Due to the huge success of the Final Fantasy event, the developers made the decision to carry on the pattern of releasing universal heirlooms in Apex Legends. So, here we are with the new Shadow Society Collection Event.

Similar to the Final Fantasy crossover, the Shadow Society event features 36 cosmetic items. The ultimate reward, which is the Cobalt Katar melee, is a universal heirloom. Apart from these two changes, everything else remains almost the same as the previous Collection Events. Here’s a glimpse of everything coming with the Shadow Society event on March 26, 2024.

Lockdown LTM

You have to stick together with your team and protect your turf in Lockdown, the first-ever four-squad free-for-all fight for control. You and your teammates will start off with regular TDM gear and aim to find capture zones scattered across small, chaotic maps like Thunderdome, Skulltown, Zeus Station, and Monument.

Your mission? Score points by grabbing those zones, keeping them safe, and knocking out rival players. Hit 500 points first, and you’ll claim victory. So, round up your squad, get ready for the showdown, and let’s dominate Lockdown!

New Universal Heirloom: Cobalt Katar

Since universal heirlooms will be released on a regular basis, Respawn decided to give them a name. According to Respawn, this mythic tier melee is classified as “Apex Artifacts.” Like the Buster Sword, any Legend in the game can equip Apex Artifacts. The same goes for Cobalt Katar. You can use it with any Legend once you unlock it.

36 Cosmetic Items

Unlike most Collection Events, the Shadow Society will feature 36 collectible items instead of 24. To get the Cobalt Katar Artifact, you have to unlock all 36 cosmetic items from the event. Here are some of the Legendary items from Shadow Society.

You can also get Milestone Rewards for unlocking 5, 10, 20, and 36 items.

• For unlocking 5 items, you receive the “Coin Purse Weapon Charm.”
• For unlocking 10 items, you receive the “Make it Rain Holospray.”
• For unlocking 20 items, you receive the “Clean the Pipes Emote.”
• For unlocking all 36 items, you receive the “Tax Collector Deathbox.”

Free Rewards

Like always, there are always free rewards for completing specific challenges during the event. For the Shadow Society event, you have to earn reputation by completing daily tasks. After that, you can use these reputation points to unlock rewards of your choice from the Reward Shop. The rewards will rotate every week.

1st Week Rewards

2nd Week Rewards

3rd Week Rewards

The Apex Legends Shadow Society event is set to launch on March 26, 2024. If you’re eyeing the Cobalt Katar heirloom, be prepared to dig deep into your pockets, as it comes with a hefty price tag. However, if it is not something you are looking for, the event also introduces the exhilarating Lockdown LTM, coupled with a bunch of free rewards awaiting your discovery.

More Related: Apex Legends Shadow Society Event Patch Notes

The post Apex Legends Shadow Society Collection Event: Cobalt Katar Heirloom, 36 Cosmetics, Lockdown LTM & More appeared first on GameRiv.

Apex Legends will release its mid-season update next week. Apart from the Cobalt Katar heirloom and tons of other cosmetic items, there’ll also be some important balance changes coming to the game.

Here’s the full patch notes coming with the Shadow Society event:

Breakout Mid-season Patch Notes

Balance Update

Care Package

• The first set of Care Packages will not contain Red weapons (Kraber, EVA-8, Wingman, Bocek)
• Seasonal Gold weapons now spawn in their place (R-301, RE-45, Mastiff, Devotion, 30-30)
• The second and third sets of Care Packages are unchanged

Weapon Spawn Rates

• Assault Rifle and Marksman Rifle spawn rates normalized per zone. Now, the Assault and Marksman rifles will have equal distribution in all POIs.

WEAPONS

CAR (from the Season 20 launch, missed in Patch Notes)

• ADS vertical recoil slightly increased

EVA-8 [Care Package]

• Blast pattern tightened
• Initial projectile size increased
• Improved handling
• Reduce ammo reserves to 64 (was 96)

Rampage

• Energize time was slightly reduced to better match the animation

Wingman [Care Package]

• Ammo Reserves decreased to 72 (was 90)
• Can no longer equip the 1x Digital Threat
• The optic is no longer locked and can be replaced

Legends

Ballistic

• Upgrades
  • Ammuvision: removed
  • Lasting Bullet: moved to Level 2
  • NEW Speedy Whistler: successful hits with Tactical give a 2s burst of speed (Level 3)

Bangalore

• Rolling Thunder: Cooldown increased to 4.5 min (was 4)
• Smoke Launcher
  • Cooldown increased to 35s (was 33)
  • No longer deals damage
  • Smoke duration decreased to 11s (was 18)
  • Smoke particles now dissipate faster
• Upgrades: Level 2
  • Big Bang: removed
  • NEW Tactical Cooldown: reduces Tactical cooldown by 5s
• Upgrades: Level 3
  • Cover Me: Auto-Ping no longer tracks the player who triggered double time
  • Refuge: Heal Rate increased to 3.5 HP/s (was 3HP/s)

Bloodhound

• Upgrades
  • Odin’s Glare: moved to Level 2
  • Tactical Cooldown: moved to Level 3

Caustic

• Gas Damage now increases by 1 each tick (was 5/5/6/6, etc.)
  • Downed players still only receive 5/tick
• The gas Slow effect now only applies on the first damage tick for 2s
• Upgrades
  • Particle Diffuser: moved to Level 3
  • Residual Toxins: moved to Level 2

Conduit

• Radiant Transfer
  • Cooldown Increased to 31s (was 26)
  • Regen Interruption delay time increased to 2s (was 1)

Fuse

• Upgrade – Wreckless: explosive damage is now reduced by 50% (was 25%)

Lifeline

• Upgrades: Level 2
  • Tactical Cooldown+: removed 
  • NEW Tactical Cooldown++: Tactical Cooldown reduced by 25s (making the cooldown time equal to its deployment duration, so you always have DOC)
• Upgrades: Level 3
  • Gift Wrapped: removed
  • NEW Gold-Plated: next Package spawns with Golden Gear
    • EVO Cache, Gold Knockdown Shield, Gold Backpack
    • Also contains 1 Shield Battery, 1 Medkit, and either a Phoenix Kit or a Mobile Respawn Beacon

Octane

• Upgrade – Wreckless: explosive damage is now reduced by 50% (was 25%)

Pathfinder

• Upgrade – Zipline Zen: damage reduction increased to 50% (was 25%)

Revenant

• Forged in Shadows
  • Knocks no longer refresh the Tactical during Ultimate
  • Tactical Cooldown is no longer shorter during Ultimate
  • Ultimate Cooldown Increased by 60s
• Upgrades
  • Agile Assassin: removed
  • Tactical Cooldown: moved to Level 3
  • NEW Ultimate Cooldown: reduces Ult Cooldown by 30s (Level 2)

Seer

• Focus of Attention: decreased activation delay to 1.2s (was 1.4)
• Upgrades
  • Artist’s Reach: moved to Level 2
  • Long View: moved to Level 3
  • Racing Hearts: removed (now integrated into base Tactical)
  • NEW Ultimate Cooldown: reduces Ult Cooldown by 30s (Level 2)

Wraith

• Upgrades
  • Tactical Cooldown: moved to Level 3
  • Ultimate Cooldown: moved to Level 2

Maps

Map Rotation

• Pubs
  • Storm Point
  • Olympus
  • Broken Moon
• Ranked
  • Storm Point
  • Olympus
  • World’s Edge
• Mixtape
  • Control: Barometer, Production Yard, Thunderdome
  • Gun Run: Monument, Skulltown, Thunderdome
  • TDM: Monument, Thunderdome, Zeus Station

Modes

• NEW LTM: Lockdown
  • Capture and hold zones to score points
  • Lockdown map rotation: Thunderdome, Skulltown, Zeus Station, and Monument
• Three Strikes Updates
  • Revive time reduced to 2.0s
  • Players revived with 100% health and 0% shields
  • New minimum guaranteed loot system – ensures you respawn with a competitive version of your loadout and inventory.
• Mixtape
• Control: Players respawning on the Mobile Respawn Beacon enter a skydive when they exit the dropship ( instead of free-falling down as they previously did )
• Kill Replay
  • Now show hitmarkers and damage numbers
  • Round-winning replays now show the killer’s banner
• NEW Map: Monument
  • Supports TDM, Gun Run, and Lockdown

World Systems

• EVO Harvester
  • Changed sound fx that play for both the player and their teammates collecting EVO
  • Removed problematic spawn locations on Storm Point near map edges
• EVO Rewards
  • Changed for respawning and reviving teammates to prevent exploitation
  • Changed for scanning Ring Consoles to prevent excess EVO gain
• Wildlife & NPC: Spiders, Prowlers, and other NPC will now respect the rules of the ring, take appropriate ring damage, and be affected by heat shields

