Apex Legends is expected to receive a substantial update later this month that will kick off its first season of content, introduce its first battle pass, and maybe even add the new character Octane to the mix. In the meantime, Respawn has released a patch for the popular battle royale game that attempts to better balance some of its most powerful weapons by nerfing the Peacekeeper shotgun and the Wingman.

Respawn has reduced the fire rate of the Wingman in Apex Legends from 3.1 to 2.6 shots per second. It has also reduced the damage dealt by the Skullpiercer Headshot damage multiplier from 2.5 to 2.25. Meanwhile, the Peacekeeper's Shotgun Bolt rechamber rate has been reduced across the board, and both weapons will now be harder to find, even in high-tier loot areas.

Some Apex Legends fans will no doubt be disappointed to hear that the Peacekeeper and Wingman are being nerfed, but others will be happy to see the change. However, Respawn seems aware that when it comes to weapon changes that most fans would rather see a weak weapon like the Mozambique shotgun pistol buffed, as it directly addressed the issue in the March 6 patch notes. However, Respawn is keeping the Mozambique as it is for now, as it wants there to be a power curve of weapons that includes both weak and strong firearms.

• 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%
• Wingman and Peacekeeper availability has been reduced in all zone tiers.
• Increased availability of energy weapons & ammo in all zone tiers.

Why no P2020 or Mozambique buffs?

• We love y’all’s ‘Bique memes, so we’re hesitant to lose that :P
• 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 PATCH NOTES

• 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.

Respawn also outlined some changes that will be coming to Apex Legends as part of the big season 1 update. There will be some minor changes to various legends in an effort to make them more balanced, but the biggest change coming in season 1 will be to hitboxes. Respawn is looking to resize some of the hitboxes so that they better match the character models, with this mainly affecting Caustic, Gibraltar, and Pathfinder.

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%

Like many other live service games, Apex Legends is going to be a constant work-in-progress, and this will be far from the last patch released by Respawn. In the future, we may very well see the Mozambique get a buff or Respawn backpedal on some of the changes made in this update, but we'll just have to wait and see what the future has in store for Apex Legends.

Apex Legends is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.