There’s no better way to kick off year seven of Apex Legends than upping the heat of battle. Two heavy hitters that have been in the background a bit too long make their way center stage with updates worthy of Apex Predators, and revamped perks raise up the rest of the Assault Class. No weapon is a bad weapon with buffs across the board for every piece that you can get your hands on. This new meta is cooking and it’s safe to say that this anniversary season flips the season of Support to one of aggression. Coupled with some strong updates for Armor and Helmets, greater access to weapons with the new Arsenals, and reduced visual clutter and time-to-kill has never been faster.

It’s a whole new Outlands—be ready to fight.

Leading the charge this season are two Assault Legends who’ve been flying under the radar and are ready to explode: Ash and Ballistic.

Ash sees a number of improvements this season to her Arc Snare and Phase Breach to make them more effective and reliable. Her snare change lets her snag targets against the strong edge of the tether more often. Her Ult goes farther, travels faster, and endpoint detection has improved to make the targeting stickier and less prone to accidental bad snapping. The big change for Ash is her new passive: Predator's Pursuit. This grants her an omnidirectional short-range dash—enabling her to close the gap on a tethered target or evade swiftly in a close-quarters skirmish. With these changes, Ash is set to become the Apex Predator she was always meant to be.

Ballistic sees some of his favorite upgrades, the extra charge and sling levelling, integrated into his base kit, giving him more utility and versatility in the early game. A new Level 3 upgrade allows him to double his Whistler charges, opening up his utility and crowd control potential immensely. Tempest, his Ult, now also grants a speed bonus—making him a frightening force when he and his team bare down on you. But the big guns? Ballistic's sling can now carry crate weapons, which can spool with infinite ammo when Tempest is active. In Takeover, Ballistic may very well relive his glory days.

Assault Legends are walking arsenals: forged in combat and always ready for a fight. Their abilities grant them incredible combat utility that helps disrupt enemies, threaten their positions, or give them openings to strike. These Legends are enhanced with perks that let them worry less about their weapon economy, bring more explosive power to the table, and give them the combat edge to capitalize on one of core moments in any combat encounter—the shield break.

Combat Reserve

Carry extra ammo per ammo stack

Have two new grenade-only slots in inventory

Retain access to Red Extended Supply Bins

Stowed Reload:

**

stowed weapons automatically reload after 2s

Battle Surge:

**

breaking an enemy’s shields grants a speed burst, fast reloads, and highlights the target enemy for 4s

Over the years, Apex has evolved in so many ways to provide players with more agency and deeper options for how to play, survive, and express their skill. Through that evolution, the benchmark damage for our weapons has stayed stable, but has grown stale. We want to make sure the nuanced flow of combat remains tight and weapons are lethal in order to provide exciting gameplay options. Battle Royales are all about strategy and timing. These are the mechanisms to success, but strategy goes right out the window if encounters are taking too long to resolve and you're dealing with your 3rd, 4th, or even 5th party. This latest suite of changes is designed to keep you in the drivers seat by providing the tools to resolve conflicts faster, getting you back to if the 3rd party is coming and not when. In addition to sweeping weapon buffs, we have taken a look at the defensive side of loot in Apex with some hefty streamlining. Low tier Helmets (white, blue, and purple) have been removed, and rare high value Helmets that provide meaningful gameplay perks have been added in their place. As for Armor, you will no longer level into red tier (125 shields) at Level 4 but will instead be capped at Level 3 (100 shields). However, red shields will still be available in the form of the new Mythic Armor Upgrade Helmet.

Visual clutter in gunfights is no joke. In an attempt to combat this, we’ve reduced the effects and particles you see when you fire your weapon. We believe this update balances increased visual clarity while still selling the impact and fantasy of firing our weapons.