Bug Fixes

• Dynamic resolution scaling no longer incorrectly decreases resolution on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S which could cause a blurry image especially in Performance Mode
• Kill Replay
  • Fixed issues with phantom healing UI displaying in round-winning Kill Replays
  • Fixed some issues with flickering and mispredictions on some weapons when firing
  • No longer crashes clients with some weapons while firing
• Mirage’s Heirloom “Too Much Witt” correctly shows its name in kill feed and death recap
• No longer lower the loot quality within the Icarus ship’s vault if Solar Array is the Hot Zone
• Ranked: placement now appears consistently after player or squad is wiped
• Resolved performance hitches after playing a plethora of games back-to-back
• Wattson’s pylons are now properly interrupted by large doors
• World’s Edge: resolved invisible collision issue at Monument preventing shooting

Legends

• Ballistic
  • No longer generates ammo when swapping weapon from sling in the inventory
  • Lock-on will be more reliable in close range
• Crypto: resolved drone being destroyed by EMPs from invisible players in Firing Range

Quality of Life

• Ammo loaded into extended magazines will now be refunded to the player if the extended magazine is removed
• Crypto: new VO line when drone is destroyed by the environment instead of another player
• Default Legend pick (whoever you were in Lobby) now shows as your selection to teammates unless you hover over another legend
• NEW Firing Range options
  • Dummy Highlights On/Off
  • Lock Legend Upgrades
• Jumpmaster selection updated to make it less likely that you’re the jumpmaster if you’re under level 5 or were the Jumpmaster last match 
• Reduced FPS stuttering
• Reactives now appear at the top of lists and have a shimmer effect

More Related: Expert Hacker Reviews Whether Apex Legends Has RCE Vulnerability and if it is Safe to Play Right Now

The post Apex Legends Shadow Society Event Patch Notes appeared first on GameRiv.

Respawn has been going strong with the constant updates to Apex Legends. The popular Battle Royale game is entering its 20th season with all-new goodies for the player base.

Their ‘freemium’ model pays dividends as the cosmetic items in Apex Legends are more popular than ever. This time, Season 20’s Battle Pass includes new cosmetic items, sky emotes, banners, seasonal trackers, music packs, and more to keep things fresh. Here’s everything you need to know about Breakout.

Read More: Apex Legends Season 20 “Breakout” Full Patch Notes

Season 20 “Breakout” Battle Pass First Look

Apex Legends is going with a unique approach with this season’s Battle Pass theme. Based on the shared cosmetics of Bangalore and Lifeline, the theme clearly seems to be inspired by Mortal Combat. However, the main attraction of this season’s Battle Pass will be the reactive R99 skin.

Premium Rewards

Bangalore

Lifeline

Ash

Crypto

Fuse

Reactive Skin: R99 SMG

Apex Legends featured two reactive R99 skins in Season 7. However, due to the SMG’s popularity, the developers are bringing the R99 skins back again as reactive skin rewards in Season 20 Premium Battle Pass. Players can unlock these skins by reaching 100 and 110 Breakout Battle Pass levels.

Skydive Emote

Free Rewards

Even without buying the Battle Pass, players can still unlock many rewards as they level up. At any point, the Pass can be purchased and all Premium Rewards up to that level will be automatically redeemed.

You can unlock a Pathfinder Character Skin, 7 Apex Packs, 11 Weapon Skins, 4 Load Screens, Win Trackers for all Legends, 2 Music Packs, 200 Apex Coins, Season Badge.

Season 20 Breakout Battle Pass Price

Expect to pay around 950 Apex coins to unlock the season 20 Battle Pass, which equals approximately $10 based on previous Battle Passes.

Season 20 Breakout Battle Pass Release Date

The Battle Pass will be released alongside Season 20 on February 13, 2024.

Read More: Apex Legends’ Upcoming Legend “Alter” Seemingly Leaked

The post Apex Legends Season 20 “Breakout” Battle Pass appeared first on GameRiv.

Apex Legends Season 20 is approaching fast. According to what we’ve seen so far, the developers have named it “Breakout,” and it’ll come out on February 13, 2024.

Unlike the previous three seasons, there will be tons of new content coming to Season 20. Most of the changes have already been revealed by the likes of Gameinformer and other leakers.

However, there were still some major to minor changes that were not published. Thankfully, the patch notes have been revealed by Respawn, so we don’t have to speculate anymore. So, without further ado, let’s see what Season 20 of Apex Legends has in store for us.

Read More: Apex Legends’ Upcoming Legend “Alter” Seemingly Leaked

Season 20 Official Patch Notes

Breakout Rewards

Breakout Map Rotation

• Olympus
• Storm Point
• World’s Edge

Performance Mode: 120Hz

On PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X, the Video Settings menu has a new “Performance” mode option that is available to players with 120Hz displays. This option targets 120 FPS performance with content optimizations and reductions to visual quality.

Crafting

• Decreased interaction time with Replicators
• Inventory can now be accessed from the crafting menu
• Printed items left alone will auto-eject from the Replicator after some time

World’s Edge: Rampart’s Big Maude

• All Big Maude paintball weapons are now free, but they will take time to dispense from their vending machines. Once a player has claimed their free weapon, they cannot get another. Loba will still be able to steal a second gun with her Black Market. There is also an increased variety of weapons to choose from, but gold-kitted weapons are no longer offered at Big Maude.

Legend Upgrades

Assault Class

ASH

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Murder Machine	Call out the number of squads within 150 meters after a squad wipe.
	One Minute to Live	Using Passive tracks enemy position on map for 60 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Greedy Snare	Arc Snare remains in play for 24 seconds and can catch multiple enemies.
	Twin Snares	Gain an Arc Snare charge.

BALLISTIC

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Ammuvision	See relevant ammo types in Death Boxes.
	Care Package Insight	Reveal the most valuable item in Care Packages.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Extra Bullet	Gain a Smart Bullet charge.
	Lasting Bullet	Smart Bullet duration is tripled.

BANGALORE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Big Bang	See nearby ordnance through walls and on Death Boxes.
	Ultimate Cooldown+	Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 60 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Cover Me	Auto-Ping enemies who trigger Double Time.
	Refuge	Regenerate HP while inside Smoke.

FUSE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Big Bang	See nearby ordnance through walls and on Death Boxes.
	Scar Tissue	Take 50% less damage and no slow effects from The Motherlode.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Knuckle Hustler	Short speed boost on successful Knuckle Cluster hit.
	Wreckless	Take 25% less explosive damage.

MAD MAGGIE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Fire Ball	Wrecking Ball catches fire and explodes in thermite.
	Shots Shots Shots	Auto-Reload shotguns on knock.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Big Drill	Increase depth and width of Tactical by 50%.
	Drillslinger	Gain a Riot Drill charge; reduce active duration by 25%.

Skirmisher Legend

HORIZON

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Battery Collection	Shield Battery count shown above Death Boxes.
	Big Bang	See nearby ordnance through walls and on Death Boxes.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Tactical Cooldown	Reduce Tactical cooldown by 5 seconds.
	Ultimate Cooldown	Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 30 seconds.

OCTANE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Thick Skin	Take 25% less Stim damage.
	Wreckless	Take 25% less explosive damage.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Airborne Agility	Change directions with the Launch Pad double-jump.
	Mad Hops	Gain an extra Launch Pad charge.

PATHFINDER

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Field Research	Gain access to Survey Beacons.
	Ringmaster	Gain access to Ring Consoles.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Down and Away	Grapple cooldown reset on knock.
	Zipline Zen	Take 25% less damage while riding energized Ziplines.

REVENANT

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Murder Machine	Call out the number of squads within 150 meters after a squad wipe.
	Tactical Cooldown	Reduce Tactical cooldown by 5 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Agile Assassin	Total Shadow Pounce charge time reduced by 20%.
	Grim Leaper	Shadow Pounce cooldown reset on knock.

VALKYRIE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Aerial Expert	Increased horizontal Jetpack speed and acceleration.
	Afterburners	Launch 15% higher with Skyward Dive.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Full Coverage	Widen Missile Swarm pattern from 4×3 to 3×5.
	Full Tank	Increase Jetpack fuel by 25%.

WRAITH

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Sixth Sense	Passive warns when nearby squad count increases.
	Tactical Cooldown	Reduce Tactical cooldown by 5 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Fast Phase	Reduce Tactical wind-up by 20%.
	Ultimate Cooldown+	Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 60 seconds.

Recon Legends

BLOODHOUND

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Raven’s Blessing	White Ravens charge Ultimate by 25% when activated.
	Tactical Cooldown	Reduce Tactical cooldown by 5 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Odin’s Glare	Double the duration of Tactical’s full-body highlight.
	Taste of Blood	Gain 25 HP on knocks while Ultimate is active.

CRYPTO

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Tactical Cooldown+	Reduce Tactical cooldown by 10 seconds.
	Ultimate Cooldown	Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 30 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Network Expansion	Increase Neurolink and EMP range by 25%.
	Network Traffic	Deploying the Drone calls out squads in the area.

SEER

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Long View	Increase Passive and Tactical range to 75m.
	Racing Hearts	Faster movement using Passive.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Artist’s Reach	Increase the throw range of Ultimate by 20 meters.
	Focus Scan	Increase Tactical scan duration by 1.5 seconds.

