Apex Legends revealed a number of permanent changes coming next week to the battle royale. A new item, inventory slot, Legend changes, weapon balancing, and some quality-of-life changes were all announced in an Apex Legends blog post today.
The update comes with the Nintendo Switch launch of Apex Legends and the arrival of the latest collection event, named Chaos Theory, which replaces Kings Canyon’s Water Treatment with Caustic’s own treatment facility. It will also add a new Ring Fury limited-time mode (LTM) and plenty of new cosmetics, including a new heirloom pilot’s knife for Bangalore. A lot of the changes made in this update were also teased by some of the developers at Respawn Entertainment.
One of the biggest additions to Apex Legends coming with the Chaos Theory event is a Heat Shield item which creates a large protective dome, similar to Gibraltar’s tactical ability, shielding any players inside from the ring’s damage. Some major balance updates will also be added with the update, including a nerf to Caustic’s kit. The mad scientist’s Nox Gas Grenade ultimate ability will have its cooldown increased from 2.5 minutes to 3.5 minutes, and his gas now deals five damage per tick, instead of the damage gradually increasing from six to 12 damage per tick.
A few weapons will also receive some adjustments, including the Mastiff shotgun – which is currently dominating the meta – having its pellet damage reduced but its rate of fire increased slightly. The Wingman is also getting an extra bullet for every magazine size, including the base level.
In the Ring Fury LTM, all players will start with a Heat Shield, which can be found in a new inventory space called the survival slot. This slot, as well as the new Heat Shield item, are permanent additions to Apex Legends, with the Heat Shield being added as ground loot once the event is over. Meanwhile, some other Legend changes include the removal of the Low Profile passive from Pathfinder, Wattson’s new ability to regenerate her body shield passively, and a cooldown increase for Horizon’s Black Hole ultimate from two to three minutes.
Plenty of small but highly requested quality-of-life changes are also being implemented. These include the ability to switch optics for fully-kitted gold weapons and the Prowler SMG and Peacekeeper shotgun care package weapons, assists being added to the in-game HUD like in ranked modes, and assists and knockdowns appearing on squad banners at the end of a match.
This update brings some great features that will likely shake up the meta. The new survival slot should be a lifesaver in many situations, allowing players to respawn or revive teammates far easier as they will not have to sacrifice inventory slots. Also, having been down by the wayside for quite some time, the removal of Low Profile for Pathfinder will make him a more viable high-mobility Legend, able to compete with Horizon and Octane, which will hopefully diversify team compositions for the rest of Apex Legends Season 8.
However, with the new survival slot allowing players and their teammates to stay in the fight, this could have some adverse effects for the late stages of matches. Players will be able to use Heat Shields to survive ring damage longer than usual, which may push games down the final ring more often. Teammates will be easier to respawn too, making third parties more likely and endgame rings more chaotic.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and will come to Nintendo Switch on March 9.
Source: EA