Apex Legends has just released a massive patch that brings the first event for the season along with a wide range of fixes, changes, and quality of life improvements. The update also brings balance changes to weapons and legends as well as new maps. Here is the complete Apex Legends Update 22.1 Patch Notes on 12 September.
Apex Legends Update 22.1 Patch Notes
BALANCE UPDATES
Gold Weapons Rotation
- Mozambique Akimbo, P2020 Akimbo, EVA-8, VK-47 Flatline, G7 Scout
GAMEPLAY UPDATES
Loot Bin Reset
- Added Announcer voice line when Loot Bin Reset has triggered for improved clarity
- Reduced spawn rate for some high value loot (backpacks, hop ups, gold attachments) after reset
- If a Loot Bin is opened just before the reset happens, loot from that bin will be thrown out onto the ground ensuring players can grab desirable items instead of those items being deleted
- Legendary Loot Bins will roll fewer Gold items via Smart Loot when opened
- Mythic Loot Bins will roll large healing items more consistently
- Updates to Legendary (Gold) Loot Bin spawning logic which reduces the number of spawned Gold Bins and more consistently distributes them across the playable space
Dev Note: You should be rewarded for surviving to the late game. More consistent access to high value loot with Loot Bins has been a great reward, however the rewards were a bit too generous. We’ve reduced the rates of the best items that end the loot chase too soon to maintain the value of continuous looting after Loot Bin Reset. Additionally, no one loves the experience of opening a Loot Bin and seeing something they want, only to have the reset slam it shut in their face. Getting that loot onto the ground ensures you get the full value out of a Loot Bin regardless of the reset timing.
Loot Ticks
- Greatly improved the contents of loot ticks
- Removed white and blue rarity attachments and equipment from possible loot
- Increased the chances to receive gold weapons
- Removed Phoenix Kit and hop-ups from possible loot
Dev Note: Long have Loot Ticks been a bit underwhelming. We’ve increased their power to be more on par with other, more recent sources of high tier loot acquisition.
WEAPONS & LOOT
Havoc Rifle
- Removed Turbocharger as a Hop-up
Dev Note: Even after our most recent round of nerfs, the Havoc is still overperforming compared to our other weapons. Removing its high-valued chase item is intended to tamp down its power level.
R-99 SMG [Care Package]
- Damage fall-off at 11+ meters increased to 11
- Improved recoil
Ammo
- Ammo that spawns with a weapon will now always be a single brick, but with twice the ammo
Dev Note: Previously, there was a 70% chance to spawn two separate ammo bricks and a 30% chance to only spawn one when a weapon spawned with its corresponding ammo. We’ve changed this to clean up the number of items on the ground and slightly increase the ammo economy.
Hop-ups
- Reduced spawn rate of Gun Shield Generator
- Removed Turbocharger from loot pool
Ultimate Accelerant
- Rarity increased to Purple (was Blue)
- Reduced spawn rate
- Increased movement speed while using
Dev Note: Ult Accelerants are in a tricky spot. Their power is clear to some players, being able to chain multiple ultimates in a single engagement, while other players will leave them on the ground in favor of other loot. We want all of our players to understand the power that comes with the Ult Accelerant, but we also don’t want to mess too much with the careful balancing act that comes with Legend ult timing. This change aims to decrease the cadence with which they can be used while also making their power more obvious and convenient to access.
LEGENDS
Fuse
- Hard capped the max radius of the scan area to be 450 (+50% of default ring/flat surface)
- Disallowed mortar targeting on multiple objects within the players control to prevent perfect setups
Dev Note: We gave Fuse the ability to see enemies inside the mortar ring as a quality of life improvement. The scan area would scale as large as necessary to match the area of the ring. This had the unintended side effect of giving a very large scan area when shot on tall objects. Our intention for the ult is to primarily be an area of effect ability, not an information gathering ability.
Rampart
- Lowered delay before you can re-enter Sheila turret to 0.15s (was 1s)
Revenant
- Forged Shadows
- Reduced shield health to 50 (was 75)
- Activation time doubled
Valkyrie
- Now Recon Legend (was Skirmisher)
- Full Tank upgrade now includes a 50% reduction in refuel delay to 4s (was 8s)
- Gains Threat Vision while jetpacking, stays on until feet hit the ground/zipline
- Jetpack UI now has a ‘refuel delay’ timer
- More agile jetpack handling that feels similar to Valk’s release
- Various buffs to improve reliability and output from Tac
- Move slow stun duration increased by 50%
- Missile explosion radius increased by 20%
- Min attack range decreased by 25% (can hit enemies that are closer)
- Max missile travel time now 4s (was 4.5s)
- Fire rate for launching all missiles now 25 (was 18)
- Upgrades
- Aerial Expert: removed
- Full Coverage: moved to Level 2, added reduced Tac cooldown
- NEW Eyes in the Sky: ignores the LoS check on skydive HUD scan, increases HUD highlighting range by 40m
Dev Note: As Evac Towers rose, Valk’s fall from grace was no surprise. After 16 months of everyone having access to more macro-mobility, we used this midseason update to improve all facets of her kit and reevaluate her role as a Skirmisher. We felt that gating full ult potential behind upgrades was still an important playstyle decision and power check for someone with a jetpack for a passive. Do you prefer the combat strength gained from jetpack and tactical upgrades? Or will you opt for skydiving upgrades that can help you spot good landing locations in crowded endgames? Regardless, Threat Vision while jetpacking and her skydive HUD solidify her as a unique Recon pick: “They can have the ground, I own the sky.”
