Competitive and challenging games such as Apex Legends are constantly striving to improve the quality and experience that players have when jumping into matches. Most commonly, this comes in the form of extensive and in-depth patches for the game, but what do these patches actually do? what do they affect, and what are the important details you should know?
Well, you don't have to wonder much further, as this guide will break down the current Apex Legends patch notes, including the confirmed changes, and the overall news that's come with the latest patch. So without further delay, let's jump right into it.
29 August 2023 - Page updated with the latest news and information
Table of Contents
Latest Apex Legends Patch Notes
The most recent major update for Apex Legends were released alongside the Dressed To Kill Collection Event. Like other Collection Events, Dressed To Kill brought in 24 exclusive premium cosmetic items, and players who acquire all of them will unlock Horizon's highly anticipated Heirloom Weapon, the Gravity Maw.
In addition to the top-notch cosmetics and a classic limited-time mode (LTM), the Dressed To Kill event also came with a game update primarily focused on fixing bugs and improving the overall user experience. However, there are also some changes to legends and weapons. Below are the most up-to-date patch notes that were implemented with the Dressed To Kill event.
21 August 2023 - Update 2.31 Patch Notes
8 August 2023 - Season 18 - Update 2.30 Patch Notes
Revenant Rework & Abilities
Revenant's rework is the highlight of the new Apex Legends update. He's now a Skirmisher with the following changes:
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 forwards. 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.
Resurrection Map Rotation
The following maps will be available for public matchmaking in the Battle Royale mode:
- Broken Moon
- Kings Canyon
- Olympus
Ring Update
Ring behavior across maps in the BR has been updated with targeted tunings; including ring size, damage, and timings to several game phases to improve pacing in early and mid game. Here’s an in-depth look:
- Ring Size Changes
- Ring 1 has increased 10% in radius per map, resulting in ~20% larger Ring 1 surface area
- No other Ring sizes changed
- Ring Damage Changes
- Ring 2 Damage increased from 3 per tick to 4 per tick
- Ring 4 Damage reduced from 20 per tick to 15 per tick
- Timing Changes
- Round 1
- Preshrink time reduced from 90s to 75s
- Shrink speed on small Maps reduced from 167 to 160
- Shrink speed on large Maps reduced from ~180 to ~165
- Shrink time standardized to ~260s on each map
- Round 2
- Preshrink time reduced from 165s to 120s
- Shrink speed reduced from 160 to 140
- Shrink time increased by ~25s per map
- Round 3
- Preshrink time reduced from 135s to 90s
- Round 4
- Preshrink time reduced from 105s to 90s
- Shrink speed reduced from 100 to 85
- Shrink time increased from 40s to ~50s
- Round 5
- Preshrink time reduced from 90s to 75s
- Shrink speed reduced from 50 to 40
- Shrink time increased from 40s to 50s
- Round 1
- Maximum match length has been shortened
- Small maps: reduced to ~19.0 mins (was ~21.5 mins)
- Large maps: reduced to ~20.0 mins (was ~22.5 mins)
Ranked Update
Read the full breakdown of this season’s ranked changes in our July 2023 Ranked Blog and check out an update on Ranked Rewards in our Resurrection highlights blog.
- LP Table Adjusted: LP Gain overall has been reduced.
- Diamond+ Cost Adjustments: 50% increased losses.
Placement | S17 | S18 | S18 Diamond+ |
1 | 200 | 150 | 150 |
2 | 175 | 100 | 100 |
3 | 150 | 85 | 85 |
4 | 125 | 70 | 70 |
5 | 100 | 55 | 55 |
6 | 80 | 40 | 40 |
7 | 60 | 25 | 25 |
8 | 40 | 10 | 10 |
9 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
10 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
11 | -25 | -30 | -45 |
12 | -25 | -30 | -45 |
13 | -25 | -30 | -45 |
14 | -35 | -50 | -75 |
15 | -35 | -50 | -75 |
16 | -35 | -50 | -75 |
17 | -35 | -50 | -75 |
18 | -35 | -50 | -75 |
19 | -35 | -50 | -75 |
20 | -35 | -50 | -75 |
- New:A small portion of Elimination bonus is exempted from bonus withholding due to mismatched MMR and LP. This value increases based on the player’s MMR.
