The next major update for Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends is on the way and we know everything about Season 11 and the changes that are on the way. In terms of Legend Balancing, there's actually only one thing to talk about - and it's a good thing if you're a Wattson main. Wattson is finally getting a buff and here's what we know about Season 11's patch notes and when the next season is due to start.
HITBOX CHANGES - Wattson is smaller now?
It's a little hard to tell, but Respawn Entertainment has altered Wattson's hitbox to account for the removal of Low Profile, at long last. As you can see below, it looks like her legs have been slimmed down a tad - however, her torso is larger to account for her jacket.
In addition to this, her head hitbox is noticeably larger. On the whole, it's an increase - however, it should better fit her character model. With all the changes coming to Wattson... They can't all buffing changes, can they?
Season 11 is due to start on November 2nd - continue on for the full set of Wattson changes from the Season 11 Patch Notes.
WATTSON BUFF - This one sparks joy!
Season 11's Patch Notes are here ahead of the next title update and they're pretty stacked. There's going to be quite a few changes, but the important ones are all listed below.
Why are they the only important ones? Well... They're all about the new Wattson buff, obviously. It's a major overhaul that should improve her Tactical Ability and change how her Pylons work. Here's everything you need to know...
- Improved the reliability and responsiveness of placing Wattson's Tactical and Ultimate in-world objects.
- Wattson can place her Tactical and Ultimate objects on valid surfaces above Wattson's eye level (to a reasonable extent).
- General hitbox size increase, to compensate for the removal of low profile in the Legacy update.
- Tactical: Perimeter Defense
- Increased damage on crossing a Fence by 33%. (15 to 20)
- Increased debuff duration on crossing a Fence by 100%. (1.5 to 3 seconds)
- Increased the time allowance to be hit again by a subsequent Fence effect by 100%. (0.5 to 1 second).
- Decreased recharge time by 50% (30 to 15 seconds).
- Increased placement range by 50%.
- Decreased the delay between Fences shutting off and reactivating after an ally passes through them by 60%. (1.0 -> 0.4 seconds)
- Wattson now moves at Unarmed-speed while readying/placing Fence nodes.
- Fence nodes can now be placed as soon as the weapon is readied, instead of waiting for the animation to finish.
- Ultimate - Interception Pylon
- The Pylon output has been significantly reworked.
- Reduced the number of active Pylons Wattson can place from 3 to 1.
- The Pylon now lasts forever (instead of timing out after 90 seconds).
- The Pylon now has a pool of 250 Shields that can be distributed to nearby players, instead of effectively infinite Shields.
- Increased the Pylon shield recharge rate by 150%, and smoothed regen rate. (2/second -> 5/second, or more accurately: 1/0.5 seconds -> 1/0.2 seconds)
- When a Pylon is out of Shields, it no longer recharges players' Shields, but can still zap incoming ordnance.
- Taking damage while regenerating Shields via the Pylon delays continued regeneration by 1 second.
- The UI on the ground and HUD elements now displays the amount of Shields that remain in the Pylon.
- Pinging a friendly Pylon will now display the percentage of Shields remaining in the Pylon.
- Pylon ordnance-zapping has been moderately reworked.
- Ordnance is now zapped when the Pylon detects that it would hit any surface within range and line of sight of the Pylon, instead of being zapped as soon as it comes within range.
- As a part of the changes, current issues where the Pylon doesn't reliably zap ordnance (particularly concerning airstrike abilities, and ordnance that bounced off surfaces near the Pylon) should now be addressed.
When does Apex Legends Season 11 start?
Apex Legends' next season of content is due to kick off as soon as the current season is over. With this in mind, we should see all the new content - including the stuff we've talked about above - available and live in-game at the following times:
- 08:00 November 2nd PST
- 11:00 November 2nd EST
- 15:00 November 2nd GMT
Storm Point, the new battle royale map, is being added alongside a new playable Legend, Ash, and a new weapon, the CAR SMG. There's also going to be a new Ranked season for both Arenas and the Battle Royale mode and a new Battle Pass to keep you busy.
We can't wait to see how this all affects how Apex Legends is going to play going forwards - there could be a new meta sooner than you think. We know Ash is going to make her mark, either way.