All 1P weapons muzzle flashes have been updated

95% less visual noise over the line of sight (sparks, smoke, glows etc)

Noise/visuals kept below line of sight

Reduced size of muzzle flashes

Optimized particle count

Cleaned noise from shells ejects

Cleaned lingering elements (smoke, sparks, etc)

Light toned down to avoid flickering on weapons and environment models

Care Package

R-99 returns to the floor (balance details below)

Peacekeeper enters the Care Package (balance details below)

Gold Weapon Rotation

Alternator, R-99, Wingman, 30-30 Repeater, Rampage LMG

EVO

Max level achievable by earning EVO is now Level 3 (Purple Armor)

Red Armor no longer earnable through leveling

EVO required to reach Level 3 increased to 1700 (was 1350)

Dev Note: Red armor allowed for a much wider health disparity in the mid to late game which reinforced activities like farming damage on the outskirts and avoiding encounters to collect resources. By lowering the total Armor available to these actions and the levels required to earn them, you can now get end-game ready more easily and focus on what matters most—the fight.

Accelerated Weapons

Assists with an Accelerated Weapon equipped will no longer grant the extra 30% ult charge in Mixtape Modes

NEW Arsenals

These stations provide players with easy and deterministic access to weapons and ammo of their choice.

Stations across all POI's on every map with fixed locations

Ammo type provided randomizes each match

Equipped with an enhancing terminal that upgrades one weapon matching the ammo type per Arsenal

Enhancing grants an upgraded attachment and provides an optic if one is missing

Healing

Cells now take 2.5s to complete (was 3s)

Syringes now take 4s (was 5s)

Cells & Syringes now stack up to 6

Players now start with 4 Cells and 4 Syringes (was 2 each)

Battery and Medkit spawn rates have been slightly increased

Dev Note: Players will undoubtedly need to continue popping meds whenever they can with lowered max health, a universal gold helmet perk, and a ton of weapon buffs. We’ve decided to shave down some of those sharp edges to make healing a little easier across the board.

Helmets

White, blue, and purple have been removed from the loot pool

Players no longer start with a white helmet

Dev Note: Finding and equipping Helmets has always been a bit lackluster in both feeling the impact of wearing one and making the potential damage output a bit murky. Removing headshot damage reduction from the game makes damage more consistent, understandable, and easier to calculate.

Gold Helmet

Reworked into Gold Armor Upgrade Helmet

Offers Improved Minor Healing perk that doubles the output of Cells & Syringes

Sets the player’s Armor to 100 regardless of Level

Leveling still required to unlock Legend Upgrades, but no longer affects armor while equipped

No headshot damage reduction

Chance to appear in Gold Bins after Bin Reset

NEW Mythic Armor Upgrade Helmet

Red tier introduced

Sets player’s armor to 125 regardless of level

Leveling is still required to unlock Legend Upgrades, but no longer affects armor while this item is equipped

Red helmets offer no headshot damage reduction

Appears in the Mythic Bin & late game Care Packages

Dev Note: Both the new Gold and Red Helmets are designed to pull some of the passive power embedded in Legends and put it into the loot pool to create new items to chase and fight for. They’ll also create dynamic gameplay options for players to strategize which squadmates don these powerful new items.

Knocked Down State

Significantly increased crawl speed while knocked with and without knockdown shield raised

POI Names on Drop

Now able to see the name and loot tier of each POI projected over the POI during first drop

Also includes Arsenal info to help drive drop choice

Hop Ups: Hammerpoints have been removed from the loot pool

Gold Magazines: time to reload while stowed decreased to 2s (was 5s)

Optics: 1x Holo optic has been removed from the loot pool

Replicator: reduced the amount of ammo to 1 stack per weapon (was 2 stacks)

Havoc Rifle [Care Package]

Damage increased to 21 (was 18)

Headshot damage: 27

Beam Shot damage increased to 70 (was 53)

Beam Shot headshot damage: 105

Hemlok Burst AR

Damage increased to 20 (was 19)

Headshot damage: 26

Nemesis Burst AR

Damage increased to 17 (was 16)

Headshot damage: 22

R-301 Carbine

Damage increased to 14 (was 13)

Headshot damage: 18

VK-47 Flatline

Damage increased to 19 (was 18)

Headshot damage: 25

Devotion LMG

Damage increased to 16 (was 15)

Headshot damage: 20

L-STAR EMG

Damage increased to 20 (was 18)