- Skill & Rating Bonuses have been dramatically reduced.
- We mentioned in our July 2023 Ranked blog that we would be bumping up the Elimination Bonus slightly. In our attempt to reduce the Master spike, we identified the need to instead reduce the overall points given within the whole system. Instead of bumping as planned, we took a different approach and reduced placement scores to make eliminations more valuable when compared to the now lowered placement score.
Balance Updates
Armor Changes
- White to Blue evo points required increased to 200 (was 150)
- Crafted evo points increased to 200
- Fixed overflow damage on level up applies to the next tier
Crafting Rotation
- Rampage and R-99 leave the crafter and are back on the floor
- Nemesis and Mozambique with Hammerpoint Rounds enter the crafter
- Double Tap Trigger and Hammerpoint Rounds removed from rotation
- Boosted Loader and Disruptor Rounds added to rotation
- Medkit price increased to 20 (was 15)
Care Package Weapon Rotation
- Hemlok Burst AR returns to the floor
- ADS Recoil increased
- Damage reduced to 22 (was 23)
- Headshot multiplier reduced to 1.75 (was 1.8)
- Prowler Burst PDW enters the care package
- Damage increased to 16 (was 15)
- Select Fire Enabled defaulting to Full Auto
Gold Weapons Rotation
- Hemlok, Peacekeeper, Alternator, Rampage, Charge Rifle
Loot Spawn Changes
- Blue and Purple Weapon Attachment spawn rate reduced by 20%
- Blue and Purple Armor spawn rate reduced by 30%
Weapons
Charge Rifle Rework
- New ballistics and projectile
- Removed hitscan
- Removed pre-fire laser
- Projectiles have player passthrough: 80% damage retained
- Opens doors
- Projectiles gain damage with distance
- 50 meters: 75 Damage
- 300 meters: 110 Damage
- New charge mechanics
- Holding the trigger down will increase charge
- Releasing the trigger will decrease charge
- Fires at 100% charge
- Added Extended Sniper Mag attachment slot
- Base: 4
- White: 5
- Blue: 6
- Purple/Gold: 8
- Ammo Consumption per shot reduced to 1 (was 2)
- Handling timings adjusted
- Tactical reload time decreased to 3.5 (was 4.0)
- Empty reload time decreased to 4.6 (was 5.1)
All SMGs (R-99, Alternator, CAR, Volt)
- Strafe Speed:ADS strafe scale reduced to 0.75(was 0.85)
- Headshot multi reduced to 1.25 (was 1.5)
R-99
- Vertical Recoil slightly increased
- Ammo capacity reduced
- Base Ammo reduced to 17 (was 19)
- White Mag reduced to 20 (was 21)
- Blue Mag reduced to 23 (was 24)
- Purple/Gold Mag reduced to 26 (was 27)
M600 Spitfire
- Added Barrels for improved stability
- ADS Recoil improved
- Hipfire spread slightly improved
Mastiff
- Blast pattern tightened
HOP UPS
Boosted Loader (Hemlok, Wingman)
Reloading when near empty will speed up reloading and overload the next magazine
- Hemlok overload ammo: 9
- Wingman overload ammo: 3
Disruptor Rounds (Alternator, Peacekeeper)
Increases shield damage
- Alternator shield damage increased by 20%
- Peacekeeper shield damage (per pellet) increased by 25%
Double Tap Trigger (EVA-8, G7 Scout)
- Removed from floor and crafting bundles
Grenades
- Frag Grenade
- Outer Radius increased to 350 units (was 320)
- Inner Radius increased to 125 units (was 96)
- Thermite
- Adjusted fire VFX to better match damage area
Legends
Revenant has been reborn
- Updated class to Skirmisher (was Assault)
- New abilities (see above)
Ultimate Cooldowns
- Bangalore: Rolling Thunder to 240s (+60s)
- Catalyst: Dark Veil to 150s (+30s)
- Gibraltar: Defensive Bombardment to 180s (-90s)
- Horizon: Black Hole to 210s (+30s)
- Loba: Black Market Boutique to 150s (+30s)
- Ultimate Accelerants grant 25% ult charge (up from 20%)
- Mad Maggie: Wrecking Ball to 120s (+30s)
- Pathfinder: Zipline Gun to 180s (+60s)
- Wraith: Dimensional Rift to 180s (-30s)
Tactical Updates
- Ballistic’s Whistler
- Reduced delay before an overheated weapon starts cooling down to 1s (was 2s)
- Reduced how long it takes an overheated weapon to cooldown to 8s (was 12s)
- Loba’s Burglar’s Best Friend
- Cooldown reduced to 25s (was 30s)
- Seer’s Focus of Attention
- Slow Duration reduced to 0.5s (was 2.5s)
- Silence Duration reduced to 8s (was 10s)
- Firing Speed increased to 1.4s (was 0.9s)
Maps
- Broken Moon
- Maps added to Mixtape: Production Yard & The Core
- Multiple rat spots removed