VANTAGE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Ringmaster	Gain access to Ring Consoles.
	Ultimate Reload	Ultimate Accelerants grant +2 bullets.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Bat Bounce	Improved Tactical’s double-jump.
	Sharpshooter	Refresh Tactical on hits with Ultimate.

Controller Legends

CATALYST

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Long Cast	Increase Spike throw range by 40%.
	Sister Spikes	Increase max number of active Spikes by one.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Long Veil	Increase Ultimate length by 15 meters.
	Resilient Veil	Increase Ultimate lifetime by 5 seconds.

CAUSTIC

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Parabolic Force	Increase Tactical throw range by 75%.
	Particle Diffuser	Increase Ultimate area of effect by 50%.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Breathe It In	Regenerate HP while enveloped in Nox Gas.
	Residual Toxins	Nox Vision persists for longer.

RAMPART

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Bandolier	Carry extra ammo per stack.
	Ultimate Cooldown	Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 30 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Amped Reloads	Reload faster with Sheila or when behind Amped Cover.
	Ramped Up	Improved Mobile Sheila handling and spin up time by 20%.

WATTSON

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Falling Stars	Pylon interceptions spawn Arc Stars at its base.Enemy attacks only.1.5s cooldown between spawns.Arc Stars must be picked up before more than five can be spawned.
	Fresh Start	Allies are revived with 50 HP.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Power Pylon	Double Ultimate’s HP and Shield Regen capacity.
	Split Circuit	Place up to 2 Pylons with half the shield regen capacity and use Ultimate Accelerants twice as fast.

Support Legends

CONDUIT

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Battery Collection	Shield Battery count shown above Death Boxes.
	Radiant Transfer	Increase Tactical range by 10 meters.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Bigger Jam	Each Ultimate jammer’s damage radius increased by 10%.
	Split Charge	Gain a Tactical charge but halve shield regen duration.

GIBRALTAR

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Fresh Start	Allies are revived with 50 HP.
	Shots Shots Shots	Auto-Reload shotguns on knocks.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Baby Bubble	Reduce Tactical size and cooldown by 25%.
	Bubble Bunker	Increase Tactical lifetime by 4 seconds.

LIFELINE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Rapid Response	Increase Revive speed by 20%.
	Tactical Cooldown+	Reduce Tactical cooldown by 10 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Gift Wrapped	Next Lifeline Care Package is a Supply Drop.
	Last Stand	Gain a Self-Revive.

LOBA

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	High Value	Increase Tactical height and range.
	Market Expansion	Increase Ultimate range by 25%.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Shopping Spree	Loba can take an extra item from Black Markets.
	Tactical Cooldown	Reduce Tactical cooldown by 5 seconds.

MIRAGE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Miracle Worker	Allies are revived with health regen up to 75 HP.
	More Me	Gain an Ultimate Decoy; reduce cooldown by 30 seconds.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Bamboozle Bonus	Refresh Tactical on successful Bamboozles.
	Me Two	Gain a Decoy charge (can have both active at once).

NEWCASTLE

	Level 2 Upgrade Options
	Swift Shield	Increase Mobile Shield speed to weapon sprint speed.
	Thick Shield	Mobile Shield segments gain 250 HP.
	Level 3 Upgrade Options
	Miracle Worker	Allies are revived with health regen up to 75 HP.
	Stronghold	+250 Castle Wall HP; extend energized barrier duration to 2 minutes.

Patch Notes

• Added Tags: a 3-4 character piece of flair ahead of players’ usernames that appear everywhere usernames do
  • Clubs are being retired—check out the Highlights blog for more details
• Events moved into a dedicated tab in the Lobby (out of Seasonal tab)

Balance Updates

Crafting 2.0

• Crafting Rotation is no more, all weapons and loot are back on the floor
• Crafting options reduced to Shield Battery, Medkit, Ammo, and Player Banners
• Inventory can now be accessed from the Crafting menu
• Rampart’s Big Maude
  • All paintball weapons are now free, dispense time increased
  • Increased variety of weapons, but gold kitted weapons no longer offered
  • One free weapon per player, per match (Loba can steal a second with Black Market)
• Replicators
  • Each individual Replicator is now single-use per player, per match
  • Every game will start with 12 spawned
  • Decreased interaction time with instant printing
  • Printed items left alone will auto-eject from the Replicator after some time

Care Package Weapon Rotation

• EVA-8 enters the Care Package
• Prowler returns to the floor

Gold Weapons Rotation

• R-301, RE-45, Mastiff, Devotion, 30-30

Weapons & Attachments

30-30

• Base damage reduced to 39 (was 42)
• Ammo capacity
  • Base capacity unchanged (6)
  • White Magazine reduced to 7 (was 8)
  • Blue Magazine reduced to 8 (was 10)
  • Purple & Gold Magazine reduced to 10 (was 12)
• Skullpiercer headshot multiplier reduced to 2.0 (was 2.1)
• Dual Loader removed as an integrated Hop-Up, now only loads 1 shell per reload
• Marksman Stock reload speed bonus normalized to match other sniper weapons
• Reloading 3 shells in a row now increases reload speed by 20% for the remainder of the reload

EVA-8 [Care Package]

• Damage reduced to 6 (was 7)
• Fire rate increased to 3 (was 2.4)
• Recoil reduced to better match the much faster fire rate
• Hammer Points: 20% damage increase against flesh (+1 damage)
• Gold Shotgun Bolt: shells reloaded on slide increased to 2 (was 1)
  • Note: this change only affects the Care Package EVA-8

Hemlock

• Damage reduced to 20 (was 21)
• Hipfire spread increased
• Spread delay increased to 0.28 (was 0.21)

L-Star

• Can no longer equip Barrel Attachments

Prowler [Floor]

• Reverted to non-Care Package version
  • Damage decreased to 15 (was 16)
  • Select Fire Hop-Up removed
• Burst delay increased to 0.28 (was 0.24)
• Spread delay increased to 0.28 (was 0.15)

R-99

• ADS vertical and horizontal recoil increased

R-301

• Hipfire spread reduced

SMG Ballistics

• Projectile gravity increased across all SMGs
• Projectile launch speed reduced across most SMGs (Prowler unchanged)

1x Digital Threat

• Can no longer be equipped to SMGs
• Spawn rates reduced by 20%

Laser Sights

• Spread multipliers reduced
  • White Laser Sight adjusted to x0.9 (was x0.8)
  • Blue Laser Sight adjusted to x0.8 (was x0.6)
  • Purple Laser Sight adjusted to x0.7 (was x0.4)

Legends

Heavy-Rig Legends (Gibraltar, Caustic, Pathfinder, Newcastle, Revenant)

• Now use medium-rig first-person movement animations
• Actual game speeds have not changed, these Legends will feel less sluggish when running

Support Legends

• Extended Supply Bin contents have been improved (see below)

Ballistic

• Sling: Sling Weapons now have all White attachments while equipped
• Tempest: effect radius for ally range has been increased to 90m (was 13m)

Bloodhound

• Tracker: Raven scan’s Ult Charge is now gated behind the Hunting Ravens upgrade

Catalyst

• Dark Veil:
  • lifetime decreased to 15s (was 25s)
  • length decreased to 40m (was 55m)

Conduit

• Radiant Flash
  • Cooldown increased to 26s (was 21s)
  • Temporary Shield generation rate decreased to 15HP/s (was 20HP/s)
  • Temporary Shield generation time increased to 9s (was 8s)
• Energy Barricade
  • Mine duration reduced to 45s (was 60s)
  • Mine HP reduced to 200HP (was 250HP)
  • The distance at which mines are removed when deployed too close to one another has been increased by ~100%

Crypto

• Surveillance Drone
  • Speed of drone recall has been increased slightly
  • Transitions going in and out of drone are now faster

Horizon

• Gravity Lift: cooldown increased to 25s (was 20s)

Lifeline

• In modes with Upgrade Cores enabled, Lifeline’s Care Package now has a 50/50 chance to drop an extra piece of smart equipment (vs. large consumable) instead of an Armor

Mad Maggie

• Wrecking Ball
  • Will no longer be destroyed on first enemy hit
    • Instead, the Wrecking Ball will trigger an explosion then keep going, allowing for a second explosion to trigger later
    • The same player cannot be hit again by the ball for 2s after first impact
    • Players can only be affected by the shellshock and knockback effects once
  • Will now bounce through devices it hits and destroys

Octane

• Jump Pad: audio falloff of double-jump has been adjusted to be slightly less audible from long distances

Pathfinder

• Insider Knowledge
  • Scanning Care Packages now awards 50% Ult Charge (was 100%) and 15s Ult Cooldown (was 10s)
  • This also applies to Ring Console or Survey Beacon scans

Maps

Map Updates

• The Apex Games Museum on World’s Edge has an all-new exhibit that honors the history of the Outlands and the origin of the Games. Filled with interactive kiosks, artwork and red carpet flair, the museum has many interesting tidbits of information, community artwork and even some easter eggs.
• Special celebration dressing in the form of flags, banners, and even the return of our larger than life Legend balloons can be found on every map. This year features an all-new cast designed with the Breakout aesthetic in mind. 
• Tridents, jump balloons, gravity cannons, loot bins and more have a fresh look to compliment the theme of the season.