Headshot damage: 25

M600 Spitfire

Damage increased to 21 (was 19)

Headshot damage: 26

Rampage LMG

Damage increased to 30 (was 26)

Headshot damage: 38

Reduced the decay rate of the revved state over time

30-30 Repeater

No charge damage increased to 43 (was 39)

No charge headshot damage: 69

Full charge damage increased to 58 (was 53)

Full charge headshot damage: 93

Slightly increased projectile size at long range

Bocek Compound Bow [Care Package]

Damage increased to 75 (was 70)

Headshot damage: 120

Fire rate slightly reduced

Removed Deadeye’s Tempo passive

Shattercaps damage per pellet increased to 13 (was 12)

G7 Scout

Damage increased to 35 (was 33)

Headshot damage: 56

Fire rate slightly reduced

Slightly increased projectile size at long range

Triple Take

Damage per bullet increased to 22 (was 21)

Headshot damage: 105 (all bullets)

Slightly increased projectile size at long range

Dev Note: Marksman weapons sit between the mid-range arsenal and snipers, but find themselves often outclassed by one of their neighbors. Their adjustments this season should make them feel more consistent at range, improve their performance when tracking enemies, and staying on target while providing headshots without stealing the play-making potential of our snipers.

P2020

Damage increased to 24 (was 21)

Headshot damage: 30

RE-45 Auto

Damage increased to 14 (was 13)

Headshot damage: 18

Wingman

Damage increased to 48 (was 45)

Headshot damage: 72

Base magazine size reduced to 5 (was 6)

With added magazine - White: 6, Blue: 7, Purple/Gold: 8

Alternator SMG

Damage increased to 18 (was 16)

Headshot damage: 22

C.A.R. SMG

Damage increased to 14 (was 13)

Headshot damage: 17

Added Laser Sight barrel attachment

Prowler PDW

Damage increased to 16 (was 15)

Headshot damage: 19

R-99 SMG [Floor Loot]

Damage decreased to 13 (was 14)

Headshot damage: 16

No longer has damage fall-off

ADS strafe speed normalized to other SMGs

No longer eliminates movement penalty when equipped

Recoil increased

Volt SMG

Damage increased to 16 (was 15)

Headshot damage: 19

EVA-8 Auto

Damage per pellet increased to 8 (was 7)

No longer deals increased headshot damage

Mastiff Shotgun

Damage per pellet increased to 16 (was 14)

No longer deals increased headshot damage

Mozambique Shotgun

Damage per pellet increased to 16 (was 15)

Headshot damage: 60 (all pellets)

Peacekeeper [Care Package]

Damage per pellet increased to 12 (was 9)

Headshot damage: 135 (all pellets)

Choke speed significantly increased

Fully choked blast pattern is significantly tighter

Pellets pierce dealing 50% damage after the first enemy hit

Dev Note: Shotguns are receiving a base damage increase, but losing their ability to deal increased headshot damage. They already represent incredible burst damage, but hitting those headshots create sharp output spikes that’s difficult to account for. This change creates a more understandable damage landscape that encourages players to land as many pellets as possible (instead of aiming for the head and whiffing half of them). Mozambiques will retain their headshot damage as a hybrid shotgun-pistol and the Care Package version of the Peacekeeper also keeps it to really lean into that slug shotty territory.

Charge Rifle

Base damage unchanged

Headshot damage (min. distance): 135

Headshot damage (max. distance): 198

Autofire headshot damage (min. distance): 101

Autofire headshot damage (max. distance): 149

Limb damage reduced to 70% (was 90%)

Kraber .50-Cal Sniper

Damage increased to 150 (was 140)

Headshot damage: 210

Longbow DMR

Base damage unchanged

Headshot damage: 108

Limb damage reduced to 70% (was 80%)

Sentinel

Base damage unchanged

Headshot damage: 126

Limb damage reduced to 70% (was 90%)

Removed Deadeye’s Tempo passive

Dev Note: For our Snipers, we’ve tuned their headshot damage to be much more impactful rather than increase their base body shot damage. This is to key into their role and fantasy as precision weapons that reward patient and skilled gameplay. To hammer this home, we’ve reduced the amount of damage they deal to limbs. These weapons benefit greatly from well placed shots and we don’t want that to change.

