Unlike Season 21, the new chapter of Apex Legends will bring a truckload of changes. Apart from the fact that we are getting a new Battle Royale map, E-District, we are also getting some major balance changes.

There’s a lot more to learn. Here are the complete patch notes of Apex Legends “Shockwave” Season 22.

Season 22 Patch Notes

Balance Update

Care Package

• EVA-8 returns to the floor
  • Blast pattern size slightly increased
  • Damage increased to 7 (was 6)
  • Fire rate decreased
  • Now takes Boosted Loader Hop-Up
    • 4 shots remaining activation
    • Quick reload overflows Magazine by 2
  • Slight increase in recoil
• R-99 enters the Care Package
  • ADS strafe speed increased
  • Improved recoil
  • New Feature: Damage fall-off
    • Damage increased to 14 at close range
    • Damage falls off to 10 at 11+ meters
  • No movement penalty when equipped
• EVO Cache Spawn Rate in the first wave increased to 100% (was 50%)

Gold Weapon Rotation

• Mozambique Akimbo, P2020 Akimbo, R-301, Rampage, Sentinel

Gameplay Update

Aim Assist

• Console crossplay into PC lobbies: Aim Assist strength reduced by 18%
• Console performance mode crossplay into PC lobbies: Aim Assist strength reduced by 22%
• Controller on PC: Aim Assist strength reduced by 25%

Aim Flinch

• Aim Flinch has been removed from all weapons & most abilities
• Damage from the ring still incurs Aim Flinch

Loot Bin Reset

Starting with Shockwave, all loot bins will close and reroll their loot with a significantly increased chance at the high tier and rare loot at the mid-way point of the match.

• Bins that have been rerolled will appear slightly differently than ones that have never been opened
• After the reset, multiple bins will convert into Legendary loot bins that provide smart loot, guaranteeing that the contents to be relevant upgrades for a squad

Mythic Bin

• One Mythic bin will spawn into the match with:
  • One random Care Package weapon
  • Gold version weapons of those that the squad is running at the time of opening the bin
  • Medical supplies and grenades
  • Large XP bonus to the squad
• Mythic bins are locked and require players to interact on them for a significant amount of time to crack them open for their team
• Displayed on the map and minimal

Loot Pool

• Reduce the spawn rate of Purple and Gold attachments by about 50%

Reorganization: Death Boxes and Loba’s Black Market

• Healing items now have a dedicated row and have been removed from the consumables category
• Shield Cores have been moved to the top of the Gear category

Traversal

• Mantling at the same time in the same spot as a teammate no longer forces both players to drop

Battle Sense

Better Ammo Awareness & Feedback

• Critical Ammo state will now kick on when a player has 0 relevant ammo in their inventory
• On-screen Low Ammo indicators kick on earlier, allowing players more opportunity to find ammo
  •  The indicator also now displays the icon of the ammo type
• Pinging for ammo will now display the ammo icon in the kill feed
• When emptying a weapon of all reserve ammo, it will now automatically ping that the player is in need of ammo 
• When looking at ammo on the ground, the tooltip now displays compatibility with any of your currently equipped weapons

Enemy Health Bars

When damaging an enemy, players are now shown the enemy’s Armor and Health state. This Health Bar is only active for a brief time after dealing damage and then fades away. Health Bars, like Enemy Highlights, require direct line of sight.

Enemy Highlight

Enemy players will now be highlighted with a red outline, similar to how allies are highlighted with a blue one. The highlight is most prominent at close ranges and the intensity fades as targets get farther away. Enemy Highlights require a direct line of sight (you can breathe now, Bangalore mains).

Both Enemy Health Bars and Enemy Highlights can be toggled on/off in Settings.

Ammo and Attachments

Ammo Spawn rates

• Energy ammo: reduced individual spawn rate
• Light & Heavy ammo: slight increase to individual spawn rate
• Shotgun & Sniper ammo: increased individual spawn rate

Ammo Stack Changes

• Light ammo stack size increased to 72 (was 60)
  • Individual brick size increased to 24 (was 20)
• Energy ammo stack size decreased to 54 (was 60)
  • Individual brick size decreased to 18 (was 20)
• Shotgun ammo stack size increased to 20 (was 16)
  • Individual brick size increased to 10 (was 8)

Dev Note: Light ammo weapons have been overshadowed by our Heavy and Energy arsenal the last few seasons. With this set of changes we’re hoping the ammo economy for Light will improve their viability and earn back a place in player’s loadouts. 

