the scope of the next upgrade RANKED Scoring Update: Kills, Assists and Participations after the 8th will be worth 50% (was 6th) NEW Split Reset Rule Introducing the new Tier-based Split Reset rule: every split system will reset players to the lowest division of their last split rank tier: There will be no RP reset from Rookie IV to Rookie I, players will keep the RP they have from the last split Bronze IV to I resets to Bronze IV 1000 RP Silver IV to I resets to Silver IV 3250 RP (with +250 demotion protection) Gold IV to I resets to Gold IV 5750 RP (with +250 demotion protection) Platinum IV to I resets to Platinum IV 8750 RP (with +250 demotion protection) Diamond IV and III resets to Platinum III 9250 RP Diamond II and I resets to Platinum II 10000 RP Master and above resets to Platinum I 11000 RP Dev Note: To foster fairer competition and reduce mismatches, we're replacing the traditional hard reset with a new Tier-based Split Reset rule. At the end of each split, your performance will determine your tier and your score will be reset to the minimum threshold of that tier instead of a uniform baseline. This means you'll start the new split with other players at a similar skill level, preserving your progress while ensuring a more balanced competitive environment. BUG FIXES Certain Loot Bins once again refill properly after bin reset Fixed rare server crash Fixed an exploit that would allow cheaters to crash the server Fixed "unknown" player ranks due to late loading being incorrectly shown as Rookie. If a player's rank is not known by the time the Skill Display has loaded, those players' ranks are now hidden. Opened extended supply bins will no longer show an icon after a Legend Upgrade Peacekeeper will no longer occasionally fire two shots at once while sliding Spider Den loot now reflects current loot pool Tridents will no longer be sent flying when boarded Arsenals Ensured Arsenal upgrade VFX shows on both Akimbo weapons Arsenals will now provide correct amount of ammo after Loot Bins & Arsenals reset Prevented rare bug where Evo Harvesters spawn inside Arsenals Rebinding keys no longer prevents using the “Highlight Arsenals” map button Upgrading a charged Sentinel or Rampage no longer removes the weapon charge Restored correct weapon animation while upgrading at an Arsenal Legends Crypto: EMP VFX now matches the distance you could get hit at Lifeline: now revives at Support class speeds when silenced and is able to deploy D.O.C. to revive Newcastle: can once again move his mobile shield while downed QUALITY OF LIFE Improved consistency when interacting with bleeding out squadmate near small doors Pinging from a Zipline now won’t ping the Zipline itself Legend Upgrade prompt will no longer disappear when taking damage by the ring. All other damage types continue to close the prompt. AUDIO Reduced audible distance of persistent sound on Ballistic while Ult is active (friendly reduced more than enemy) Reduced volume of: Alter's active Void Nexus idling Ash's Snare persistent sound for self and squad Catalyst's Tac and Ult, also reduced Barricade volume and audible distance for self and squad Caustic gas cloud persistent sound (initial burst unhanged) Mad Maggie's Wrecking Ball speed burst persistent sound Persistent smoke for Bangalore Tac (initial burst unhanged) Reduced volume and audible distance of: Ballistic's Whistler persistent sound for self and squad Mad Maggie's Riot Drill persistent sound Slight volume reduction of: Bangalore’s Ult rocket impacts and explosions at distances greater than pose a threat Crypto’s Drone relative to FOV to help with determining location Seer’s Exhibit heart emitter when not in player FOV to help with determining location GRAPHICS This patch removes the option for DirectX 11. We discussed this decision and compared performance between DX11 and DX12 across the entire playerbase in this Dev Update. For additional clarity, DX11 was released in 2009 and as a result it does not have many of the capabilities shared by DX12 and consoles, including previous-gen consoles. Keeping DX11 increasingly requires maintaining two versions of the rendering engine: one only for DX11 and a second shared by every other platform. While continuing to support DX11 allows older GPUs to continue to play the game, it also slows down the development of our rendering engine considerably leading to fewer performance and graphical improvements over time. DirectX 12 is supported by GPUs starting with the AMD Radeon HD 7790 and the Nvidia GTX 960. In Seasons 23 and 24, approximately 1 out of 1000 Apex players were playing on GPUs older than that at any given time. Rather than split our efforts, we decided to focus on improving the engine for the 99.9% of players who can make use of it. This patch also contains a number of improvements for DX12: Added a CVar lobby_max_fps: can be used to change the FPS cap in the lobby and menus. This still defaults to 60 to reduce CPU and GPU usage, but can be increased for players who prefer smoother frame rates. Setting +lobby_max_fps 0 will remove the lobby cap, and the lobby will have the same FPS cap as the rest of the game. Added a launch argument, -no_render_on_input_thread: prevents multithreaded rendering from using the same CPU core as input processing. For players with a high number of CPU cores (min. 6), this can improve the stability of frame rates and input lag, especially if they have a high polling rate mouse or controller. For other players, this option could worsen rendering performance. Added a launch argument +mat_no_stretching 1: prevents all resolution stretching and will always letterbox or pillarbox your monitor to the game’s resolution. Players should be aware that certain aspect ratios with this setting can break UI elements in the game, but this functionality is still useful for some players to replicate their DX11 setup with custom resolutions. "Clamp Mouse Cursor to Game Window" option will now clamp the cursor to the area inside of letterboxing or pillarboxing. Ex. when the game is run using a 16:9 resolution on an ultrawide display. This can be disabled with the launch argument +clip_mouse_to_letterbox 0. Fixed +mat_wide_pillarbox 0 launch argument that can be used to enable stretching when running an ultrawide display Fixed some bugs with VSync behavior in DX12 which led to slightly more unstable frame rates when using Triple-Buffering or a lower framerate limit when using Adaptive V-Sync Significantly improved frame rate stability with texture streaming, especially when Texture Streaming Budget is set to Very Low. (Dev Note: While a lower texture streaming budget reduces VRAM usage, it can also hurt performance because textures need to be loaded and unloaded from the GPU more frequently. “None” is the fastest option for performance, but the second fastest option is most likely the default setting for your GPU.) Slightly improved frame rate stability when using Nvidia Reflex or AMD Anti-Lag 2 in combination with high polling rate mice or controllers and capped FPS We also want to mention a known issue with DX12. Less than 1% of PC players are experiencing more common GPU crashes (DXGI errors or sometimes a crash with no error) on Nvidia GPUs, typically every 1-2 hours of play. If you’re one of these affected players, please see our Trello post for possible workarounds as we continue to investigate. Play Apex Legends for free* now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. † Not available in all territories. Breakthrough in the Beast Mode EventApex Legends™: Takeover Patch Notes
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 Outlands—be 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 dash—enabling 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 bonus—making 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 encounter—the 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 most—the 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 speed—increasing 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 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 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 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 Play Apex Legends™ for free* now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on X, Instagram, TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. 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