- Kings Canyon: multiple rat spots removed
- World’s Edge: smoothed Legend movement on road edges
World Systems
- Crafting Workbenches, Survey Beacons, Ring Consoles
- Removed ‘exclusion radius’ that caused some POIs to get these objects more than others
- All POIs now have an equal chance of receiving a Ring Console, Survey Beacon or Crafting Workbench
Modes
- Control
- Capture Bonus bounty reduced ~20%
- Capture time reduced to 10 seconds (was 20 sec)
- Score limit reduced to 1000 (was 1250)
- Spawn waves removed: players should spawn instantly at the location they choose including Home Base, Captured Points, and MRB (Note: MRB will still use the dropship)
- Timed events: Airdrops, MRB, Capture Bonus should all start ~30% sooner in match-time
Bug Fixes
- About Game Mode button now works while in game modes
- Adjusted sizing and positioning of elements on the Switch’s communication wheel to give it more breathing room
- Consumables UI no longer freezes while in use and reviewing inventory
- Dying or swapping Legends with a Golden Backpack full of large healing items no longer causes the items to be thrown from the player in Firing Range
- Challenges no longer flip to NBR version when tracking in Ranked matches
- Fixed black line in Kill Feed when a player dies out of bounds
- Fixed persistent gift notifications after returning to lobby
- Fixed players from different teams being able to ride in the same trident if they interacted with both a mounted Sheila and the trident simultaneously
- Fixed Support Bins occasionally being prevented from providing Survival items (Heat Shield or Mobile Respawn Beacons)
- In-game map no longer clips behind the challenges on 16:10 resolutions
- Players should now properly spectate the player who knocked or killed them (without being knocked), and not who killed their teammates or who thirsted them from the downed state
- Players can no longer get stuck inside a Trident’s collision box
- Pinging Icarus Vault from the map (with vault key in inventory) won’t present a malformed string
- Predator badge no longer fades away on Champion screen
- Reduced the animate in time of death recap in Control, Team Deathmatch, and Gun Run
- Spectres no longer stand in Catalyst’s Piercing Spikes
- Unitframe consumable progress now updating in the inventory screen
- Using remapped controls on a Gamepad/Controller no longer prevents pinging from the map
- Fixed players seeing the ranking of players they are spectating
Audio
- Fixed animations not playing audio in rare cases
- Improved prioritization for certain enemy movement sounds
- Players movement transitions no longer occasionally play duplicate audio events
Legends
- Ballistic
- C.A.R SMG doesn’t default to heavy ammo after being converted to a golden gun in sling with light ammo
- Tempest no longer applies to teammates when friendly fire is enabled in Firing Range
- Pathfinders voicemails during an Ash heirloom inspect no longer stretched on 16:10 resolutions
- Gibraltar and Bangalore
- Fixed ultimates not triggering if thrown on Ziprail Launcher and Skydive Towers
- Fixed ultimates not cooldown if they’re killed while holding the ultimate grenade
- Horizon: Lethal Lass skin no longer obstructs ADS on Prowler with 1x HOLO
- Loba: Lunar Wolf skin no longer has broken mesh
- Rampart: Sheila’s ammo counter now correctly rotated
Maps
- Broken Moon:
- Added building west of the core to minimap
- Loot tick now correctly drops loot at Production Yard
- Removed invisible collision above playing field
- Olympus: indoor props without collision no longer blocks picking up loot
Modes
- Firing Range:
- Ballistic’s Whistler is no longer heard across Firing Ranges when shot at the ground
- Dummies no longer occasionally shoot while set to inactive
- Small door’s audio and FX no longer heard/seen across Firing Ranges
Weapons
- Left most ammo on squad member unitframes now represents their currently equipped weapon
- L-Star: low ammo indicator now only appears when ammo is actually low
- P2020: fixed high inaccuracy with first shot using ADS
Quality Of Life
- Firing Range
- Dynamic dummy spawning now remains off when you die
- Legend ultimates will be fully charged after loading into the Firing Range, swapping Legends, and dying
- A new nessie… and more!