Hop-ups

• Disruptor Rounds removed from floor loot
• New Hop-Up: Gun Shield Generator
  • Usable by all LMGs (Spitfire, Rampage, L-STAR, Devotion)
  • When aiming down sights automatically deploy a frontal Gun Shield
  • Gun Shield absorbs 40 damage
  • Gun Shield is recharged 12 seconds after taking damage or breaking
  • Improves Gibraltar’s Gun Shield
    • Gun Shield health increased to 75
    • Gun Shield recharge time remains the same as his passive

Weapons

Akimbo

Dual wield two P2020s or two Mozambiques this season by finding and interacting with a second P2020 or Mozambique to automatically enter Akimbo mode. 

• Aiming tightens hip-fire spread instead of looking down sights
• Attachments are mirrored to the second weapon
• Both P2020 and Mozambique are automatic in Akimbo
• Increased rate of fire 
• Longer reload times
• Magazine size is doubled 
• Optics are disabled while in Akimbo
• Toggle select fire to holster your second weapon and re-enable your optic. 

LMGs

• All LMGs now benefit from the Reverse Hipfire mechanic found on the Care Package Devotion
• New Hop-Up: Gun Shield Generator (see Hop-Ups section above)

Alternator

• Magazine size changes
  • Base: 19 (unchanged)
  • White: 23 (was 22)
  • Blue: 26 (was 25)
  • Purple/Gold: 28 (was 27)

CAR

• Magazine size changes
  • Base: 19 (unchanged)
  • White: 22 (was 21)
  • Blue: 24 (was 23)
  • Purple/Gold: 27 (was 26)

Devotion (Care Package)

• Empty reload speed decreased
• Gun Shield Generator added
• Reverse hip fire improved; shots needed for max hip fire reduced to 14 (was 21)

Flatline

• Magazine size changes
  • Base: 19 (was 20)
  • White: 23 (was 25)
  • Blue: 27 (was 28)
  • Purple/Gold: 29 (was 30)

Havoc

• Hipfire accuracy significantly reduced

Hemlok

• Burst Delay slightly increased
• Damage reduced to 19 (was 20)
• Magazine Size Reduction
  • Base: 18 (unchanged)
  • White: 21 (was 24)
  • Blue: 24 (was 27)
  • Purple/Gold: 30 (unchanged)

P2020 (Single)

• Damage increased to 21 (was 18)
• Hammer Point damage decreased to 23 (was 27)
• Magazine size changes
  • Base: 10 (was 14)
  • White: 11 (was 16)
  • Blue: 12 (was 18)
  • Purple/Gold: 14 (was 21)

Mozambique (Single)

• Hammer Point Damage for a full blast reduced to 54 (was 60)
• The rate of fire significantly increased
• Shotgun Bolt rate of fire multiplier decreased at all levels

Mastiff

• Damage increased to 15 (was 11)
• Pellet count reduced to 6 (was 8)

Old	New

Peacekeeper

• Damage increased per pellet to 11 (was 9)
• Pellet count reduced to 9 (was 11)
• Blast pattern shape changed

Old	New

R-301

• Magazine size changes
  • Base: 21(was 18)
  • White: 23 (was 20)
  • Blue 28: (was 25)
  • Purple/Gold: 31 (was 28)

RE-45

• Magazine size changes
  • Base: 18 (was 16)
  • White: 20 (was 19)
  • Blue: 23 (was 22)
  • Purple/Gold: 26 (was 25)

Rampage

• Increase projectile size while Revved Up

Legends

New Class Perks + Adjustments

• Controller Legends
  • Class Perk – Zone Overcharge: extra shield capacity when playing in the zone (see above)
  • QoL – Remote Pick-Up: remotely pick up their undamaged Tacticals by looking back at them and pressing a button (see above)
• Recon Legends
  • Class Perk – Threat Vision: gain threat vision when aiming down sights (see above)
  • Survey Beacons: multiple updates (see above)

Alter

• Void Nexus
  • Channel time when knocked decreased to 2s (was 3s)
  • Chase portal duration decreased 8s (was 10s)
  • Chase portal opening delay increased to 8s (was 6s) 
  • Increased travel speed to void nexus by about 40% (was 1800) 
  • Ult cooldown reduced to 3 min (was 3.5m)
  • When knocked, you can travel to a friendly Void Nexus without looking at it by pressing character action (H key/D-pad down)

