Summary
With Season 23 ofApex Legendsroughly halfway complete, Respawn Entertainment has revealed the mid-season update patch notes. With the update releasing on January 7, the developer has teased what is coming toApex Legends, including significant buffs for Mirage, Alter, and Loba, among numerous other changes.
Like with previous seasons,Apex Legendshas featured several limited-time eventsin Season 23: From the Rift. Recently, Respawn announced Astral Anomaly as the next event for the battle royale, which will bring new cosmetics and an LTM to the game. Specifically,Apex Legendsis bringing back the launch royale LTM, letting players relive a similar experience to how the game was at launch. However, this time, players have access to the mode on World’s Edge, Olympus, Storm Point, Broken Moon, and E-District, along with the returning Kings Canyon. In addition to this event content, the developer is implementing many balance changes as part of a mid-season update.
Ahead of Astral Anomaly, Respawn has unveiled the patch notes for the mid-season update for Season 23. The update is expansive, and some changes could have a noticeable impact on the battle royale, including buffs for severalcharacters inApex Legends. Starting with Mirage, the Legend is receiving some improvements to his Passive ability, such as being able to cloak while healing. In addition, his level 2 upgrades have been replaced with Boozle-Eye and Renaissance Man; the former scanning targets who shoot decoys, and the latter letting him use world interactions for all other classes.
The mid-season update will also see Loba start matches with a 99% Ultimate charge, up from 50%. This will allow her team to access her Black Market immediately after landing on the map. Among other changes toLoba’s kit inApex Legends, her Tactical will have two charges and reduced toss and recovery times, meaning she can get out of dangerous situations more easily. She is also receiving changes to her upgrades. Beyond Mirage and Loba, Alter is getting buffs to her Ultimate and level 3 upgrades, allowing her to have more than one Void Nexus at a time. Furthermore, Pathfinder will be hit with a nerf, and Horizon and Vantage will receive tweaks with the new update as well.
Respawn is also making alterations to a fewweapons inApex Legends, including a buff for the Peacekeeper and a nerf for the Mastiff. In addition, the Charge Rifle will receive buffs to magazine size along with projectile size, speed, and gravity. It will also be able to use the Select Fire attachment. Finally, the RE-45 had its damage increased to 13, formerly 12. Meanwhile, the gold weapon rotation will feature the Charge Rifle, Prowler PDW, Nemesis Burst AR, G7 Scout, and CAR SMG.
While the entire change list is extensive, a few other notable balance updates include giving everyone on a team EVO when opening a Care Package and making alterations to ring lethality. Furthermore, the game will add a new Accelerator attachment for the Nemesis Burst AR, G7 Scout, and CAR SMG, boosting EVO and Ultimate charge from damage given. Time will tell how these changes and the rest of the ones mentioned in the patch notes impact the game in the remainder of Season 23.
ATTACHMENTS & ORDINANCE
Accelerated Weapons
NEW Accelerator: stock on the Nemesis Burst AR, G7 Scout, and CAR SMG
Dev Note: We are trying something fresh with this new Hop-Up and adding it to the base of these weapons by default. An ability like increased EVO and Ult charge gains makes the biggest impact when acquired early in a match, so we wanted to try and provide that exciting gameplay without the need to hunt for a rare item.
Arc Star
Dev Note: It can sometimes be difficult to know if you’ve been stuck by an Arc Star in the heat of combat. This messaging should help take the guess work out of making the right play.
Dev Note: The Charge Rifle is an absolute monsoon of a gun in the right hands, but it can be a bit tricky to get the hang of. We are taking a pass at making the Charge Rifle more approachable by increasing magazine capacity, adjusting recoil, lowering the range to get max damage, and adding the Select Fire Hop-Up into the mix.
Mastiff
Dev Note: The Mastiff has proven particularly strong this season and its consistency at range is a big part of that. We are smoothing out some timing issues which allowed niche double Mastiff builds to deal higher than average DPS and pulling some power out of its range by widening the blast pattern and ADS tightening.
Peacekeeper
Dev Note: When it comes to good range shotguns we want the Peacekeeper’s choked shot to be the main talking point so we’re speeding it up and making the projectiles fly faster. This should drastically improve its performance at range, particularly around hitting moving targets.
RE-45
Dev Note: The RE-45 has taken a backseat since Akimbo took the stage. This damage bump should help it feel a bit more viable within the current meta.
From the Rift Mid-Season: Level 3
Multidimensional
Grants a second Void Nexus. Both can exist at the same time.
Dev Note: We have made a small change to allow more flexibility with Alter’s Ult. We have more plans for her in the near future, but wanted to release a small change to see if players find more use with her updated Ult.
Increase Tactical height and range.
Gain speed boost and faster weapon draw after teleport.
Escape Artist
After teleporting, regen 50 shields. Damage interrupts.
Dev Note: Many of Loba’s changes aim to improve some of the cumbersome qualities around her kit and make her abilities more responsive. Her Ult being faster and granting free small meds gives her potency in her support style, while her two Tac charges and faster recovery make her more slippery and evasive. Just as a master thief should be. However, her upgrades are where we believe players can really lean into these two angles depending on their play preference or squad makeup. A more support-focused Loba can keep her team stocked with her improved Shopping Spree and Brand New Bag or she can flex into a more skirmishing style with Wolf’s Claws and Escape Artist. It’s a pretty substantial makeover for Loba and we’re eager to see players strut her onto the podium.
From the Rift Launch: Level 2
Battpack
Carry an extra battery per slot. See battery count in Death Boxes.
Bamboozles now also scan enemies.
Renaissance Man
Gain access to all class consoles, bins, beacons and package scans.
Dev Note: Mirage is a much loved Legend who is seen as having too little team utility and too easy to detect amidst his clones. We are aiming to challenge those notions in the sunset of this support season by giving him a “jack-of-all-trades” access to bins and beacons, and more ways to escape with his cloaking abilities. We expect players to find him more useful as squad support and utility flex, and are eager to see some of the really creative ways you may now escape and re-engage. Is the world prepared for this Mirage-a-flage?
Pathfinder
Dev Note: Despite a heavy support season, Pathfinder has remained as a highly picked Legend and often the main flex pick of a squad looking for rotations. We’ve pulled back the immediate Ult gains from scanning Care Packages which, alongside his Zipline Zen upgrade, gave him and his team frequent and safer rotations. We have also adjusted his grapple cooldown to encourage players to make more tactical choices with his abilities and seed the way for other Legends to step into his role in different comps.
Rift Relics Continue
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.
RANKED
RP Value Tuning
We identified an issue where RP buckets and matchmaking were not fully aligned which led to some unexpected overlaps in ranks during matches. For example, players of similar skill levels could appear in different tiers, creating confusion when higher-tier players showed up in lower-tier matches. We’ve adjusted the system to better align RP buckets with matchmaking to fix this. As part of this adjustment, players will lose less RP and maintain progression closer to what was originally intended. Thank you for your understanding as we continue improving the Ranked experience!
Apex Legends
WHERE TO PLAY
Conquer with character in Apex Legends, a free-to-play* Hero shooter where legendary characters with powerful abilities team up to battle for fame & fortune on the fringes of the Frontier.Master an ever-growing roster of diverse legends, deep tactical squad play, and bold new innovations that go beyond the Battle Royale experience—all within a rugged world where anything goes. Welcome to the next evolution of Hero Shooter.This game includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items, including a random selection of virtual in-game items.
