Respawn finally released the patch notes for season 7 of Apex Legends and seems like the overall weapon meta might change once again.

While the gameplay trailer showed that R99 might return to the normal loot pool, the official patch note just confirmed the changes. Instead of the R99, the Prowler will be replacing it to be the care package only SMG.

• More Related: Apex Legends season 7 patch notes: Bangalore, Mirage, Octane, Wattson, Loba, Rampart, and Pathfinder receive massive buffs

The new season will also introduce a new hop-up called “Quickdraw” that will replace the select-fire hop-up in the game. The quickdraw hop-up will work with the Wingman and RE45 to give them increased ADS speed. Furthermore, the hop-up will also make hipfire spread more accurate while players are not actively moving.

Weapon Meta

Supply Drop

R99 Out of Supply Drop: The R99 will be returning to the normal loot pool this season, with the same stats it had before it went into the supply drop at the start of season 6.

• Damage: 12 -> 11 (from Care Package version to normal pre-season 6)
• Ammo 20/22/24/27

Prowler Into Supply Drop: The prowler is replacing the R99 in the supply drop.  Despite the Selectfire hop-up being removed from the loot pool this season, the Prowler will still have the ability to change between 5 round bursts and full-auto.

• Magazine size: 35; reserve ammo: 175

Fully Kitted Weapons

• Removed: Devotion, Mastiff, Triple Take, Flatline, Volt
• New: Wingman, Sentinel, Havoc, G7, Alternator

Hemlok

• Increasing horizontal recoil of the first 3 shots slightly to the right (first burst when in burst mode)
• Increasing recoil magnitude in the later stages of the pattern
• Reducing recoil multiplier in single fire mode to help compensate for additional recoil in pattern. Recoil should mostly be increased in burst mode rather than single fire mode
• Reducing headshot multiplier 2.0 -> 1.75 (44 -> 39 damage headshot against no helmet base character)

Dev Notes: 

While we are happy to see the Hemlok get more attention with the recent buffs, we think it is a little too strong in season 6. The effective range of the burst mode felt a bit too far, and the spike damage capabilities of a full headshot burst were too strong in high level play.

Havoc

• Updated recoil pattern. Kicks up, then right, then left, then up again.

Dev Notes:

With 6.0, the Havoc got a new recoil pattern. This new recoil pattern was a bit too erratic and difficult to control, due to multiple rapid changes in direction. We have adjusted the recoil pattern to have the same general movement while simplifying the motions required to control the pattern.

L-Star

• LSTAR has a new recoil pattern that kicks horizontally at first and then settles into a relatively consistent upward recoil. Players who feather the trigger will be able to keep the LSTAR in the good portion of the recoil pattern.
• LSTAR venting time after letting go of the trigger has been reduced 0.4s -> 0.15s.
• LSTAR will now reduce heat faster when not overheated — 1.15s from 99.9% to 0% charge if not overheated, still 2.45s if overheated.

Dev Notes: 

The LSTAR had some limitations that caused it to feel worse than we’d like. The recoil pattern snaked back and forth, which was difficult to control reliably. Additionally, firing for short bursts and then releasing the trigger repeatedly, or “feathering the trigger”, felt somewhat clunky due to the long venting time after firing and the slow heat reduction. So, we are reducing those pain points to improve the viability and feel of feathering the trigger, and adjusting the recoil pattern to reward players who can effectively control the LSTAR’s heat.

Sentinel

• Energized Sentinel now has a pure damage increase, instead of bonus damage only vs shields
• Energized Sentinel base damage 70 -> 88

Dev Notes: 

The Sentinel was still a bit weak. We think a good place to improve it is the energize ability. It seems a bit too situational, only being a benefit if the opponent has >70 shields. So, we are changing the energize from a “disruptor” anti-shield effect to an “amp” damage boost effect.

Triple Take

• Fire rate 1.3 -> 1.2

Dev Note:

The Triple Take is still performing a bit too well after the most recent nerf, so we are reducing the fire rate back to what it was before the 6.0 patch. We will be watching in the future to see how just the integrated choke, sniper ammo increase, and new popularity affect the weapon’s performance.

Hop-Ups

• Quickdraw Holster Hop-up: This new hop-up attaches to the RE-45 and Wingman.  When equipped, the gun becomes quicker to raise and lower, takes less time to ADS, and has reduced hipfire spread (particularly when not actively moving).  This should open up new opportunities to use the two weapons, especially in close-quarters combat.
• The Selectfire Receiver hop-up will be removed from the loot pool to make room.

• More Related: Apex Legends Season 7 will Simplify Challenges and the Overall Reward and Objective Structure

With new hop-ups and changes to weapons like Sentinel, Havoc, etc, the new season 7 might change the overall weapon meta in a new direction. And long time Apex Legends players will certainly be happy seeing the R99 returning to the normal loot pool.