• Removed option to press character action to destroy your own Void Nexus (H key/D-pad down)

• Upgrades: Level 2
  • Ult Cooldown: removed ( Level 2 )
  • NEW Ringmaster: gain access to Ring Consoles

Ballistic

• Whistler: lock-on time decreased to 0.1s (was 0.3s)

Crypto

• Surveillance Drone: cooldown decreased to 30s (was 40s)
• Upgrades
  • NEW: It’s called Off the Grid: Crypto becomes cloaked when in a drone
    • While hidden from sight, Crypto’s cloaking will still emit a close-range cloaking sound to sus his location, and ability scans will still reveal his location
    • Threat Vision-related skills will not reveal Crypto
  • Improved Satellite Imagery: Ult now scans anyone it hits for 4s and will track through walls
  • Quick Ping: removed, improved handling now integrated into the base kit

Lifeline

• Upgrade – Gold-Plated: replaced Gold EVO Cache with Battery

Rampart

• Sheila
  • Ammo drains from pip charge with us
  • The maximum number of place turrets allowed is now 1
  • Need 1 PIP of Ultimate change to draw or place Sheila
  • No longer requires a full charge to equip
  • Now uses an Ammo-Style Ultimate model

Seer

• The focus of Attention: Health persists for the duration of Silence
• Heartbeat Sensor
  • Passive move speed has been increased to weapon sprint speed
  • Passive is now quieter when active
• Upgrades
  • Focus Scan: removed
  • NEW Split Focus: gain an additional Tac charge

Vantage

• Echo Relocation: no longer requires LOS to Echo to launch
  • Can launch when LOS is blocked
  • Can now cancel the tac mid-charge
  • Tac reticle will turn red when the echo is behind you and you are launching
  • Will slide-around boxes and geometry as best it can reach Echo
• Sniper’s Mark
  • 2nd Shot Multiplier is now 2.5x (was 2x)
  • Can hit “Reload” when in Ult to use an Ult Accel
• Spotter’s Lens
  • NEW Ranged Tracking
    • Waypoint on PING within Passive range will track the enemy for 10s
    • Will not show within 100m (for each ally individually)
  • Recon Info
    • added to all optics
    • expanded passive scanning screen area to be more consistent
• Upgrade – Ult Reload: now also doubles Ult Accel use speed in addition to providing 2 extra bullets

Wattson

• Upgrades
  • Power Pylon: now regenerates shield charge
  • Split Current: removed
  • Emergency Power – Added
    • Increases Shield Regen Rate of Interception Pylon

Maps

• Pubs & Ranked Rotation
  • Broken Moon
  • E-District
  • Stormpoint
• NEW E-District
  • Urban island district of the city of Suotamo on Gaea
  • Features 17 POIs
  • Designed for verticality with areas perfect for CQC
  • Exclusive map at launch
    • Pubs: for the first week after launch, August 6-12
    • Ranked: for the first 72 hours after launch, August 6-9

Modes

Bot Royale

• New mode for Apex’s new and learning players
• Battle as a squad against a smaller lobby of enemy bot squads in a quicker version of a standard battle royale match
• Game rules are the same as in standard battle royale modes
• Play with Bots in your squad, or bring your own Human friends
• Bot Legends: overhauled as part of Bot Royale
  • Improvements made to pathfinding, shooting, ability deployment, and interactions with game objects
  • Several Legends were added as Bots in Bot Royale including Bangalore, Bloodhound, Conduit, Fuse, Gibraltar, Lifeline, Octane, Seer, Vantage, and Wraith

Revival: LTM ft. New Respawn Mechanic

• Respawn into a skydive near your teammates as long as one teammate is still alive
• If all players die, the team is eliminated
• Respawn Timers:
  • Respawn timers increase with each passing round
  • Respawn timers for your squad increase each time a squadmate dies
  • Respawn timers decrease when squad members:
    • Deal damage
    • Earn knockdowns
    • Earn kills
    • Execute enemies
• Killing an enemy will reveal their squadmates for a brief time
• Players start with blue knockdown shields (knockdown shields removed from the loot pool)
• Respawning ends, and all deaths are final upon reaching a specific round
  • Trios Revival: Respawning ends at Round 5
  • Straight Shot Revival: Respawning ends at Round 4

Straight Shot Revival (Starts August 20, 2024)