- French
- In-game/lobby chat now available when language is set to French on console
- Corrected French translation for R-301 Mastery Challenge Level 20
- Kill feed will now call out when a player has been removed from the match
- Multiple stickers can now be placed
- Players can longer interact with enemy holosprays through walls
- Ranked progress bar no longer bounces value while sitting on Match Summary screen
- Seer: Exhibit AR throw indicator is no longer offset from ground
- (no longer gives false impression of where the Ultimate will land)
- Support Perk – Crafting Banners: after grabbing the first banner, you can now immediately grab the second one as well
- Weapon Mastery:
- New animated celebration sequences when unlocking and completing trials, as well as mastering weapons
- New animated icon in the HUD weapon element when a weapon is level 100
That sums up the entire Season 18 patch in Apex Legends' newest update.
20 July 2023 - Update 2.29 Patch Notes
As per Respawn, here's the latest patch notes for Apex Legends:
- Being unable to spawn on control points in Control (and reenabled this mode)
- An issue using Tridents as Fuse and Rampart
- A crash caused by Stickers
- Some Gun Run matches requiring more than one knife kill
20 June 2023 - Dressed To KIll Update Patch Notes
BALANCE UPDATES
- Weapon Crafting Rotation
- R-99 enters the crafter
- Rampage LMG enters the crafter
- Alternator SMG returns to the floor
- Sentinel returns to the floor
- Weapon Crafting Rotation
- Evac Tower: reduced spawn rate to match Heat Shields
- Mobile Respawn Beacon: slightly increased spawn rate
WEAPON UPDATES
- Nemesis Burst AR
- Projectile Speed reduced
- Projectile gravity increased
- EVA-8
- Increased base rate of fire
- Increased white bolt rate of fire
- Rate of fire with blue, purple, and gold bolts is unchanged
LEGENDS UPDATE
Seer
- Passive: Heartbeat Sensor
- Range Reduced to 50m ( was 75m )
- Initial Heartbeat delay significantly reduced
- Tactical: Focus of Attention
- Range Reduced to 60m ( was 75m )
- Firing Speed Increased ( ~30% faster )
- Removed Heal Cancel
- Removed Revive Cancel
- Removed Respawn Beacon Interaction Interrupt
- Scan Time Reduced to 2.5s ( was 8s )
- Scan once again includes a full body highlight
- Enemies hit by Focus of Attention are now Slowed for 2.5s
- Silence Time Increased to 10s ( was 1.75 )
- Enemies who are silenced by Seer are now also highlighted with a threat outline to Seer and his teammates but only when they have line of sight
- Ultimate: Exhibit
- Throw Range Reduced to ~15m ( was ~50m )
- Removed Diamond Scan Markers on Enemy Movement
-
- Exhibit will now only show the footsteps of players moving in the zone
- Diamond Markers will now ONLY appear with enemy gunfire for 1.25s
-
QUALITY OF LIFE
- Firing Range
- Customize Range menu additions
-
- New option to switch to 3rd person
- New option to show a general-purpose timer
- New options to match dummy helmet levels to shield levels.