Thunderdome

Feel the energy as the crowd comes alive in our first custom Mixtape map!

• Immerse yourself in the action of a focused 3-lane multiplayer map, designed for fast-paced gameplay
• Playable for all mixtape game modes: Team Deathmatch, Gun Run, and Control
• Get hyped listening to the cheers from the crowd in the arena stands

Modes

• Mixtape
  • Updated Loadouts to reflect Weapon Meta changes
  • Gun Run: removed Charge Rifle, added Kraber
• NEW LTM: Straight Shot—check out the collection event blog for more details
  • Players spawn above a random POI and skydive in, no Jumpmaster
  • Weapons spawn kitted at different rarities, streamlining loot
  • Reduced Lobby to 30 players and shorter rounds
  • Requeue with your party directly from the death screen

Ranked

Check out our Breakout Highlights blog for more details on Ranked Reloaded.

• Level requirement now 20 (was 50)
  • Entry cost will return: 20 RP per Tier starting at Silver
• Player Rankings now visible
• Promotional Trials have been removed
• Provisional Matches have been removed
• Ranked Tier RP requirements will have some increases
• RP value will be used to matchmake. For full-stack premades, the highest RP value in the squad will be used.
• Splits are returning
  • Start at 1 RP at the beginning of the Season, split will drop ranking by 6 divisions
• Updated Bonuses
  • Challenger Bonus: earn a 50% bonus on a elimination of a higher ranked player that was contributed to
  • Top 5 Streak Bonus: for maintaining a placement streak of 5th or better, earn up to a maximum of a 40 RP bonus
    • 2 match streak: +10 RP
    • 3 match streak: +20 RP
    • 4 match streak: +30 RP
    • 5+ match streak: +40 RP

World Systems

Extended Supply Bins 

• Extended Supply Bins now give Smart Gear
  • Players can find gear upgrades for Knockdown Shields, Helmets, and Backpacks in the hidden shelf
  • Small chance of granting purple gear if a player on the squad has white gear or none at all
  • Small chance of granting gold gear if the entire squad has purple gear
• More reliably gives Heat Shields & MRBs when needed
• Increased likelihood of getting Med Kit over Syringes

Ring Exploit Prevention

• Players spending too much time outside the Ring will be warned, then eliminated

Bug Fixes

• Double-clicking in the Melee Tab now equips items
• Firing Range dummies no longer clip through damaged doors
• Heat Shields and Legend Ult items can no longer be placed on Tridents
• In-match Challenge display now lists all 5 challenges
• Player created pings can once again be removed
• Players will no longer teleport into the building overlooking the fight night ring via Trident
• Valkyrie can no longer get under the turbine on Olympus
• Voiceline while picking up enemy Banner Cards no longer indicates it is a squadmate

Audio

• Most in-game dialogue is now synchronized between clients
• Squad members can now be muted while spectating

Graphics

• DX12 (PC) fixed several causes of crashes

Legends

• Ash Ult, Rampart Tac/Ult, Wattson Tac/Ult, and Loba Ult can no longer be placed out of bounds
• Conduit’s Tac now appears for observers
• Mad Maggie’s Ult now destroys Gibby’s Tac
• Mirage decoys that are destroyed by Catalyst’s Piercing Spikes no longer keep the trap active nor make hit sounds briefly after dying

Quality of Life

• Destructible Legend abilities have consistent damage feedback
  • Objects which previously showed red (flesh) damage numbers will now show as gray and the damage numbers will indicate if the object is destroyed
  • Increased visibility for gray damage numbers

• Firing Range: Nessie was inspired after watching some centuries old videos and wanted to change things up a bit. The yellow and purple polka-dots look quite dashing.
• Gun Run: changed the Victory notification for the winning team to say “You Are the Champion” instead of “<Team> is the Champion”
• Per Optic ADS Sensitivity: added an option for Seer Passive which controls how quickly you can turn while unarmed and using Heart Seeker
• Performance Mode aim assist has been tuned to feel similar to 60Hz mode
• Added advanced haptics and adaptive triggers support for PlayStation and PC consoles
  • If you encounter an issue, please ensure to connect the controller via USB and complete any updates

Navigation

• Event Tab: dedicated tab appears when there is an active Event (previously under the Seasonal Tab)
• Death Menu: added a Squad Tab where you can access your groups information, report, and mute VoIP/pings while you’re dead
• Legends Tab: selected Legend will not reset to featured one when your cursor is not over a Legend
• Melee Tab: Death Box icon is now clickable
• Store Tab: new subtab containing offers that were previously in Featured, Specials, Seasonal, and more with improved navigational flow and presentation

Graphics

• General GPU rendering optimizations for FX
• Improved Low Res FX rendering quality
• Improved Volumetric Lighting
• Optimized FX after stepping through a Catalyst wall for better GPU performance
• Optimized FX when taking damage from Fuse’s ultimate for better GPU performance
• PS5 and Xbox SX/S improved CPU graphics performance with parallelization of rendering workloads

Live API Updates and Upcoming Changes

We are adding new gameplay event messages to LiveAPI supporting Legend Upgrades and EVO Level changes alongside improvements and bug fixes based on ongoing feedback. The schema of all events alongside technical documentation can be found in the LiveAPI folder of the game installation.

In order to better support LiveAPI 2.0, we will retire the existing file-based output in favor of the WebSockets connection interface. The file-based output will be turned off by default in a future patch and entirely removed from LiveAPI by Q3 2024. Developers should begin migrating their apps to the WebSockets interface in order to avoid disruptions.

Read More: Crafting Materials Are Going Away Alongside Huge Replicator Changes

The post Apex Legends Season 20 “Breakout” Full Patch Notes appeared first on GameRiv.

Apex Legends Season 20 is approaching fast. According to the leaks, the developers have named it “Breakout,” and it’ll come out on February 13, 2024.

Unlike the previous three seasons, there will be tons of new content coming to Season 20. Most of the changes have already been revealed by the likes of Gameinformer and other leakers. Fortunately, all the potential content has been verified by each other. So, most of these will in fact come alongside Season 20.

Apart from that, Respawn has also shared a sneak peek of all the upcoming changes in Season 20. Here’s an official overview of all the things coming in the next chapter of Apex Legends.

Read More: ALGS Year 4 Pro League Split 1 Current Standings

Season 20 Early Patch Notes

Legend Upgrades

Introducing the Legend Upgrade system—an in-match progression system that deepens the Apex Legends Battle Royale experience by allowing you to tailor your Legend to your play style. This new feature will restart with each match, giving you the opportunity to try different upgrades on for size.

Earning EVO will now Level-Up your Legend over the course of the game, improving your armor tier and unlocking unique upgrade selections at Levels 2 and 3. Choose wisely, as your decision can impact your whole squad’s strategy.

Legend Upgrades and EVO changes will be limited to Battle Royale modes with Breakout.

Legend Armor & Shield Cores

Body Shields are no longer a loot item and won’t be found on the ground in Battle Royale. Instead, all Legends have inherent Legend Armor that increases in capacity permanently as they Level-Up.

Legend Armor is fueled by a Shield Core which contains the current shield HP. Shield Cores can be swapped or dropped at any time as with previous armor systems, however, fallen enemies will now drop Shield Cores in their Death Boxes.

Overcharge

Picking up a higher level Shield Core will temporarily overcharge your Armor—adding extra shield health that is held for 30 seconds before returning to your Legend Armor’s max capacity.

Earning EVO

Players will earn EVO points from many core actions, like dealing damage, that help you succeed in the Battle Royale—with some actions also rewarding EVO to the whole squad. Earn EVO from the following Sources:

• Personal Gains
  • Damage
  • Knocks and Knock Assists
    • Knocks against a legend of higher level will net an underdog XP bonus
  • Finishers
  • EVO Cache (Care Packages, Vaults etc.)
• Team Gains
  • Squad Wipes
  • Revives
  • Respawns
  • Class Interactions (Survey Beacons, Ring Consoles, etc.)
  • World Interactions (Wildlife, Trials Completions, etc.)
  • EVO Harvesters

EVO Harvesters

EVO Harvesters will randomly spawn on every BR map with a delayed activation during the first ring, allowing players time to loot up before seeking them out. Any squad member can interact with them to award a large amount of EVO to the whole squad. Every team can interact with each EVO Harvester individually, as with Crafting Harvesters in previous seasons.

Legend Upgrades and Armor will only impact Battle Royale modes. Mixtape modes will not have upgrades and will continue to use Body Shields this season.

EVO Caches

EVO Caches are a new rare loot item that contains raw EVO and will award a full level when collected. They can be found in the world’s more highly contested locations such as vaults and supply drops. If a player is already at max level, they will not be able to pick up the EVO Cache.

