Apex Legends™: Takeover Patch Notes
OVERVIEW
There’s no better way to kick off year seven of Apex Legends than upping the heat of battle. Two heavy hitters that have been in the background a bit too long make their way center stage with updates worthy of Apex Predators, and revamped perks raise up the rest of the Assault Class. No weapon is a bad weapon with buffs across the board for every piece that you can get your hands on. This new meta is cooking and it’s safe to say that this anniversary season flips the season of Support to one of aggression. Coupled with some strong updates for Armor and Helmets, greater access to weapons with the new Arsenals, and reduced visual clutter and time-to-kill has never been faster.
It’s a whole new Outlands—be ready to fight.
LEGEND BUFFS
ASH
Ash sees a number of improvements this season to her Arc Snare and Phase Breach to make them more effective and reliable. Her snare change lets her snag targets against the strong edge of the tether more often. Her Ult goes farther, travels faster, and endpoint detection has improved to make the targeting stickier and less prone to accidental bad snapping.
The big change for Ash is her new passive: Predator's Pursuit. This grants her an omnidirectional short-range dash—enabling her to close the gap on a tethered target or evade swiftly in a close-quarters skirmish. With these changes, Ash is set to become the Apex Predator she was always meant to be.
BALLISTIC
Ballistic sees some of his favorite upgrades, the extra charge and sling levelling, integrated into his base kit, giving him more utility and versatility in the early game. A new Level 3 upgrade allows him to double his Whistler charges, opening up his utility and crowd control potential immensely.
Tempest, his Ult, now also grants a speed bonus—making him a frightening force when he and his team bare down on you. But the big guns? Ballistic's sling can now carry crate weapons, which can spool with infinite ammo when Tempest is active. In Takeover, Ballistic may very well relive his glory days.
ASSAULT CLASS PERKS
Assault Legends are walking arsenals: forged in combat and always ready for a fight. Their abilities grant them incredible combat utility that helps disrupt enemies, threaten their positions, or give them openings to strike. These Legends are enhanced with perks that let them worry less about their weapon economy, bring more explosive power to the table, and give them the combat edge to capitalize on one of core moments in any combat encounter—the shield break.
Combat Reserve
Carry extra ammo per ammo stack
Have two new grenade-only slots in inventory
Retain access to Red Extended Supply Bins
Stowed Reload: stowed weapons automatically reload after 2s
Battle Surge: breaking an enemy’s shields grants a speed burst, fast reloads, and highlights the target enemy for 4s
WEAPON BUFFS, HELMETS AND ARMOR
Over the years, Apex has evolved in so many ways to provide players with more agency and deeper options for how to play, survive, and express their skill. Through that evolution, the benchmark damage for our weapons has stayed stable, but has grown stale. We want to make sure the nuanced flow of combat remains tight and weapons are lethal in order to provide exciting gameplay options.
Battle Royales are all about strategy and timing. These are the mechanisms to success, but strategy goes right out the window if encounters are taking too long to resolve and you're dealing with your 3rd, 4th, or even 5th party. This latest suite of changes is designed to keep you in the drivers seat by providing the tools to resolve conflicts faster, getting you back to if the 3rd party is coming and not when.
In addition to sweeping weapon buffs, we have taken a look at the defensive side of loot in Apex with some hefty streamlining. Low tier Helmets (white, blue, and purple) have been removed, and rare high value Helmets that provide meaningful gameplay perks have been added in their place. As for Armor, you will no longer level into red tier (125 shields) at Level 4 but will instead be capped at Level 3 (100 shields). However, red shields will still be available in the form of the new Mythic Armor Upgrade Helmet.
MUZZLE FLASH
Visual clutter in gunfights is no joke. In an attempt to combat this, we’ve reduced the effects and particles you see when you fire your weapon. We believe this update balances increased visual clarity while still selling the impact and fantasy of firing our weapons.
All 1P weapons muzzle flashes have been updated
95% less visual noise over the line of sight (sparks, smoke, glows etc)
Noise/visuals kept below line of sight
Reduced size of muzzle flashes
Optimized particle count
Cleaned noise from shells ejects
Cleaned lingering elements (smoke, sparks, etc)
Light toned down to avoid flickering on weapons and environment models
For remaining patch notes, please check out our blog here: https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends/news/takeover-patch-notes