Assault Class Perks

New perks: Combat Reserve, Stowed Reload, & Battle Surge (detailed above)

Removed Carry Extra Ammo & Access Weapon Supply Bin perks (now integrated into Combat Reserve)

Support Class Perks

Heal Expert Removed: Support Legends no longer heal double with small meds or have increased movement speed while healing

Dev Note: The Support Class was very strong last season. The faster movement and double small med heals gave these Legends rapid combat-reset potential that made them effective skirmishers, but didn’t inherently have a team-oriented feel. While this was great during the season of Support, we felt their identity was stronger as revival experts and this change will let them focus on that team-oriented specialization rather than feeling hard to kill.

Ash

Predator’s Pursuit

Removed ability to scan Death Boxes to reveal killers, but they’ll still show on the minimap and map with info on how recently they died

NEW: press the Jump key while in the air to perform a dash

Arc Snare

Tether plants at location of projectile on impact rather than the hit player's location

Tether is slightly harder to break and no longer gets instantly broken by some abilities

Phase Breach

Range increased to 100m (was ~76m)

Travel time reduced

Improved reliability of placement

Removed one frame delay on placement preview

Now has VFX to show max range when in placement mode

Upgrades: Level 2

Murder Machine: removed

One Minute to Live: removed

Greedy Snare: moved to Level 2

NEW Dual Breach: adds additional ult charge

Upgrades: Level 3

NEW Ghost in the Machine: adds additional Dash charge

Dev Note: Ash was overdue for some improvements to her kit to resurge her as a top Apex Predator. Many of her changes aim to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of her abilities: the improved placement, distance and speed of her Ult, and the snare’s tether point snagging from the projectile’s point rather than her escaping target. Most notably, Ash sees the addition of a brand new movement passive - reminiscent of her titan’s ability of yore. Her new dash is an incredibly effective mid-combat repositioning tool or distance closer making her a more effective skirmisher when closing in on her prey or quickly out-maneuvering in a duel. We expect to see a lot of impressive Ash players rise to the top with many of her upgrades doubling her abilities this season.

Ballistic

Sling

Now upgrades with Level by default

Can now carry Crate Weapons and they will gain infinite ammo with Ult

Whistler

Tac now has 2 charges

Overheat reaction time increased to 1.2s (was 1s)

Smart Bullet on ground damage increased to 20 (was 10)

This damage is now equal to the direct hit damage

Tempest: squad gains a speed boost when empowered by Ult

Upgrades: Level 2

Sling Shot: removed (integrated into base kit)

NEW Killing Time: increases duration of Ult by 15s

Upgrades: Level 3

Extra Bullets: doubles the number of Tac charges (was +1 charge)

Quiet Time: Overheat now also silences enemy for 6s

Dev Note: Ballistic has had a few updates, but has never really found his footing to lead the charge. Integrating the Sling and extra bullet upgrades into his kit gives more players access to the core of the Legend while empowering his Ult with speed—increasing his natural combat effectiveness and encouraging his squad to push and engage. Allowing Ballistic to carry a Crate Weapon in his Sling has always been something we’ve been dubious of, but this season we’re taking a bold stance to let Ballistic go…well, ballistic. The increased number of Tac charges should also allow players to more freely deploy the Overheat into their combat patterns or control the field if they also opt into the lasting bullet upgrade, giving more range of play and options for Ballistic.

Crypto

EMP: once again destroys Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection

Loba

Ult back to starting at 50% charge

Dev Note: This was always intended as a short term buff to help Loba shine among an all-star Support lineup. However, it messed with the delicate dance that is landing off drop, which impacted long standing 'good' player behaviors around landing near your squad, looting, and using abilities into slightly more disruptive behaviors.

Maggie

Wrecking Ball

Once again destroys Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection

Will now destroy Newcastle’s Mobile Shield

Dev Note: We’re returning these hard counters to empower Maggie in this Assault-focused season…for now.