Ranked Reloaded

We’re passionate about delivering the world’s most fun and rewarding shooter experience, and we recognize that not everything we try works as intended. Take for example our Ranked experience—it’s one of the most important in our game. We’ve heard you, and we agree that there are a few things that need attention.

With the launch of Breakout, we’ve decided to make a series of changes – which members of the Apex faithful will find familiar. The Level requirement is going back down to 20 and splits will be returning, which means that the season reset will be as well. Each player will start at 1 RP with the launch of Breakout. There’ll also be a quick split reset which will drop your ranking by 6 divisions. Players will receive a Ranked Tier Badge for the highest rank they’ve achieved at the end of the season across all platforms.

Transparent Scoring

Scoring will be moving to a more transparent model similar to that of past seasons, placing a heavier emphasis on eliminations over placements. Your hidden skill rating will have no influence on either matchmaking or scoring. The bonus system has also been updated to provide more insight and Player Rankings will now be visible. We’ll also be returning to an improved Ranked Point system. 

With these changes, this also means that entry cost will return: 20 RP per Tier starting at Silver.

Elimination Scoring

Elimination score continues scaling with placements—the value of each elimination will increase the higher your team places. There’ll be no hard cap placed on the number of eliminations a player will be scored on nor the amount of points gained from them. Instead, eliminations after the sixth will be worth half of their value.

Bonuses

There are a couple key bonuses that we want to call out with Breakout’s Ranked changes. 

• Top 5 Streak Bonus: for maintaining a placement streak of 5th or better. Everytime you extend your streak you’ll earn 10RP more than your previous match, up to a maximum of a 40 RP bonus.
  • 2 match streak: +10 RP
  • 3 match streak: +20 RP
  • 4 match streak: +30 RP
  • 5+ match streak: +40 RP
• Challenger Bonus: earn a 50% bonus on an elimination of a higher ranked player when you’ve personally contributed. This bonus is unaffected by the elimination soft cap of 6 kills.

Matchmaking

We will be matchmaking based on RP values as closely as possible, and will not be using a tier-based lobby like prior seasons. Premade parties will be matched by the highest Ranked player’s ranking.

Tier Structure

This is another area that we monitored closely and considered all of your feedback, so there are a few changes with tiers for Breakouts Ranked:

• Promotional Trials have been removed
• Provisional Matches have been removed
• Demotion and Demotion Protection will remain the same as Ignite’s Ranked
• Ranked Tier RP requirements will have some increases

New Mixtape Map: Thunderdome

The deadliest entertainment venue is here: enter Thunderdome. Modernized with killer upgrades, this floating sky stadium is inspired by the first arena in Kings Canyon—capturing the essence of its Thunderdome, all while paying homage to the vast history of the Apex Games.

Thunderdome is geared up for a fast-paced matchup in any Mixtape mode with its three lanes to pursue. Grind for the high ground in TDM, battle to see who can hold B in Control, or find one of many power positions to dominate in Gun Run. This latest map was created with a plethora of playstyles in mind and challenges the expected strats used by many. Win or lose, the dynamic stadium crowd will always keep up the good vibes.

Performance Mode: 120HZ

Enable Performance Mode on current-gen consoles for 120Hz output to displays that support it! This new Video Settings option adjusts graphical settings, leveraging recent improvements in the Apex rendering engine to target up to 120 FPS gameplay.

Breakout Rewards

Six Legends will be unlocked for everyone throughout the season. Complete challenges with these Legends to earn special Breakout Rewards—including permanent unlocks for the featured Legends, the Reactive Top Tier Flatline, and a matching set of Wraith cosmetics.

Tags & Retirement of Clubs

We will be retiring Clubs in Apex Legends with the launch of the Breakout Season. Cheers to all of you who participated in a Club or maintained an active one. You’ll still be able to rep the same flare with our new feature: Tags.

This new visual indicator will appear ahead of your username wherever it is shown. Tags are 3-4 characters long, are limited to alphanumeric characters, and can be updated as often as you’d like via the Social page.

5th Anniversary Collection Event & New LTM

Squad up and go loud in the 5th Anniversary Collection Event, with community-created rewards to unlock via the reward tracker and the brand new LTM: Straight Shot. This mode drops you into an even quicker Battle Royale experience that gets you more reps and more action.

See You On The Dropship

Breakout has so much to offer: Legend Upgrades, Ranked Reloaded, Performance Mode, Thunderdome in Mixtape, Tags, and more to come! We’re celebrating 5 years of Apex Legends in a big way and what you read here with Breakout Rewards and the 5th Anniversary Collection Event is just a sample of the details to come. Stay tuned for a full breakdown of Breakout Rewards in our dedicated blog tomorrow and more details on the 5th Anniversary Collection Event, including the new Straight Shot LTM coming this Thursday, February 8, 2024.

Read More: Apex Legends is Introducing a New Mixtape Gamemode and Map Named Thunderdome

The post Apex Legends Season 20 “Breakout” Overview appeared first on GameRiv.

As Apex Legends is a live service title, Respawn tends to release continuous updates to keep the game fresh and engaging. With that in mind, the developers release a bunch of events, cosmetic items, limited-time game modes, and many more with every update.

Like every season, there’ll be a big mid-seasonal update in Ignite. The update will come alongside the Final Fantasy x Apex collaboration. As we’ve already seen, a bunch of new cosmetic items, a universal Heirloom, and a new type of unique, controversial death box have already gotten the community’s attention. However, that won’t be everything. The game will also receive some important balance and meta changes with the same update.

The balance changes will include weapon and Legends buffs and nerfs, map updates, mixtape rotation, bug fixes, and quality-of-life updates. To find out more, here are the detailed patch notes shared by Respawn.

Read More: Final Fantasy x Apex Will be the Most Expensive Event of the Game

Apex Legends x Final Fantasy Full Patch Notes

Balance Updates

Crafting Rotation

• R-301 and Volt leave the crafter and are back on the floor
• Hemlok and Alternator enter the crafter

Weapons

• Mastiff
  • Tactical reload time reduced to 0.9 (was 1.03)
  • Empty reload time reduced to 1.6 (was 1.7)
  • Draw Time reduced to 0.45 (was 0.8)
• R99 
  • Damage reduced to 11 (was 12)
• CAR SMG
  • Damage reduced to 12 (was 13)

Legends

Catalyst

• Piercing Spikes
  • Now require line-of-sight to an enemy player to activate
  • Spikes that have not been activated will still slow players

Horizon

• Improved Horizon audio to make “falls” less silent
  • Hard landing audio adjusted to match other legends
  • Soft Landings now play audio in world ( not just for Horizon )
  • Gravity Lift exit audio range increased to make it easier to hear characters who exit

Newcastle

• Castle Wall: impact will now destroy Conduit’s Energy Barricade mines
• Mobile Shield: can now be destroyed by enemy Crypto EMP
• Delayed balance adjustments from the season 19.0 patch are now fully integrated

Rampart

• Amped Walls are no longer destroyed by friendly Crypto EMP or Mad Maggie’s Wrecking Ball

Maps

Storm Point

• Added and adjusted cover at ZEUS Station & ECHO HQ
• Added Ring Console to Coastal Camp
• Added Trident to Barometer
• Adjusted the position of the Ring Console, Survey Beacon and Crafting Station at Lightning Rod
• Reduced volume of ambient audio at ZEUS Station & ECHO HQ
• Removed Ring Console, Survey Beacon and Crafting Station from Thunder Watch
• Resolved a number of additional bugs and rat spots
• Restored missing Ring Console at Command Center
• ECHO HQ
  • Added four new staircases at ECHO HQ to improve vertical navigation around the perimeter
  • Rooftop of ECHO HQ is now out of bounds, Zipline and rooftop hatch has been removed
• Wattson’s Pylon
  • Adjusted position of the ziplines at Wattson’s Pylon to improve consistency of mantle jumping
  • Reduced amount of ultra rare loot at Wattson’s Pylon
• ZEUS Station
  • Added additional cover and ziplines at ZEUS Station for mixtape modes only
  • Increased the speed of the redeploy balloon zipline at ZEUS Station by 25%

Mixtape

Map Rotation

• Control
  • Hammond Labs and Production Yard are out
  • Lava Siphon and Caustic Treatment are in
• Gun Run
  • The Core, Estates, and Wattson’s Pylon are out
  • Skulltown, Fragment East, and ZEUS Station are in
• TDM
  • ZEUS Station, Skulltown, and Phase Runner are out
  • Wattson’s Pylon, Party Crasher, and Overflow are in

New

• Added new Legend voice lines that occasionally play on respawn
• Lowered Ratings reward for assists in Control 5 per assist (was 20)
  • This is in response to a recent change where we started counting assists in Control and TDM based on the whole team and not just within your individual squad

World Systems

• Extended Supply Bins
  • Added a cap to the number of heat shields a team can receive from the secret drawer
  • Added a cap to the number of medkits a team can receive from the secret drawer

