The highly anticipated mid-seasonal Evolution Collection Event update featuring some controversial changes to Apex Legends has been finally revealed.
As with every other season in Apex Legends, Respawn loves to throw in some curveballs with their mid-seasonal updates. And turns out, season 10 Emergence is no different. Finally, Respawn decided to give Rampart some much-needed love as she received a major rework to her ultimate ability in the new Evolution event.
On the other side of the aisle, Octane’s ultimate jump pad received a subtle nerf that will make it harder for him to the third party. Aside from that, some weapons also received balance tuning.
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For example, shotguns, Bocek bow, L-Star, and some hop-ups received much-needed balancing changes. Also, some of these changes will be felt in the Arenas mode as well. Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Yes, Tap-strafing has been removed from the game, as Respawn announced earlier.
In this patch note, they gave an in-depth explanation of why they choose to make the decision to remove tap-strafing altogether. According to Respawn, tap-Strafing is highly inaccessible, lacks readability, and has limited counterplay. So, in order to balance both inputs such as controller and mouse, they decided it would be better for the game if they remove this movement tech.
Balancing Changes
Rampart
- Sheila has gone mobile!
- Rampart will now be able to run around with Sheila out, and shoot while walking. The spin up is longer, and she only gets 1 magazine in this mode.
- Once Sheila is out, you can put it away and pull it back out until you run out of ammo (or hit the cooldown time).
- At any point, you can still place Sheila down for your teammates to use. Once placed, it has infinite reloads and acts just like the previous version. You cannot pick it back up.
Dev Note: A legend based solely on a defensive position is hard to get right in Apex Legends. We think Rampart has a place as the ultimate defensive Legend, but we wanted to give her a little more ability to be reactive and push with her team. As usual, we’ll be watching to see how this plays out and will adjust accordingly!
Revenant
- VFX (similar to the pulse on Loba ult placement) added to increase visibility for when a totem is placed nearby.
Octane
- Reduced jump pad horizontal distance by 10% – 15%.
- Reduced the rate of Octane’s Stim regen from 1.5 to 1.0 hp/sec.
Bloodhound
- When Bloodhound pings a clue from their passive, it will now show their teammates in quickchat how long ago the event took place
Bocek Compound Bow
- Draw speed slightly reduced from 0.56 to 0.54
- Arrows per brick increased from 14 to 16
- Arrows per inventory stack increased from 28 to 32
Hemlok
- Reduced hipfire spread
- Hipfire resets slightly faster
Dev Notes: Hemlok’s hipfire effectiveness was reduced a few seasons ago and since then the weapon has seen a steady decline in use. Bringing back some of that hipfire strength (but not all) should help the weapon feel more consistent in close quarters without being dominant or affecting its medium-range excellence.
Shatter Caps – Bocek Compound Bow
- Damage per pellet increased across all draw strengths
- Short draw damage: 4 to 6
- Medium draw: 7 to 9
- Full draw: 11 to 12
Shatter Caps – 30-30 Repeater
- ADS Strafe speed increased to shotgun strafe speed while Shatter Caps are enabled
- Charged pellet damage multiplier increased from 35% to 50%
Dev Notes: When Shatter Caps work they feel amazing, but currently it can still feel a little punishing to swap into the mode. Increasing the damage potential and improving the CQC flow of the 30-30 should help Shatters feel a little more accessible and rewarding.
L-STAR
- Cool-off time slightly increased
- Overheat lens replacement time slightly increased
- Rounds before overheat reduced at base and all Energy Magazine tiers
- Base: 22 to 20
- White: 24 to 22
- Blue: 26 to 24
- Purple/Gold: 28 to 26
- Arenas price adjustments:
- Base: 500 to 600
- Blue: 300 to 250
- Purple: 400 to 350
Dev Notes: We’re nudging down the L-STAR’s core stats a bit to smooth out the power progression in what we think is a slightly more healthy top-end. We’ll keep a close eye on the L-STAR and its recoil as we enter the second half of Emergence. In Arenas, we’re well aware of its prevalence in high-level lobbies and are pricing it out of the first round. These changes essentially increase the blue cost by 50 and keep the purple price the same. If its pick rate remains unchanged, we will hotfix further adjustments.
Shotguns
- EVA-8 and Mozambique headshot damage multiplier reduced from 1.5 to 1.25 bringing it in line with the Peacekeeper and Mastiff.
Dev Notes: The EVA-8 holds a lot of power in its speed and leniency compared to its counterparts, the PK and Mastiff. It’s got the edge with fire rate and consistency so we’re shaving off some of its spike damage to even the playing field. We’re normalizing Mozambique as well for consistency within the shotgun class and to give the P2020 some space as the more precise early game weapon.
Triple Take
- ADS charge time decreased from 1.0 to 0.8
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