Pubs

Kings Canyon

Olympus

Broken Moon

Ranked

Kings Canyon

Olympus

Storm Point

Mixtape

February 11-March 24, 2025

TDM: Thunderdome, Habitat, Skull Town, Estates, Zeus Station

Control: Lava Siphon, Barometer, Labs, Caustic, Thunderdome

Gun Run: Wattson, Estates, Thunderdome, Fragment, Skull Town

Takeover: Mythic Mayhem Royale (February 11-March 3, 2025)

Rampart’s new experimental care packages deliver three Mythic R-301 weapon variants

Hornet (Yellow): faster movement and reload speed, Tac charge on shield break, Ult charge on knock

Limelight (Green): helps replenish your squad’s health and shields when damaging enemies

Vermilion (Red): increases critical hit damage and triggers Thermite on knocked enemies

Redemption Trios & Duos (February 25-March 3, 2025)

In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Ninjayla

Respawn Tokens are a new Mythic rarity Survival Slot item only available in this Takeover. If you are eliminated with this item in your inventory, you’ll immediately respawn back into the action

At the start of the match, all players are given one Respawn Token

Collect additional Respawn Tokens from: eliminating other players, Care Packages, and Mythic Supply Bins

No respawn limit and no penalty for respawning multiple times

Usable until the start of the final ring, then any equipped Respawn Tokens will be exchanged for EVO Armor XP

They only last a short while when on the ground, so pick one up if you need one!

Respawn Beacons can still be used to bring back players without Respawn Tokens

Takeover: Relic Weapons Trios & Duos (March 4-10, 2025)

In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Ninjayla

Weapons spawn fully kitted

Only weapons on the ground are Gold and Mythic tier

Sights can be looted and swapped out, but all other attachments come with the weapon

Increased supply drops each round which carry two Mythic tier weapons

The second Mythic weapon replaces the Evo Caches

Reduced Evo for scanning Care Packages

Standard Trios & Duos

March 11-24, 2025

LTM: Three Strikes Mystery Legends (March 11-24, 2025)

In collaboration with Creator Commissioner: Oraxe

Three Strikes returns with a twist modifier

Mystery Legends

All Legends will be selected for you before entering the Drop Ship

Respawning will select a new random Legend

Squads can have duplicate Legends

With each EVO level up, you’ll gain all upgrades for that Level automatically and your Level will be maintained through respawns

NEW Road to Ranked Challenges

Introduced a new set of challenges to unlock Ranked for new players and returning players who have not yet reached the level requirement.

Level 20 minimum still required to access Ranked and this is reflected as one of the challenges

Existing players above Level 20 retain access

Party restrictions apply: all members must complete challenges to access Ranked

Dev Note: The previous system of only requiring Level 20 was very prone to abuse by third-party bots, and could also be achieved by players who preferred Mixtape or LTMs. This new system will ensure that all new players joining Ranked have done the required work in BR matches and tested their mettle to a sufficient level to earn a spot in the competition.

NEW Bot Royale Tutorial

Notes will appear to assist with Legends, weapons, loot, and gameplay scenarios

Low ammo or health items also receive prompts to ping nearby desired loot items

On by default for accounts below Level 20 and will turn off once that threshold is reached

Can be manually turned on/off through the System menu under “Tutorial Systems”

Weapon Mastery

Trial simplification

Re-designed all trials

Removed weapon level restriction for trials

Dev Note: The current Weapon Mastery system presented some issues, including overly complex gating mechanics that disrupt progression, trials demanding high player skill levels, and excessive reliance on randomness that can slow or stall progress. These new trials remove unnecessary randomness, shifting the focus back to the essence of weapon usage: dealing damages and eliminating enemies. If you’ve already completed trials and earned rewards they will remain unaffected. If your trials were partially completed or 90% done, no problem! Your progress will be converted, no need to start over.