Bug Fixes

• Firing Range: players dying with a Nessie in their inventory will no longer find the Nessie deleted. Sorry Nessie Hunters!
• Players no longer get stuck due to spamming holosprays while skydiving
• Players no longer drop out of Wraith’s portal before reaching the other side
• Resolved small chance of getting 5 items in secret drawer of Extended Supply Bins
• Resolved bug preventing audio engine from properly utilizing fast storage drives when reading compressed audio data
• Startup logo video audio volume now respects the master volume slider
• Storm Point: players should now be able to use Evac Tower through the ceiling hatch in Command Center
• Trident collision should no longer occasionally push players through walls and floors

Legends

• Ash: Ultimate can no longer be used with Tridents to get under map
• Bloodhound: Niflheim Hundr skin’s raven now white (was black)
• Catalyst
  • Piercing Spikes ability description now shows the correct max number of traps
  • Piercing Spikes can now be pinged again
  • Ultimate no longer shows as ready in inventory without being fully charged
• Conduit
  • Fixed Energy Barricade V-Shape deployment when looking directly at the ground
  • Tactical can no longer be used on respawning team still in dropship
• Crypto: fixed Crypto taking ring damage while standing in a heat shield if controlling his drone in the ring
• Loba: restored movement speed while holding Tactical if it was activated while standing still
• Mad Maggie
  • Fixed damage numbers not showing correctly when hitting Revenant’s ultimate shroud with Wrecking Ball
  • Passive no longer works through Catalyst’s walls
• Revenant: no longer occasionally becomes invincible during his ultimate if his shroud is broken while marked by Vantage’s Sniper
• Vantage: corrected Sniper Ult bullets damage to marked targets when breaking Gibraltar’s arm shield or Revenant’s ultimate shroud
• Wattson: Ultimate correctly recharges shields when placed after Bangalore’s smoke

Modes

• Abilities that outline players should no longer stop functioning after killing an enemy
• Silence abilities should no longer cancel auto healing
• Voice chat is no longer heard outside of the squad in TDM and Control

Control

• Caustic Treatment: weapons cannot be used on the supply ship
• Damage not taken while inside the respawn ship
• Players no longer occasionally spawn in a skydive state when respawning on Kings Canyon
• Players no longer lose invulnerability while still on the dropship when spawning on the MRB

Code Optimizations

• Fixed issue with dynamic resolution not reacting fast enough to high graphics load. Improves frame rate stability on consoles
• DX12 (PC) video memory (VRAM) usage is now reduced by 1.5 – 2GB
• DX12 (PC) improved graphics performance with parallelization of rendering workloads
• Upgraded Nvidia Reflex SDK to v1.8 and adds support for latency markers

Quality of Life

Legends

Conduit

• Improved visibility for jammers
• Ultimate SFX can no longer be heard in other Firing Range instances

Mirage’s Decoys

• Improved issues against terrain that would cause destruction/floating
  • Any destroyed by terrain will now be refunded
• Improved to more correctly copy the ADS state of the player
• No longer mimic reviving or execution animations

Newcastle

• Voice line added when Newcastle removes one of his own Castle Wall segments.

Read More: Apex Legends Just Introduced a Common Heirloom that Can be Used by any Character

The post Apex Legends Ignite x Final Fantasy – Mid Season Patch Notes appeared first on GameRiv.

Apex Legends Season 18 is coming to an end pretty shortly. Respawn didn’t introduce much to the game with the ongoing season, so the overall experience was quite bland.

However, as we’ve seen previously, Respawn usually makes the following season exciting if there’s less content involved in the previous one. The same will happen in Season 19.

Season 19, a.k.a. Ignite, will bring a brand new Legend called ‘Conduit.’ However, this won’t be the only exciting change for the season, as Storm Point is also getting a huge rework, making the map more accessible and incredible.

Moreover, Respawn has finally revealed the cross-progression update, which will come to the game simultaneously. Not to mention, a ranked update is also on the way. Want to know more? Read what’s coming, as well as the official patch notes to the game, shared by Respawn.

Read More: Cross-progression is Confirmed to be Coming to Apex Legends in Season 19

Season 19 Ignite New Content

New Legend: Conduit

Rowenna grew up amidst a war, but in a move that turned the tide, one monarch, Titan, sacrificed himself to end the fighting. In the years after, her home planet of Nexus established ties across the Outlands, introducing Rowenna to the Apex Games. The Games represented everything she aspired to—heroism, hard work, sacrifice—and she became a dedicated fan.

When her elder sister Diwa suffered a terrible injury at work, Rowenna resolved to support her family no matter what. She stole the battery from the Monarch, still rusting on the hill, and had a combat rig built with its battery at the core. She used it to qualify for the Apex Games, and even though the battery exposed her to poisonous radiation, she refused to give up. No one else was going to get hurt to support her family. Rowenna’s choice is to have hope for her dreams or die trying. Now, it’s Conduit’s chance for a day in the sun.

Check out more on our newest and brightest legend, Conduit, in our highlights blog, and read on for details on her abilities.

• PASSIVE: SAVIOR’S SPEED
• Gain a burst of speed when running toward a teammate out of tactical range.
• TACTICAL: RADIANT TRANSFER
• Blast your ally with energy, regenerating temporary shields for them when in danger.
• ULTIMATE: ENERGY BARRICADE
• Deploy an array of shield-jamming devices that damage and slow enemies.

Ignite Map Rotation

The following maps will be available for public matchmaking in the Battle Royale mode:

• Broken Moon
• Olympus
• Storm Point

Storm Point Update

Read the full breakdown of the Storm Point updates in our Ignite Highlights blog here.

Anti-Cheat Update

New In-match Notifications

A new feature that launched during the Resurrection is live: in-game notifications for banned players. This notification will appear in the kill feed when a player in your current match has been removed. This alert will only be triggered by our anti-cheat systems and will not display when someone quits a match, loses connection, or is kicked for AFK. This is the first of many steps the team is taking to improve visibility and player feedback when users are actioned.

Ranked

New Feature: Promotional Trials

In Season 19, players will enter a Promotional Trial state when they reach the peak of their tier. During a Trial, LP losses and gains are frozen, allowing the player to focus on completing the trial.

• Completing the conditions of a Trial within the given match count limit (either by winning a game or completing the alternative) will allow promotion into the next tier with a 250-LP promotional bonus.
• Failing to complete the Trial within the match limit results in the Trial ending and a loss of LP based on the player’s performance
• Trials are time-limited to 5 matches, increasing by 1 game each time a player fails and then reenters the same Trial, up to 10 retries.
• Promotional Trials are skipped during Provisional matches.

RANKED TUNING

If you missed our recent reddit Dev Team Update, we’ve made some tuning adjustments for Ignite’s Ranked:

• Increasing the amount of Rating Bonus given to help players’ ranking catch up to their skill bracket
• Reduce the bonus that is withheld and thus the difficulty of climbing when players are actively pushing against their skill ceiling.
• Provisional Bonuses are adjusted to land players closer to the expected statistical 1.5-tier drop at the end of their 10 provisional games.

Ranking difference restrictions for 3 stack premades have been REMOVED. Players will now be able to play with friends no matter where they are on their climbs—with the caveat that your squad will face more difficult battles if there’s a bigger discrepancy between your skills.

Season 19 Ignite Full Patch Notes

• Cross-progression will be rolling out in phases across existing platforms—read more in our detailed blog here.
• Holosprays can now be deployed while skydiving.

Rolling out the new Rendering Hardware Interface (RHI) code on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S—more background info on RHI can be found via our Reddit post here.

Balance Updates

Crafting Rotation

• RE-45 and 30-30 Repeater leave the crafter and are back on the floor
• R-301 and Volt enter the crafter
• Boosted Loader removed from crafting rotation
• Digital Threat optic removed from crafting rotation
• Hammerpoint Rounds added to crafting rotation

Care Package Weapon Rotation

• L-Star EMG returns to the floor
  • Removed Disruptor Rounds
  • Projectile size reduced
  • Improved recoil pattern
  • Reduced randomness in the early part of the recoil pattern
  • Damage increased to 17 (was 16)
  • Barrel attachment improved to match other weapons
• Wingman enters the care package
  • New hop-up – Skullpiercer Elite: ignores helmet headshot damage reduction
  • Boosted Loader hop-up attached
  • Base damage increased to 50 (was 45)
  • Projectile size increased
  • 110 ammo

Care Packages

• Care Packages will now always have 1 weapon at all stages of the game

Gold Weapons Rotation

• Havoc, RE-45, C.A.R. SMG, L-Star, Longbow DMR

Hop-Ups

• Boosted Loader: removed from floor loot
• Turbocharger: Removed 1 damage reduction when equipped

Weapons

30-30 Repeater

• Increased hip fire spread

Bocek Bow

• Faster initial draw speed
• Select Fire button now toggles Shatter Caps
• Tightened Shatter Caps blast pattern

Charge Rifle

• Improved bullet drop ballistics
• Increased projectile size

Hemlok

• Damage reduced to 21 (was 22)