• Straight Shot returns as Straight Shot Revival
• Features new respawn mechanic found in Trios Revival
• Akimbo P2020 and Mozambique replace the single versions in loot
• Enemy Highlight and Enemy Health Bars are enabled
• Purple and gold tier LMGs will include the new Gun Shield Generator hop-up

Mixtape

• Akimbo weapons added into all Mixtape Loadouts and Gun Run
  • R99 moves out of all loadouts, replaced with akimbo weapon variants
• Mixtape Map Rotations
  • August 6-12, 2024
    • TDM: Skull Town, Habitat
    • Control: Thunderdome, Production Yard
    • Gun Run: The Core, Monument
  • August 13-19, 2024
    • Control: Barometer, Lava Siphon
    • Gun Run: Fragment, Skull Town
    • Lockdown: Zeus Station, Thunderdome
  • August 20-26, 2024
    • TDM: Habitat, The Core
    • Control: Barometer, Lava Siphon
    • Gun Run: Fragment, Skull Town
  • August 27-September 2, 2024
    • TDM: Habitat, Skull Town
    • Control: Production Yard, Thunderdome
    • Gun Run: The Core, Wattson
  • September 3-9, 2024
    • TDM: Habitat, The Core
    • Control: Barometer, Lava Siphon
    • Gun Run: Fragment, Skull Town
  • September 10-16, 2024
    • TDM: Skull Town, Zeus Station
    • Control: Production Yard, Thunderdome
    • Gun Run: The Core, Wattson
• LTM: Akimbo & LMG Only Loadouts
  • August 13-19, 2024
    • TDM: Habitat, Skull Town, The Core, Zeus Station
  • August 30-September 3, 2024
    • Weekend of Lockdown
    • Gameplay Rules: decreased Ult charge while capturing points
    • Zeus Station, Monument, Skull Town, The Core, Thunderdome
  • September 3-9, 2024
    • Big TDM
    • Gameplay Rules
      • 15 Minute Time Limit
      • Score limit increased to 75
      • Shield Regen activates on kills
    • Thunderdome, Habitat, Zeus Station, Skull Town, Fragment, The Core

New Player Experience

Welcome Pass and Challenges

• For new accounts created after the launch of Shockwave
• Complete Welcome Challenges to progress through the Welcome Pass
  • Challenges can be completed in any BR mode, and Bot Royale
  • A unique set of challenges designed around foundational skills
  • Welcome Challenges do not refresh
• Receive rewards for reaching each level of the Welcome Pass
  • If the player already has the reward in their inventory, they will receive the Crafting Metals value instead
• Start with three Legends: Wraith, Bloodhound and Lifeline
  • Unlock Bloodhound, Pathfinder, Gibraltar, and a Legend of their choice through progression

Ranked

We will implement a brand new reset rule at the start of the new season.

• New Season Reset Rules
  • No RP reset for Rookie IV to Rookie I; players will keep the RP they have from the last split
  • Bronze IV to Platinum IV will reset to Bronze IV 1000 RP
  • Platinum III reset to Bronze III 1500 RP
  • Platinum II reset to Bronze II 2000 RP
  • Platinum I reset to Bronze I 2500 RP
  • Diamond IV reset to Silver IV 3250 RP (with +250 demotion protection)
  • Diamond III reset to Silver III 3600 RP
  • Diamond II reset to Silver II 4200 RP
  • Diamond I reset to Silver I 4800 RP
  • Master and above reset to Gold IV 5650 RP (with +250 demotion protection)
• Special Cases
  • New Players (complete onboarding and above Level 20): Starting Rookie IV 1 RP
  • Returning Players who didn’t play last season (excluding Rookie tier which won’t reset): Starting RP threshold for Bronze IV 1000 RP

Ranked

Ranked Rumble returns September 13-17, 2024, with a new best-of-10 matches format and free rewards.

