Apex Legends Season 18 is right around the corner. Here are all the known changes coming to the game in the upcoming season.
Unlike the previous two seasons, Apex Legends Resurrection won’t bring anything extraordinary to the game. The leakers have already given their verdict on the upcoming chapter, which they are calling a filler season.
The most exciting change of Season 18 will be the Ranked update. Respawn promises to fix the obvious flaws of the previous Ranked system that caused the ratting issues and a huge spike in Masters players.
Season 18 will also bring an important map update to the Storm Point map. As most of you might’ve already seen, the teasers are already in the game, and there’s a huge storm on the southeast side of the map. Several parts of Storm Point will probably be destroyed by the storm and will be rebuilt.
Moreover, there won’t be a new Legend in the upcoming season. Rather, Respawn will make several adjustments to Revenant, so a new Revenant will be reborn. Other than the simulacrum assassin, some major Legend buffs and nerfs will also take place in the Resurrection update.
On the other hand, the weapons in Apex Legends will also receive tons of changes. Firstly, the SMG class is getting significant nerf. The Charge Rifle is getting a rework, just like Revenant. The Longbow DMR will get a buff for its poor pick-up rate. And as usual, there’ll be other Care Package, Crafter, and Golden weapon rotations.
To wrap it up, there’ll be tons of bug fixes and QoL updates in the Season 18 patch. So, without further ado, let’s see the Season 18 early patch notes so you know what you can expect from the Resurrection update.
Read More: Upcoming Store Rotation Skins in Apex Legends
Season 18 Early Patch Notes
Here, we’ll list all the known map, Legend, weapon, and QoL changes coming to Apex Legends Season 18. Keep in mind that these are only leaks, and some of the changes may come at a later date or may not come at all with the Season 18 update. So, take it with a grain of salt.
Storm Point Changes
A massive storm from the southeast will hit Storm Point and likely destroy multiple POIs. The Fish Firm, Gale Station, and Ship Fall are the three least landed areas on the map. So, it makes sense that these POIs will be reworked so more people land here.
In Season 13, Thordan Smash shared an image of a potential Bangalore Town Takeover near the Barometer and Ship Fall area. However, the POI was later scrapped and never made it into the game. So, it is possible that Respawn may utilize the old resource and put it on the map like it was planned. Even without that, expect some changes to the Fish Farm, Ship Fall, and some other areas of the map.
Ranked Changes
Respawn acknowledged in the blog post that the new rank system didn’t work out as they had hoped. Giving players excessive amounts of LP and, on the other hand, offering no bonus at all are two examples of them. As a result, the devs said that they’ll make more adjustments to the Placement and Bonus systems in the upcoming season, alongside some other improvements.
The Season 18 rank update will also bring along some more adjustments, including ring damage and timing adjustments, matchmaking updates, and new rulesets for diamond and higher players.
Here’s the gist of the upcoming changes Respawn has shared so far:
- Decreasing overall LP gains per match
- Adding a ruleset that only applies to Diamond+
- Elimination bonuses buff
- Ring damage adjustments
- Ring timings adjustments
- Matchmaking updates
Revenant Reborn
For years, Revenant has been mired in feelings of rage, self-hatred, and a lack of autonomy. He spent almost 300 years under the Syndicate’s thumb with the help of Hammond, and all he wanted was to escape it.
Suddenly, Revenant experiences a change—he starts to glitch. Everything is out of his control. In the middle of a match, he loses his abilities only to discover they’ve been replaced with new ones. Someone, somewhere, has launched a new protocol. He finds that he’s able to see enemies low on health, unleash a powerful leap forward, and forge a shroud of shadows around him that blocks incoming damage. But he also knows how to hold a grudge. Revenant’s angry, confused, and now he’ll find and get revenge on whoever is messing with him.
- PASSIVE: Assassin’s Instinct
Highlight nearby visible enemies who are low on health. You crouch walk faster and have improved wall climbing.
- TACTICAL: Shadow Pounce
Unleash a powerful pounce forward. Hold to charge for farther distances.
- ULTIMATE: Forged Shadows
Forge a shroud of hardened shadows around you that blocks direct damage and regenerates after breaking. Your shadows and tactical are refreshed on knockdowns.
Mix Tape is Now on Broken Moon
TDM and Gun Run: The Core
Broken Moon is coming to Mixtape! The Core provides a new and exciting battlefield for Gun Run and TDM. Occupying the central building gives great high ground and wide-open sightlines making it a prime location to fight over. Or take to the outer ring for prime access to Care Packages.