Longbow DMR

• Increased projectile size

Sentinel

• Increased Amped Shot projectile size

Legends

Bangalore

• Double Time: reduced duration to 2s (was 3s)
• Smoke Launcher: smoke lifetime reduced to 18s (was 23s)
• Rolling Thunder: stun duration reduced to 6s (was 8s)

Catalyst

• Piercing Spikes
  • Core no longer blocks projectiles, allowing bullets to pass through
  • Max in-world count reduced to 2 (was 3)
  • Throw range decreased by about 50%
• Dark Veil
  • The cooldown now starts after the wall comes down
  • Reduced lifetime to 25s (was 30s)

Passive Updates

• Pathfinder’s Insider Knowledge: can now scan Care Packages after allies have already scanned them
• Wraith’s Voices from the Void: reduced look time required to trigger (feels more reliable/consistent)

Ultimate Updates

• Newcastle’s Castle Wall
  • Reduced recovery time on landing
  • Increased max leap height
• Revenant’s Forged Shadows: reduced time extension window for assists to 3s (was 30s)
• Vantage’s Sniper’s Mark: bullet count increased to 6 (was 5)

Maps

Olympus

• Addressed a number of bugs and rat spots
• Addressed known exploits to get underneath the map

Kings Canyon

• Addressed multiple rat spots
• Fixed geo holes in the world between Relic and Caustic Treatment

Storm Point

• Added two Mixtape maps based on new POIs (ZEUS Station and Wattson’s Pylon)
• Addressed a number of bugs and rat spots

World Systems

• Players now respawn with the shields and weapons that they had when they were eliminated.
  • Body shield and helmet level are preserved
  • The knockdown shield is reset to white
  • Backpacks are removed
  • The inventory will contain some ammo for their weapons, two syringes, and two shield cells
  • Weapons are maintained unless that weapon was a care package weapon, and all weapon attachments are removed, including from kitted weapons
• Replicator, Ring Console, and Survey Beacon spawn rates have returned to being even across all POIs

Modes

Mixtape Map Rotation

• Control
  • Caustic Treatment and Siphon are out
  • Barometer and Production Yard are in
• Gun Run
  • Skulltown and Fragment are out
  • The Core is in
  • New map: Wattson Treatment
• TDM
  • Fragment and Habitat are out
  • Phase Runner is in
  • New Map: Zeus Station

Bug Fixes

• Closed an exploit that allowed players to survive ring damage longer than expected using the Phase Runner on Olympus
• Death Boxes can no longer fall into unreachable areas – or lava
• Heat Shields can no longer stick to Tridents
• Heat Shields no longer provide protection above them on higher ground
• Holster weapon UI no longer appears when healing outside the ring
• Knockdown Shield FX no longer remains on while spectating
• Longbow’s Dawn’s Awakening skin no longer has a visible barrel with scopes
• Nemesis’ Demon’s Whisper skin no longer obstructs player’s view
• The provisional badge icon is restored on the Ranked match summary screen
• Rarity display now updates after equipping from the store or pack opening
• Resolved occasional “[UI] Array index 100000000 is out of range (array size 45)” error when launching the game
• Revenant now faces the direction he is shooting in third-person view
• Skydiving into an exciting respawn dropship will no longer propel the player along with it
• Squad sorting is now consistent between HUD and Inventory
• Swapping to lower-tiered armor after taking damage no longer requires refreshing the Death Box

Audio

• Resolved rare cases where the priority system would kill certain local player weapon sounds at an incorrect time

Graphics

• Fixed squads’ animated poses sometimes ghost slightly on each other
• PC
  • Fixed Intel ARC graphics cards defaulting to suboptimal video settings
  • Fixed issue with low-resolution textures when using adaptive supersampling or after changing resolution
• PC DX12: fixed occasional bad triangle rendering on AMD cards

Legends

• Loba: Tactical is no longer canceled when thrown on a tower near Containment
• Mirage: resolved not breaking cloak sometimes when switching weapons
• Revenant
  • Assassin’s instinct
  • Digital threats now highlight enemies after being highlighted by Assassin’s Instinct
  • Fixed cases where enemies were not being highlighted correctly
  • Highlight no longer interferes with other legend highlights
  • Highlight now applies to Mirage decoys
  • Forged Shadows shroud no longer gets stuck on indefinitely (previous hotfix)
• Wattson: fences now collapse when the round ends, preventing ongoing damage to audio in the post-match screen

Quality of Life

• Added Offscreen Portraits setting
• Caustic: restored “Shield Cracked” VO in German
• Firing Range: blue Nessie stays hidden for now… but a new challenger has appeared
• Implemented additional security measures
• Improved PC controller support
  • Controller input will no longer be processed when a different window has focus
  • Added native support for PS4 and PS5 Bluetooth-connected controllers. Players who have been relying on Steam Input to use PS4 and PS5 controllers over Bluetooth should disable that setting in Steam.
• Mixtape: assists are now awarded for Assisted Kills by ALL Teammates in modes where multiple squads are teamed together
• Pings
  • Ping Enemies on the map: double-clicking the Ping Button will place an Enemy Ping on the map at that position
  • Reply to Enemy Pings with Ok, Hold On, and Wait ping reply options
• Rampart: players can now pick up their amped walls while in placement mode
• Revenant 
  • Add vibration support when the Forged Shadows shield is damaged and when the shield reforms or breaks
  • Improve vibration support when charging Shadow Pounce

Localized Audio

Localized audio is being moved out of the base game package on PlayStation. Users who play Apex Legends in languages other than English will need to download the free Additional Content pack that contains the audio for their preferred language. In-game text is not impacted by this change.

Read More: Newcastle will be the Next Legend to Receive Heirloom in Season 19

The post Apex Legends Season 19 Ignite Full Patch Notes appeared first on GameRiv.

Apex Legends Season 18 is coming to an end pretty shortly. Respawn didn’t introduce much to the game with the ongoing season, so the overall experience was quite bland.

However, as we’ve seen previously, Respawn usually makes the following season exciting if there’s less content involved in the previous one. The same will happen in Season 19.

Season 19, a.k.a. Ignite, will bring a brand new Legend called ‘Conduit.’ However, this won’t be the only exciting change for the season, as Storm Point is also getting a huge rework, making the map more accessible and incredible.

Moreover, Respawn has finally revealed the cross-progression update, which will come to the game simultaneously. Not to mention, a ranked update is also on the way. Want to know more? Read the early patch notes shared by Respawn.

Read More: Cross-progression is Confirmed to be Coming to Apex Legends in Season 19

Season 19 Early Patch Notes

It’s your time to shine in Apex Legends: Ignite. With her shield-based abilities, let Conduit be your guiding light for regeneration and disruption. She’s the spark your squad needs to become Apex Champions on the faster and deadlier Storm Point. This disruption of a map has been overhauled with a reduced size and fresh Points of Interest like The Pylon, ZEUS Station, and Devastated Coast.

Last but certainly not least, the team is excited to share that Cross Progression will be rolling out starting this season. Link your platforms to an EA Account to show off your skills, no matter where you stack up.

New Legend: Conduit

Conduit is like a firework—warm, bright, and short-lived. To rise quickly, Rowenna must don a combat rig made of an incomplete Monarch Titan that she knows is poisoning her. But it’s a price she’s willing to pay for her dream of being a Legend. At home, she’s the core of her large family. She smoothes over issues with her humor and sunny disposition, all while hustling and sacrificing quietly–something that’s unchanged in the Games.

Despite the fact she’s exchanging her life and health to be Conduit, Rowenna is having fun because she knows the Apex Games. Expert, fan, supporter—she’s there, and she has the replays saved and filed, and her teammates and rivals know she’s there to win!

Storm Point Map Update

Storm Point is a map that is loved by our competitive community for its more predictable pacing and high loot quality. However, some of the elements of Storm Point that make it a great competitive map can also make it more difficult to quickly find action during casual play.

This brings us to the team’s primary goal for this update, which is to improve the fun factor without sacrificing competitive integrity. To do this, we’ve taken the following actions:

• Add attractive, central POIs for players searching for combat. Wattson’s Pylon and CETO Station provide central hot drops for players looking to fight early. 
• Reduce the overall map size to improve mid-game pacing. Significant map size reductions to both the southern coastline and northern mountainous areas make these zones more attractive for early combat and reduce the overall distance between squads.
• Reduce the friction of central rotations. With CETO Station replacing Prowler Island and a reworked Prowler-less Forbidden Zone, rotations through the center of the map have never been smoother.

New Points of Interest

Click through the menu bar below to check out the latest POI additions to Storm Point.

Wattson’s Pylon

At the end of Arsenal, a massive storm ravaged Storm Point, forcing it offline. This was bad news for the city of Suotamo, which is largely powered by energy infrastructure on or around the island. Wattson quickly volunteered to assist, having friends with close ties to Suotamo. Wattson has since led the charge to restore power with The Pylon in collaboration with the Syndicate.