MAPS
Pubs & Ranked
- E-District
- Olympus
- Kings Canyon
MODES
Duos
- Returns September 17, 2024
- Available until the end of Shockwave
New Mode: Knockout
- New 60 player, 20 squad, points-based BR mode
- Squads capture zones and collect EVO to earn points
- Five lowest scoring squads are eliminated at the end of each round
- Players have infinite respawns until the Sudden Death finale
- After 3 rounds, the remaining 5 squads are redeployed for a Sudden Death finale
- Last squad standing wins!
MIXTAPE
- Map Rotations
- September 17-October 14, 2024
- TDM: Thunderdome, Skull Town, Estates
- CONTROL: Caustic Treatment, Labs, Barometer
- GUN RUN: Wattson’s Pylon, Estates, Skull Town
- October 15-21, 2024
- TDM: , Thunderdome, Skull Town
- CONTROL: , Labs, Caustic Treatment
- LOCKDOWN: Estates, Skull Town
- October 22-28, 2024
- BIG TDM: Estates, Skull Town
- CONTROL: Thunderdome, Lava Siphon
- GUN RUN: Wattson’s Pylon, Fragment
- October 29-November 4, 2024
- BIG TDM: Thunderdome, Skull Town
- CONTROL: Labs, Caustic Treatment
- GUN RUN: Estates, Skull Town
RANKED
Ranked has gone through many different layers through the years and of course every player has their favorite rendition. At the end of Upheaval, we stopped baking you Ranked cakes and started baking you Rumble pies. It was a limited run and some of you ate the pies, but realistically everyone that comes to the cake shop is there for cake.
To cut the metaphors, our very first Ranked Rumble was met with rumbles. It didn’t deliver or align with why you’re playing Ranked: grinding for that sweet, sweet icing RP. You let us know about this misalignment and it was also reflected in our participation data. We set out to create a competitive experience that would offer a different flavor and we missed the mark.
Ranked Rumble will not be going live today or at the end of the Shockwave season. We’re going to take it offline and rework some of the fundamental systems to allow for the following goals to be achieved:
- Ranked Rumble should add to the existing Ranked experience, not be a substitute
- Provide a way to earn bonus rewards for competing directly against other players in your tier
- Provide an opportunity for meaningful competition and comparison once you have reached your skill cap
- Capture some of the Top Predator placement magic at every Ranked tier
- Create some of the best matches that Ranked has to offer by bringing more players together
- Create more opportunities for us to gather and respond to feedback, which allows us to dial-in the experience to be more fun and worth your time investment
Ranked Rumble will see a tentative return next season. We hope you’ll continue to enjoy Shockwave’s Ranked and look forward to us talking about Ranked Rumble again in the very near future.
BUG FIXES
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- DX12 PC: fixed issue that prevented Apex from working on third gen Intel CPUs like 3570 and 3770
- Fixed a long standing bug that could cause servers to crash
- Fixed rare case where you could get crushed when mantling over open Loot Bin
- Legendary Loot Bins will no longer spawn too near each other or in clustered groups
- Low Ammo indicators will no longer spam while you’re unarmed
- Minimap icons for used/empty Perk Loot Bins will no longer display
- R-99 restored to Care Packages in Mixtape TDM and Big TDM
- Restored ADS red dot while using “Celestial Sniper” Longbow skin
- Restored Zipline upwards from the second floor of Wattson’s Pylon on Storm Point
- Teams with all max level players can no longer interact with Evo Harvesters
- Vastly reduced the likelihood of being in a constant state of rubberbanding
Loot Bin Reset
- Fixed rare crash related to opening Mythic Supply Bins after Loot Bin reset
- Loot Bin Reset warnings while spectating now shown at correct times
Legends
- Crypto: EMP will no longer occasionally trigger while recalling Hack
- Mad Maggie’s passive will now trigger when hitting gunshields
- Newcastle’s “Swift Speed” upgrade now works as intended
- Wattson
- Emergency Power upgrade will now affect teammates and ult accels
- Resolved issue with health regen in Mixtape
QUALITY OF LIFE
- Added the ability to manage your inventory while healing and ziplining
- Valkyrie: can now cancel the her Tac by melee punching
E-District
- Added assets to aid in climbing up walls in certain areas
- Added two survey beacons to the north side of the map
- Electro Dam’s spillway slope can now be traversed upwards
- Ground loot and Loot Bin count has been increased
- 100 Loot Bins have been added to the map
- Buses now have ground loot
- Various buildings have had their ground loot slightly increased
- Reduced the amount of possible high-tier loot spawning at The Lotus
- Relocated Blossom Drives crafter to the far West side
- Resolved a number of additional bugs and rat spots
GRAPHICS
- DX12 PC: made it easier to use stretched res with a DX12-only CVar, “mat_letterbox_aspect_min”. Setting this value to 1.0 as a launch argument, such as +mat_letterbox_aspect_min 1.0, will let Apex stretch the game resolution as the last-stage of rendering in full screen mode, so that players shouldn’t need to modify anything in system settings or in a GPU vendor’s control panel
- Fixed some performance issues for quad-core CPUs that were introduced Upheaval mid-season
- GPU performance optimizations for rendering FX like legend abilities