The Core is a little bit bigger than what we’ve played previously. Zip rails help players rotate towards the action quickly and open sightlines promote a different style of gameplay and weapon meta than the other more personal, scrappier maps.
Control: Production Yard
It’s been a while since our last Control map and Broken Moon brings Production Yard to Control. Contrary to our other Broken Moon map for Mixtape, Production Yard provides an intense, scrappy experience in tight quarters. Lots of boxes and cover to duck around and tight corners to set-up defense or ambushes.
Also featuring Broken Moon’s Zip rails, combat pace is really high on this map and allows players to quickly shift from attacking and defending at a moment’s notice. We’re hoping players find a lot of different strategies in either bunkering up and covering angles or finding some sneaky back caps using zip rails and corners.
Ranked Reward Rework
Banner Frames will Replace Dive Trails as Rank Rewards in Apex Legends Season 18. The Master rank dive trail is very special and should only be rewarded to the ones who deserve it. However, if Respawn rewards dive trails as rank rewards this season, the sky will be filled with Master skydive trails.
Legend Changes: Buffs and Nerfs
Seer Nerf
Respawn wanted to rework Seer to balance him in the Dressed to Kill Collection Event patch. However, it did the complete opposite and broke Seer even more. Fortunately, the Legend will receive some significant nerfs in the upcoming season to balance him in the current meta.
According to ilootgames and Thordan Smash, Seer’s silence time will be reduced from 10 seconds. Moreover, the stun effect of the tactical will also be reduced by a lot.
Ballistic Nerf
Similar to Seer, Ballistic’s Tactical will undergo a nerf in the Season 18 update. According to ilootgames, the nerf will affect Ballistic Tactical’s damage and effective duration. The current Ballistic Tactical damage is 20 and the effect lasts for 12 seconds. The nerf will decrease these values.
Weapon Changes
Nemesis Nerf
Nemesis has been pretty overpowered despite its mid-season nerf. So, Respawn plans to make the gun balanced in the Season 18 update. However, the exact changes are yet to be revealed.
SMGs Nerf
In Season 18, all SMGs will receive massive damage falloff. meaning that SMG damage will significantly drop as the shooting distance goes up. So, starting in Season 18, SMGs won’t be viable in medium- to long-range combat.
According to Thordan Smash, the nerf will include bullet drop-off, a laser sight nerf, damage reduction, and increased recoil.
Charge Rifle Rework
The Charge Rifle will be reworked in the Season 18 update. Respawn has already released an image teasing the potential Charge Rifle changes.
The new model will focus on a Concentrated Projectile rather than a laser beam. So, the new Charge Rifle will only shoot when the trigger is released, and there’ll be no hitscan.
Moreover, an adaptable charge receiver is also set to allow the gun to charge by aiming down the sight. This means the new Charge Rifle will work similarly to the 30-30 Repeater. The damage will vary depending on the charge-up time.
Longbow Buff
Although Longbow isn’t going through a rework, the DMR will receive a buff in the upcoming season. However, there aren’t any specifics on how Respawn plans to buff the Longbow. So, we can’t say for sure how it’ll turn out.
Pistols Buff
Pistols like P2020 and RE-45 have to rely heavily on the Hop-ups. Without them, they are considered pretty useless. Even with the Hop-ups, most players don’t use them in the mid-late games. So, in Season 18, Respawn may buff the Pistols so they can be used without the Hop-ups.
Prowler in Care Package
In the latest Neon Network Collection Event trailer, Respawn teased Prowler as the mythic-tier weapon found in the Nodes Tracker Loot tick. As we all know, the red weapons can only be found in the Care Package. So, it is expected that the Prowler will go into the Care Package in Season 18. Moreover, another leak suggests that Select Fire will return with the Prowler, making it a fully automatic weapon in Season 18.
Quality of Life Updates
- Fixed multiple ratting positions in World’s Edge, Storm Point, and Broken Moon.
Read More: Old Prestige Skins will Also Have Unique Skydive Trails, a New Apex Legends Leak Suggests
There you go! These are the expected changes that’ll come to Apex Legends Season 18. As most of the information is based on leaks, the final changes may be different than the ones shared here. However, keep your eyes on the GameRiv Apex Legends section for the latest news and updates regarding Season 18.