Zeus Station

In the mountains near Lightning Rod, ZEUS Station is a symmetrical POI that replaces High Point. Our goal for this POI was to make dropping on the high side of the map more viable. ZEUS Station retains the singular redeploy balloon on Storm Point, and a particularly sneaky rotation through the mountain connects this POI directly to the back of Lightning Rod.

Ceto Station

CETO Station replaces Prowler Island, which was previously a difficult rotation due to containing PvE elements in a high-traffic junction. Our goal with CETO Station was to resolve the friction of this rotation while simultaneously adding an exciting, central hot drop.

Echo HQ

Players are already familiar with ECHO structures from Kings Canyon, so the team wanted to bring something fresh to the kit. ECHO has established its massive HQ on the coast, where Gale Station previously stood. This imposing structure features a large open interior, with maintenance tunnels around the exterior for protected flanking and a central zip line for easy rooftop access.

Coastal Camp

The team’s goal for Coastal Camp was to pull in the coastline as part of our efforts to reduce the overall map size. As a result, a huge amount of playable space has been focused on a smaller area that is much better connected to nearby POIs such as Wattson’s Pylon and ECHO HQ. We’ve also introduced a convenient new mountain rotation between Barometer and Coastal Camp.

Devastated Coast

At Devastated Coast, players will be able to witness the hardest-hit areas of the storm and battle within the ruined remains of Fish Farms.

ECHO has built a protective wall to protect the central river from future flooding, creating a new structure that defines the ridgeline. A building suspended by the nearby crane provides a powerful position for squads fighting in the area.

Reworked Areas

IMC Armories

Unfortunately, the IMC Spectres failed to defend Storm Point from the storm, leaving only the ravaged husks of the armories behind. Expect some high-tier loot to remain, but the Spectres will no longer defend the spoils.

Forbidden Zone

The Forbidden Zone was hit hard by lightning during the storm, destroying parts of the perimeter fence and causing the Prowlers to flee! Our goal for this area was to reduce the friction of rotating through the zone by removing the Prowlers and providing structures to build better fronts and defensive options when squads are forced into combat.

Lightning Rod

One of the biggest opportunities we wanted to address with this update was to solve the low number of players choosing to drop on the high side of the map. In addition to adding ZEUS Station, the team felt that it was important to reduce the overall size of this zone to help make these POIs feel better connected to one another and the rest of Storm Point. 

And that’s just about everything! The team is looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the new Storm Point and playing with you all. See you in the ring!

Cross Progression

With the launch of Season 19, we’re excited to roll out Cross Progression in a phased deployment across existing platforms in Apex Legends. Keep an eye out for an in-game prompt to initiate the cross-progression migration, which will bring together your content and progression.

For more information and platform restrictions, please check out our Cross-Progression article here.

Ranked Update

Promotional trials are launching in Ignite. Prove your skill to earn your promotion up to the next rank tier. Upon reaching the peak of a rank tier, one must complete a set of time-limited skill challenges to earn their tier promotion. Promotional trials ensure a minimum skill level for each ranked tier.

Stay tuned for our Patch Notes blog for more details!

Skydive Holosprays

Holosprays are soaring to new heights this season. Equip them to your wheel to use them while in flight! Once deployed, holo sprays will follow your flight path for a limited time or until a Skydive Emote or a different Holospray is used. Let the good taunts roll on the ground and in the skies while you’re dropping—hot or not.

Read More: Newcastle will be the Next Legend to Receive Heirloom in Season 19

These are a glimpse of what is about to be headed towards Apex Legends in the following season. Stay tuned with us to learn about what is to come.

The post Apex Legends Season 19 ‘Ignite’ Early Patch Notes: Conduit, Storm Point Update, Cross-Progression, Ranked Changes, & More appeared first on GameRiv.

Apex Legends was the first game to put the hero-shooter system into practice in the battle royale genre. Respawn took a risky step, but it paid off in the end because millions of people quickly became regular players in the game.

The game has constantly been updated and patched since Season 1 so that the mass player base can stay entertained and engaged in the game. Respawn has already introduced more than two dozen weapons, and many more are in development that will eventually make it into the game.

Respawn does not only put the weapons into the game and let the players figure them out. They observe many aspects, such as weapons’ pick-rate, ability to perform in casual, ranked, and tournament matches, and so on. After analyzing many aspects of the game, Respawn changes the weapons at the beginning of every new season.

Consequently, Apex Legends is undergoing some weapon changes in Season 13 as well. Currently, in Season 12, the Spitfire, Volt, and G7 Scout are in the Care Package loot pool. However, in the upcoming season, Spitfire might be coming out of the Care Package in a nerfed state.

Respawn also might bring some changes to the Replicator in Season 12. They put the Flatline and Longbow in the Replicator, where players can craft these weapons with Crafting Points. So, in the next season, Flatline and Longbow might come out of the Replicator. It will be exciting to see what weapons go inside the replicator.

Read More: Apex Legends Season 13 “Saviors” Ranked: Rewards, Skydive Trails, Split Dates, & More

Saviors Weapon Changes, Buffs & Nerfs

Supply Drop Rotation

The Spitfire will return to the ground loot in the upcoming season, and in its place, the Mastiff will return to being a Care Package-only weapon.

Mastiff

• Tightened blast pattern
• Ammo capacity reduced from 6 to 4
• Stockpile ammo: 28
• Damage per pellet increased from 11 to 14
• Increased pellet size
• Fire Rate increased from 1.1 to 1.2

Weapon Nerf

Spitfire

The weapon is currently in a buffed stage, so Respawn is nerfing the weapon a bit before bringing it to the ground weapon.

• Damage decreased from 19 to 18
• Purple & Gold Magazine capacity reduced from 55 to 50
• Crouched hip-fire spread increased
• Removed barrel attachment slot
• Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
• Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
• Increased reload time from 3.2 to 3.4
• Draw time increased to 0.8 from 0.7
• Holster time increased to 0.75 from 0.65
• Raise time increased to 0.65 from 0.55
• Lower time increased to 0.6 from 0.5

Kraber

• Headshot multiplier down from 3.0 to 2.0
• Damage reduced from 145 to 140

Rampage

• Increased reload time from  2.6 to 3.1
• Slightly increased handling times

LSTAR

• Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
• Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
• Overheat cool-off time increased from 2.5 to 3.6
• Slightly increased handling times

Devotion

• Damage reduced from 16 to 15
• Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
• Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
• Increased reload time from 2.8 to 3.2
• Draw time increased to 0.8 from 0.7
• Holster time increased to 0.75 from 0.65
• Raise time increased to 0.65 from 0.55
• Lower time increased to 0.6 from 0.5

Weapon Buff

Havoc

• Improved recoil at the start of the pattern

Mozambique & Peacekeeper

• Increased limb damage from 0.8 to 1.0

Crafting Rotation

• Flatline & Longbow is coming out and is now floor loot
• Rampage & R-301 going into the Crafter.

Flatline and Longbow have been in the Replicator throughout Season 12. So Respawn is going to bring these two Assault and Sniper Rifles to the ground loot and replace them with R-301 and Rampage.

Gold Weapons

• EVA-8, Bow, Flatline, P2020, Spitfire

Dual Shell

• Removed from floor loot and crafting bundles

Read More: Apex Legends’ new Legend Newcastle: First Look, Abilities, Release Date, & More

The post Apex Legends Season 13 Saviors Weapon Changes: Spitfire Removed From Care Package, Kraber Nerf & More appeared first on GameRiv.

Apex Legends was the first game to put the hero-shooter system into practice in the battle royale genre. Respawn took a risk with it, but it ended up paying off because millions of people quickly became regular players in the game.

Respawn has constantly been introducing new content and features to Apex Legends since Season 1 so that the mass player base can stay entertained and engaged in the game. Along with other changes, Respawn has already introduced around two dozen Legends into the game since the beginning of Apex Legends, and they keep adding more.

Respawn does not put the Legends into the game and lets the players figure it out. Instead, they observe many aspects, such as Legends’ pick rate, their ability to perform in casual, ranked, and tournament matches, and so on. After analyzing so many elements of the game, Respawn brings changes to the Legends every season.

Consequently, Apex Legends is supposed to be undergoing some Legend changes in Season 13 as well. First of all, Rampart is supposed to be getting a buff for her Amped cover in Season 13. Mad Maggie also might get a buff because of her poor pick rate among the players since her debut.

Read More: Skull Town Might Return to Apex Legends Soon

Saviors Character Buffs & Nerfs

Rampart Buff

• Sheila’s spin-up time decreased from 1.75s to 1.25s
• Amped Cover deploy health increased from 45 to 120
• Amped Cover deploy time decreased from 4.25 to 3.6

Valkyrie Nerf

• Can no longer freely spin while launching during Skyward Dive

Gibraltar, Caustic Nerf

• Fortified no longer reduces headshot damage

Read More: Apex Legends Season 13 Saviors Battle Pass: First Look, Legendary Skins, Price, Release Date, & More

The post Apex Legends Season 13 Saviors Character Changes: Rampart Buff, Valkyrie Nerf, & More appeared first on GameRiv.