• Players can participate in matches without 10 match limitations
• There is no Re-Entry mechanic; play as much as you want
• Only your top 10 match results count towards your final standings
  • If you get a better match score, it will replace your current lowest score

World Systems

• Improved end-ring generation system

Bug Fixes

• Can no longer use Death Boxes through walls
• Cleaning up disconnected players in Mixtape
• Firing Range: Mythic weapons are no longer taken away after respawning
• Fixed a storm point zipline that could kick players off too early
• Fixed bad actor ping crashes
• Fixed prowler spawn den bullet collision hull

Adaptive Supersampling

• Fixed an issue that caused screen tearing
• Fixed an issue that caused Legend banner poses to appear distorted

Death Boxes

• Improvements to help stop death boxes from getting stuck in doorways and blocking exits
• Should now be lootable in broken doorways
• Will now contain a shield core if the enemy disconnects before dying

Legends

• Alter’s ult can no longer be used for free if you place it onto a moving object and use it immediately
• Bangalore smoke highlights should no longer get blocked by other players
• Fixed an issue that let players affected by Catalyst Ultimate to see through Bangalore smoke
• Movement hitch when using Seer’s passive while unarmed should no longer occur
• No more thefts from an explosive hold without warning, destroying Loba’s Black Market

Quality of Life

• Mantling in the same location as your teammate won’t knock you down
• Mixtape Gameplay
  • Additional starting grenade added for Control & Lockdown
  • EVA 8 back into Close-Quarters loadout
  • Faster health regen for all mixtape modes
  • Lockdown Score Limit reduced to 400 (was 500)
  • Reconnect match timer reduced to 2 minutes (was 5 min)
  • Team Deathmatch Score Limit reduced to 40 (was 50)
• Mixtape’s Skull Town got a spawn audit (adjusting positions & angles)
• Nessies can once again bounce to their heart’s content in the firing range (just not anywhere else)
• Speaking of, a new Nessie (with an appreciation for cinema) has appeared around the firing range

Graphics

• Largely optimized Performance Mode on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 for more consistent frame rates and fewer resolution drops
  • Xbox Series X and PS5 can expect 10 FPS or higher improvements in GPU-intensive scenarios

• DX12 (PC)
  • Fixed several causes of graphical corruption issues
  • Large optimizations to both CPU and GPU performance. With these changes, we expect that the DirectX 12 beta should now perform better than DirectX 11 for the majority of players.
• PC: removed the Adaptive Supersampling video settings option. A small percentage of players used this option, and those that did received no benefit from it unless they had a powerful GPU and low-res monitor
• Mitigated the performance impact of looking at Death Boxes and intermittent performance spikes from champions’ banners.

Related: Alliance is your EWC 2024 Apex Legends champion, Team Falcons takes the second position

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The Apex Legends tournament for EWC 2024 has proven to be surprising for the majority of the community. Reject Winnity’s 20th finish and TSM not qualifying were two of the most unexpected moments for an Apex Legends grand finals LAN.

Despite the uncertainties, the tournament favorites Alliance and Team Falcons did not disappoint. Team Falcons secured 2nd position, and Alliance won the match point finals by defeating two other match point finalists, Team Liquid and Luminosity Gaming, in the 13th match.

With a total of 107 points, Alliance was also the Group Stage winner on day 2. The team remained relatively consistent throughout the tournament with their placements, as well as kills. Moreover, with a total of 54 kills, Alliance had the highest kills in the grand finals, followed by Luminosity Gaming, who was shy of 2 kills.

On the other hand, despite being the first team to reach the match points, the tournament’s favorite team, Team Falcons, failed to win the tournament, getting second place in the EWC 2024 Apex Legends tournament. However, in terms of accumulated points, Team Falcons is still 2 points ahead of Alliance.

However, this is the beauty of Battle Royale and why we love to see Apex Legends tournaments. The grand finals of EWC 2024 might have been the most dramatic Apex Legends’ LAN final to this date.

The showdown is not yet over. The ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs is just around the corner. The teams that have not done well still have the chance to amend themselves and prove to the world why they deserve to be on that stage.

Related: Everything we know about ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs

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Aim assist has always been a controversial topic in Apex Legends. Although it wasn’t a serious issue at the beginning, as soon as players started to get better in the game, the integrity of aim assist started being questioned, especially by the MnK players.

Even in the most competitive Apex Legends scene, the aim assist’s superiority is evident. According to the stats shared by Liquipedia, more than 64% of the players used controllers as their main input method in the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Pro League NA. The supremacy of aim assist is further demonstrated by the fact that 75% of the best 20 players in the Pro League are controller players.

Due to that reason, many pro players who built their Apex Legends career as MnK players shifted to controllers for its aim assist superiority. ImperialHal, Lou, and Albralelie are some of the examples of those who have switched to controller from MnK.

As a result, players have been grumbling about aim assist and requesting Respawn nerf it for a while so that MnK players can compete with them on an equal footing. And now it looks like Respawn had been listening all along as a new leak emerged that suggests aim assist will get nerfed in Season 22.