Fixed an issue where the Mythic Bin could become merged with a Gold Bin

Fixed more firing range realm spawning issues:

Thermite VFX

Maggie ball bouncing off of invisible doors

Mirage decoys getting stuck on invisible doors

Fixed rare issue that could prevent the ring VFX and other particles from spawning

Mixtape: swapping to secondary akimbo weapons from loadouts will no longer play the first draw animation

PK will no longer occasionally lock up after using the Choke

Rechamber times can no longer be bypassed on the Sentinel and PK by swapping attachments

Reactive weapons will no longer lose their reactive state after swapping

Squadmate animations once again play during Legend selection

"View upgrades" button in Legend locker will no longer take you to friends list

Alter / Ash / Wraith: Void Vision (enemy highlighting) no longer applies on enemy portals

Alter: Upgrades Tactical Cooldown+ and Void Vision returned to correct tier placements

Lifeline

Crashing will no longer occur when gliding or using the D.O.C. Heal Drone

Gliding will no longer occasionally lower performance

Pathfinder grapple can once again attach to D.O.C. Halo

Mirage

Fixed a crash that could occur when using Mirage's Ult near Gravity Cannons

Lifeline’s D.O.C. now cloaks properly to prevent revealing Mirage (previous hotfix)

Newcastle: Ult no longer canceled by Ash’s snare

Revenant

Resolved rare crash that could occur when pouncing

Shadow Pounce now plays leap audio when spectating a Revenant

Wattson: fixed upgrade that was allowing the placement of two interception pylons

Valkyrie: Tac now working inside of D.O.C. Halo and near Dome of Protection’s edges

Vantage: sprinting no longer available while using Ult Accelerant

Added further hardening to prevent hipfire cheats

Added Account Level details

Info about your Account Level progress and rewards granted at each future level

Accessed via Lobby (top left), also displays XP bar and level progress

Adjustments to Match Summary

XP Gain, Challenge, and Pass progression added to end of match flow

Squad Summary section now picks from a small set of stats instead of always showing “Revives,” “Respawns,” and “Time Survived” for unranked Duos and Trios

Mixtape: disabled assist Ult gain with accelerated weapons which allowed for some Ults to be used too quickly

Reactive skins now show their effects in the lobby menus

Some Rat Spots have been eliminated across all maps

AI Bots: Cover and Peeking

Can now use geometry in the environment as cover

Can also utilize “peeking” behavior to provide more of a challenge

Plethora of bug fixes across all parts of the Bot experience

Improvements and tuning on Easy and Normal difficulty Bots (E1 - N3 Difficulty)

Added Mono output option for players with limited hearing

Mono audio combines left and right sound channels into one, making it easier for players with hearing impairments to hear all audio cues. It ensures no important sounds are missed, regardless of ear or stereo positioning.

Friendly footsteps volume and audible distance reduced

Friendly skydive volume reduced to allow for strategizing during drop (enemy volumes unchanged)

Increased importance for zipline attach/detach and doors to ensure they are heard more consistently

Reduced volume of squadmate and ambient audio while enemies are being revived

Reduced volume for Fuse's Tac and Ult

Reduced volume for Survey Beacons and Ring Consoles for self and squadmates (enemy volumes unchanged)

Dev note: Audio can be crucial whether you’re the squad attacking or the one being attacked. We’ve adjusted multiple audio cues to assist with combat effectiveness, and have a few more initiatives in the works to optimize audio throughout the match.

Improved CPU rendering performance on all consoles

DX12 (PC)

Changed the way that ultrawide monitors handle 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions in full-screen mode. They will now have pillarboxing (black borders on left and right) and no stretching. This behavior can be disabled with +mat_wide_pillarbox 0 launch argument, if stretching is desired.

CPU rendering performance improved 5%-10% (situation based) and some frame drops may be reduced

Added a launch argument +mat_minimize_on_alt_tab 1 that allows behavior similar to DX11 where tabbing away from/clicking out of the fullscreen game causes Apex to minimize

Improved loading performance after compiling shaders for the first time (up to 30% faster on some systems). Note that shaders always need to be pre-loaded to minimize gameplay stuttering.

Added a launch notification for players with incompatible GPUs that DX11 support will be discontinued

Play Apex Legends™ for free* now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam.

Follow Apex Legends™ on X, Instagram, TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums.

Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends™ news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email.

This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates.

*Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases.

†Not available in all territories.