-
- General dummies and collision updates
- Spawning distancing and frequency improvements
- Firing Range target redesign
- Added more hotlinks to how to gain weapon mastery XP to the overview tab and the end of game weapons tab
- Audio engine stability improvements
- Bloodhound Trials: updated loot on World’s Edge to now dispense Smart Loot for the active team in the Trials at the end of each challenge round
- Newcastle: now destroys Jump Pads and Crypto Drones on Castle Wall Impact like other placeable objects
- Extended Supply (Support) Bins have a higher chance to give an MRB to Support legends who have dead teammates, banners are not required for higher chance
- Legends Menu
- Added new Legend Bios tab
- Removed the classes subtabs
- PC
- Added a new menu option: “Clamp Mouse Cursor to Game Window”
- FPS in the Lobby is now capped at 60Hz, which should give high-end graphics cards a chance to cool down between matches
- Intel ARC users will receive a popup prompt to consider the DX12 Beta, which has shown improved performance characteristics on ARC hardware. Players can try the DX12 Beta by following the instructions here: https://go.ea.com/ApexDX12
- Updated podium screen to minimize white flashes
- Weapons Menu: added new Weapon Backgrounds tab
BUG FIXES
- [CAR] correct active ammo now shows in the inventory when infinite ammo is active
- Fixed “are you sure you want to leave” prompt in states that were not applicable (ex. squad wipes)
- Fixed tops of buildings not registering as out of bounds on World’s Edge
- Fixed Ballistic’s Tempest VFX staying on while cloaked or phase shifted
- Fixed Ballistic’s sling weapon icon not updating for spectators
- Fixed death recap appearing blank if you were dead or died when the game ended
- Fixed “decoy destroyed” message not displaying when destroying a decoy with Newcastle’s Castle Wall
- Fixed Extended Supply Bin logic to address MRBs not awarding to players with dead teammates and MRBs are in ground loot
- Fixed invisible optic on a primary weapon after swapping it with the sling weapon
- Fixed MRB icon being squished in Control on ultrawide monitors
- Fixed occasional client crash when exiting an IMC armory
- Fixed occasional crash when changing legends while emoting as Ballistic in firing range
- Fixed pinging Icarus Bridge on Olympus while holding a vault key displaying incorrectly
- Fixed pinging weapon icons on the map and minimap being squished
- Fixed teams being unable to craft banners if the support legend on the team leaves
- Replicator: players should no longer get stuck when crafting
- Weapon Mastery: badge preview now correctly updates after earning the first one
- Volume sliders now increase/decrease correctly when using controller
Audio
- Fixed certain movement sounds taking priority over footsteps
- Fixed hearing Ballistic’s tactical sound effect in other firing ranges
- Fixed incorrect sound effect when Ballistic hits a teammate with Whistler
- Fixed more issues with server audio dropouts
- Fixed players emitting falling audio after dying
Legends
- Ballistic
- Backpack no longer stays open when downed while Tempest is active
- Fixed an exploit where players could get a weapon with attachments into Sling
- Now auto-cycles to his sling weapon when other weapons run out of ammo
- Tactical lock-on effect no longer stays if downed while locked on
- Tactical lock-on effect no longer stays if hit by Seer’s tactical while locked on
- Lifeline: fixed Shinobi Surgeon skin textures
- Newcastle: fixed inconsistencies on landing with Castle Wall
- Rampart
- Nemesis voiceline no longer plays every time the gun is picked up
- Placed Sheila turrets no longer keep the fast reloads from Ballistic’s Tempest
- Valkyrie
- Dummies not scanning in the firing range while skydiving
- Heartbeat Harmonizer skin no longer blocks ADS with Prowler + 1x Holo
- Improvements to Skyward Launch avoiding obstacles that appeared above her after she had already started launching
- Wattson
- Fixed fences occasionally being invisible through doors
- Solar Static skin is no longer extra toothy
- Wraith: Into the Void no longer prevents skydive from Evac Towers