Apex Legends' Legacy Update is a big one and a lot of changes were made to Respawn Entertainment's Battle Roayle. However, just a week later, we've already got more key changes?
Here's everything we know about the newest weapon changes...
LATEST - New Bocek Bow Nerf Is Out
Apex Legends' new Arena Flash Event is out right now but there's more to the latest update than just that! Following fan backlash against the over-powered nature of the Bocek Bow, Respawn Entertainment has issued a nerf to both this and the Spitfire LMG in the latest update.
We have the changes listed below:
Spitfire Nerf Changes
- Bullet Damage Reduced: 19-> 18
- Purple/Gold Magazine Reduced: 55 -> 50
Bocek Bow Nerf Changes
- Max Body Shot Damage: 70 -> 60
- Weapon Charge Time Increased: 0.54 -> 0.56
- Deadeye's Tempo Charge Increase : 0.32 -> 0.38
- Bocek Bow Stack Size: 16 -> 14
- Ammo Slot Reduction: 48 -> 28
Thankfully, it looks like Headshot Damage has been left untouched by Respawn Entertainment but the reduction in Max Body Shot Damage should offer you some protection if you're in a fight with someone who's good with a Bocek.
Patch Notes Revealed
The Apex Legends Legacy Game Update (Season 9) patch notes have been revealed, and they're absolutely massive, so grab some popcorn if you're diving in!
Read over the patch notes in full here, and the highlights below:
New Legend - Valkyrie
- Passive: VTOL Jets
Use your jetpack to reposition or reach high places. You have limited fuel and cannot use weapons while flying.
- Tactical: Missile Swarm
Fire a swarm of mini-rockets which damage and disorient the enemy.
- Ultimate: Skyward dive
Take to the skies to reposition a long distance across the map. Your squadmates can join in.
- Class: Recon
Scanning Survey Beacons reveals the next circle’s location.
New Weapon - Bocek Bow
The new Bocek (pronounced bow-check) compound bow is a precision marksman weapon that rewards a skilled and confident hand. Holding down fire will draw the bow over a short time, increasing the power of the shot, with maximum power giving optimal damage and projectile speed. Repeatedly firing the Bocek right as it reaches max power provides the best sustained damage.
The Bocek uses a new ammo type, Arrows, which are unique to this weapon. Arrows are more rare on the battlefield, but fired arrows will stick into surfaces and remain in the world for players to pick back up and reuse. The 1x hcog classic, 1x holosight, 2x hcog, 1x-2x variable, and 3x hcog optics can all be equipped. The Bocek can also be further modified with the two new hop-ups entering the game, Shatter Caps and Deadeye’s Tempo; it can even equip both hop-ups simultaneously!
New Game Mode - Arenas
The Games are going underground with the introduction of a new permanent mode: Arenas. Fully reassembled and unimpressed with the glitz and glamor of the Apex Games, former Apex Predator Ash is taking the competition back to its roots. A purer form of combat.
The rules are simple: 3-versus-3. Eliminate your enemies to win the round. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. You win, or you die.
Arenas features a new set of custom maps, tailor-made for close-quarters combat (with more to come in the future). Squads start each round in a spawn room, where they can get weapons, gear, and abilities, and adjust their loadout as their strategy changes. The first team to win three rounds with at least a two-point lead will be crowned the victor—unless they battle to a four-four tie. Then they’ll have the honor of participating in Ash’s favorite part of the game: Sudden Death.
Legend Updates
Low Profile Characters
- Low profile no longer exists! This trait has been removed from Wraith, Lifeline, and Wattson.
Lifeline
- Combat Revive: No longer deploys a shield. Can now revive two players at the same time. Can now cancel active revives in progress to allow your teammate to defend themselves with their knockdown shield.
- D.O.C. Heal Drone: Heal rate increased from 5hp per second to 8hp per second. Deployment time before healing begins reduced by roughly 33%.
- Care Package: Cooldown reduced from 6 minutes to 5 minutes. Now guarantees an upgrade (if possible) in three categories: Body Shield, Other Equipment (Helmet, Backpack, and Knockdown Shield), and Weapon Attachment, based on your team’s current gear when the Package arrives.
Octane
- Stim: Reduced cooldown between stims from 4s to 1s. Increased health cost from 12hp to 20hp.
- Increased bullet spread while in the air and shooting from the low Launch Pad trajectory.
Loba
- Burglar's Best Friend: Can now run and slide at full speed while aiming the bracelet and while the bracelet is in the air. Loba will no longer be slowed after translocating.
- Fixed a lot of bugs that caused bracelet tosses to fail.
- Black Market Boutique: Increased cooldown from 90s to 120s.
Horizon
- Gravity Lift: Reduced lift speed by 30%. Reduced side-to-side acceleration. Limited the time you can sit at the top of Gravity Lift to 2 seconds. Increased cooldown from 15s to 20s.
- Horizon’s abilities will now get zapped by Wattson pylons.
Fuse
- Knuckle Cluster: Fuse now has two stacks of Knuckle Cluster. Reduced cooldown from 25s to 20s.
Bangalore
- Smoke Launcher: Thickened Bangalore’s smoke.Â
Bloodhound
- No longer receives assists from Eye of the Allfather.
Crypto
- Crypto's drone can now scan and open care packages.
- Can no longer use his drone to "hijack" a respawn beacon that's already in use.
Legacy Ranked Announced
Apex Legends' new title update isn't literally called Season 9, but there's still going to be a Ranked Leagues refresh and we have all the new information about Apex Legends: Legacy Ranked right here.
The first thing to note is that there isn't really any major changes to the way RP and Ranked Leagues work in Apex Legends going forwards.
According to Respawn Entertainment's Blog Post on Legacy Ranked, Season 8 was the most successful Ranked Season for Apex Legends to date. At some points, almost 50% of all matches being played were in Ranked playlists!
In the Tweet below, you can check out the new batch of Ranked Leagues rewards you can earn throughout the Legacy Season.
Legacy Ranked Map Split Dates
This season, World's Edge is back for the first split of this season's Ranked League and will be available until June 15th 2021. The second split will be all about Olympus and the rest of the season will keep you there.
New Battle Pass Trailer
Respawn Entertainment shared the new Legacy Battle Pass trailer, giving players a better look at the new Legend skins and weapon appearances now live in the Legacy update.
Rampart's Crafty Kitsune and Wraith's Demon's Whisper are the highlights, but we also get a look at a new Devotion and Spitfire weapon skin.
There's also new Music Packs, Loading Screens, Banners, Gun Charms, Skydive Emotes, Holo-Sprays and Quips. We're not sure how Caustic would feel about being made out to be a bit of a bumbling oaf though...
You can check the full trailer in the tweet below:
Titanfall Blog has also uploaded this run-down of all the free Legacy Battle Pass Rewards you can get your hands on over the course of the next season:
New Arena Mode Details
Firstly, we got the rundown of the new round-based "Arenas" coming to Apex Legends in the next update. These are 3v3 games in which players battle it out in an Elimination format with a Buy Phase, sort of like Valorant or CS:GO!
There are going to be five maps at launch, two new ones, and two from existing BR locations, and it's going to be a completely new challenge for Apex Legends players to experience.
We also got a new look at Valkyrie and the Bocek Bow, both of which we don't have any more information about yet. For a full rundown on the Arenas, find the Respawn Entertainment Blog Post here.
You can also check out the full gameplay trailer below: