Summary
Respawn Entertainment has released the official patch notes for Season 22 ofApex Legends, confirming new details for some of the update’s most major changes. The full change log for Season 22 ofApex Legends, also known as Shockwave, reveals a long list of weapon adjustments, Legend nerfs, and more.
The reveal of Season 22 got off to a pretty bad start in June when Respawn announced somecontroversial changes toApex Legends’Battle Passsystem. Initially, the studio intended to split each season’s Battle Pass into two separate passes and only allow them to be purchased using real money. Due to huge outrage from the community, which resulted inApex Legendsbeing review-bombed on Steam, the studio walked back some of these changes and confirmed it would allow users to purchase both passes for 950 Apex Coins, which was the original price of a single Battle Pass.
Further controversy was sparked when it was revealed thatApex Legendswould be nerfing aim assiston consoles when cross-playing with PC users. According to the patch notes for Season 22, aim assist strength for console players will be reduced by 18% when playing with PC players and 22% when in performance mode. PC players can expect the nerf to be even more substantial as aim assist strength for controller users will be reduced by 25%.
Another major issue that has been plaguing theApex Legendscommunity is the increase in cheaters. While not directly mentioned in the Season 22 patch notes, Game Director Steven Ferreira recently went on record and stated that some new anti-cheat measures would be implemented with the launch of Season 22, which will be released on August 6.
As for the more positive aspects ofApex Legends’newest season, fans can expect a plethora of new content, such as abrand-new map known as E-District, plenty of quality-of-life improvements, a new perk for the Recon class, a long list of Legend buffs and nerfs, and much more.
GAMEPLAY UPDATES
Aim Assist
Dev Note: We value our accessibility as a cross-platform game, but it’s equally important for us to monitor that ecosystem. Experiential stories from all types of players tracks with the data we’re seeing when it comes to encounter win rate between different peripherals. Apex Legends is a competitive shooter, and simply put, aim assist is too strong. Aim assist will never be removed as it’s a critical accessibility feature. Console lobbies remain unaffected; this only impacts players on controllers in PC lobbies (our most competitive ecosystem). This change doesn’t solve the intricacies of all aim assist hot topics, but it should help level the playing ground.
Aim Flinch
Dev Note: Let’s be honest, no one really had love for Aim Flinch. We’ve made the call to eliminate it from all weapons and most Legend abilities. However there are some Legend abilities that do benefit from the added feedback like dunking on someone with a Newcastle ult. We’ll keep an eye on abilities that may need additional feedback as we see how this change affects the game.
Loot Bin Reset
Starting with Shockwave, all loot bins will close and reroll their loot with a significantly increased chance at high tier and rare loot at the mid-way point of the match.
Loot Pool
Dev Note: Access to high tier attachments in the early game have started to feel too common which results in squashing the power progression over the course of a match. By reducing the amount of high tier loot in the early game players will be fighting on more even terms. To compensate for this reduction, “Loot Bin Reset” improves the overall quality of loot in the world which should provide a much smoother transition to end game power.
Reorganization: Death Boxes and Loba’s Black Market
Dev Note: These items are critical to a player’s success in the outlands, bringing them up to the top with consistent positions should expedite the looting process and eliminate some tedious scrolling for players.
Better Ammo Awareness & Feedback
Dev Note: Running out of ammo is never fun and our low ammo states were set up in a way that didn’t provide much time or information for players to action on. These changes intend to set players up for more success when it comes to maintaining their ammo economy.
Enemy Health Bars
When damaging an enemy, players are now shown the enemy’s Armor and Health state. This Health Bar is only active for a brief time after dealing damage and then fades away. Health Bars, like Enemy Highlights require direct line of sight.
Enemy Highlight
Enemy players will now be highlighted with a red outline similar to how allies are highlighted with a blue one. The highlight is most prominent at close ranges and the intensity fades as targets get farther away. Enemy Highlights require direct line of sight (you can breathe now, Bangalore mains).
Dev Note: Visual clarity and accurate information are imperative to a player’s success. These new features, Highlighting and Health Bars, are intended to level the playing field and combat the intensity of battle. No one likes mag dumping into their squadmates back because they totally thought that was the enemy Lifeline.
Experienced players can easily develop the skill to call out health values of enemies based on the amount of damage they are dealing and the various shield levels but for newer players this can be a difficult task. Providing a visual aid for such critical information we hope evens the playing field a bit and can provide accurate and actionable information that can be relayed to the whole squad. You can really call out that “they’re one!”.
Dev Note: Light ammo weapons have been overshadowed by our Heavy and Energy arsenal the last few seasons. With this set of changes we’re hoping the ammo economy for Light will improve their viability and earn back a place in player’s loadouts.
WEAPONS
Akimbo
Dual wield two P2020s or two Mozambiques this season by finding and interacting with a second P2020 or Mozambique to automatically enter Akimbo mode.
LMGs
Dev Note: LMGs are great at suppressing enemies and unloading huge mags of consistent damage, but they can’t compete with our more aggressive weapon types in raw damage output so we’re trying new vectors of strength—defense and consistency. The Gun Shield Generator is intended to allow players to challenge higher DPS weapons in a new way that plays into their fantasy more than just increasing damage. While the Reverse Hipfire mechanic provides a more consistent close range option.
Hemlok
Dev Note: Hemlock & Havoc have both been overperforming, these changes are intended to bring them more in line with the rest of the weapon roster.
Old
New
Dev Note: Shotguns have been feeling inconsistent lately so we’re taking a swing at improving that consistency without just cranking the total damage up. Reducing pellet count and increasing the per pellet damage should increase the average damage dealt.
Alter
Dev Note: When you’re knocked, you’re at your most vulnerable and taking time to locate an object in the world and look at it for a period of time with no way to defend yourself is both challenging and risky. These changes should make it easier for a knocked teammate to safely use the Void Nexus, and allow you to reset your squad quicker and more safely.
Dev note: It was a common misconception that destroying your own void nexus prevented people from following you. In actuality, it only prevented your teammates from using it. This feature was intended to be used only when Alter felt its placement was unsafe. In practice though, it was rarely used this way and mostly resulted in Alter destroying her own Void Nexus when trying to thank her teammates.
Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 30s
Dev note: Crypto’s upgrades were looking pretty one-sided, so we’ve made changes at both tiers to rival the dominant choices with new options that should introduce some interesting gameplay potential. Crypto’s finally going Off the Grid; which should make players feel more safe playing in the drone and the improvement to satellite imagery gives lasting potential to follow up on your successful EMP blasts. We’ve also pushed the fun of a more responsive drone into every player’s hands.
Improved drone handling
Crypto cloaks when in drone
+1.5s scan duration
+1.5s scan duration. Scans on Ult hit.
Lifeline
Dev note: Lifeline has been showing some dominance in her recent resurgence, but the free level from the Gold EVO caches and the gold knockdown shield from her upgraded Ultimate were compounding her strength in a cheeky way; bypassing the effort to earn that final armor tier. We feel there’s enough power in guaranteeing the Gold Knockdown Shield to retain the golden girl without the free pass to max level.
Rampart
Dev note: Sheila isn’t as slept-on as she once was, but we were seeing some players struggle to micro-manage the cooldown of the Ultimate - given that you had to drain the ammo or plant it to not wind up accidentally drawing a Shiela with only a few bullets remaining. Now Sheila will work off an ammo model, similar to Vantage, and constantly refill ammo when not in use. This should let players worry less about tracking the remaining ammo in Sheila, keep the weapon in the action more reliably and allow Rampart to more freely place an extra turret for a teammate behind her walls without sacrificing her Ult.
Dev note: In this Recon-focused season, we’re making some changes to Seer to pull back on some of the sluggish sticking points around using his passive and are adjusting his Tactical to still have a unique benefit with the addition of Player Healthbars this season. We’re also experimenting with giving Seer access to more utility with his Tactical with Split Focus. Now players will get to choose to opt into the longer range with the single all-or-nothing outcome, or gain the second charge with more chances to hit at the cost of overall silence time.
Increase Pas/Tac range to 75m
Dev Note: Vantage has a number of improvements to her kit this season to make her more effective at what she’s meant to do. Her Ult now secures more damage against weakened prey on its follow-up shots. Her Tac is now more reliable to allow for easier to reach Echo in complex areas. And her passive has expanded to all optics, making it a useful part of her kit regardless of scope and without having to go unarmed. Additionally, her passive has a new tracking feature when pinging a target in your sights at long range—allowing Vantage and her allies to track the target at a distance more easily.
Dev Note: While the Split Circuit upgrade harkened back to the old times and had interesting promise, most players found success bunkering around one stronger pylon, rather than trying to hold space with two and the upgrade was heavily outmatched. These changes aim to look into the shield generator aspect of Wattson’s Ult and the potential for either a faster reset or more resilient ultimate.
Welcome Pass and Challenges
RANKED
We will implement a brand new reset rule at the start of the new season.
Dev Notes:The goal is to reset players to a tier that suits them based on their performance in the Ranked League of the previous season when the new season begins. This allows them to start battling from a rank that better suits their skill level while protecting newcomers and low-ranked players. Additionally, a portion of the achievements of high-ranked players who performed well in the previous season is retained, allowing them to compete against opponents of similar skill levels right from the start of the new season.
RANKED RUMBLE
Ranked Rumble returns September 13-17, 2024, with a new best of 10 matches format and free rewards.
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.