Osvaldatore, a reputed leaker in the Apex Legends community, recently shared on X that two aim assist nerfs are coming to Apex Legends in Season 22. The nerfs include the decrease of aim assist’s intensity from .4 to .3 and an increase in camera shake while taking damage. According to the leaker, the aim assist changes will only come to the PC version of Apex Legends.

On paper, the decrease in aim assist intensity may not seem big. However, it is a 25% decrease from the original value. So, players will definitely feel the difference while playing in an actual game. Moreover, the increase in camera shake will also have an impact while having gunfights.

Although the leak of aim assist nerfs has made many MnK players happy, the majority of the controller players have not taken it well.

However, keep in mind that it is only a leak. So, there might be a possibility that the aim assist nerf may not go through. As Apex Legends Season 22 patch notes are dropping on August 5, we will have to wait til then to get concrete evidence regarding whether aim assist on Apex Legends PC will actually get nerfed or not.

Related: Everything we know about Apex Legends Season 22 “Shockwave”

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Pretty much nothing has worked well with Apex Legends Season 21. Despite the initial optimism, the hype was short-lived as the season went on. Further concerns about the game’s survival were questioned by the community surrounding the possible Battle Pass overhaul, which has already been reversed.

In light of what’s been happening to the game, players are curious about Respawn’s plans for Season 22, which will be called ‘Shockwave.’ And thanks to the teasers, official news, leaks, and rumors, we know some of the content that will come to Apex Legends in Season 22. Are you curious to know more? Stay with us until the end as we go through all the known upcoming changes for Season 22.

Season 22 Battle Pass Changes

Apex Legends Season 22 will feature some interesting Battle Pass changes. From Shockwave, there will be two Battle Passes divided into two splits. Because there will be less time for completing the Battle Passes, the levels have been reduced to 60 instead of 110.

Rewards that were infrequently used have also been removed to make place for better rewards. However, do not worry. Rewards such as 1300 Apex Coins and 1200 Crafting Materials are still obtainable through a single Battle Pass. This also means you can earn twice as many AC and Crafting Materials in a single season.

You can also buy the Ultimate and Ultimate+ Battle Passes with real money, which will earn you some instant rewards. Exotic Shards have also been included in the Premium, Ultimate, and Ultimate+ Battle Passes.

The key Season 22 Battle Pass changes are:

• 2 BPs are divided into 2 splits.
• Each BP has 60 levels.
• Reactive skins are still there.
• Ultimate and Ultimate+ BPs can be purchased with real money.
• Ultimate and Ultimate+ BPs provide extra rewards like 8 Apex packs and 1200 Crafting Materials.
• 10 Exotic Shards are included in Premium, Ultimate, and Ultimate + BPs.

District BR Map

A new Battle Royale map named District will be released in Season 22. Unlike most BR maps in Apex, the District will feature a city-based structure and will most likely be played in a nighttime setting with beautiful lighting in all POIs.

You can learn more about the District map here.

No New Legend, but Possible Lifeline Rework

As we already know, Respawn has stopped releasing a new legend every season as the roster is already filled with too many characters. So, starting from Season 16, Respawn has been releasing 1 legend per 2 seasons. So, following this trend, we can expect that Season 22 will see no new legend in the game. However, we may witness a legend rework. And according to the leaks and rumors, Lifeline will get a complete rework in Season 22.

Release Date

Apex Legends Season 22, “Shockwave,” will go live on August 6, 2024.

More Related: Everything we know about ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs

The post Everything we know about Apex Legends Season 22 “Shockwave” appeared first on GameRiv.

On July 8, 2024, Respawn made an announcement on the X platform regarding an upcoming Battle Pass overhaul that was meant to go live at the beginning of Apex Legends Season 22. Several modifications were implemented as part of the overhaul, one of which was removing the ability for players to buy the Battle Pass with 950 Apex coins and restricting it to real money purchases.

Chaos broke out among the Apex Legends community as soon as the news was made public. Unsurprisingly, almost everybody hated the new Battle Pass changes and urged Respawn to revert them back. The potential Battle Pass overhaul had such a negative impact that the community started negative-review-bombing Apex Legends on Steam. As of this writing, the game has received overwhelmingly negative reviews in the past 30 days, with a whopping 93% thumbs down.

However, Respawn was not sitting idle. After quietly observing the community feedback, Respawn finally broke the silence and made an announcement on X on restoring the Battle Pass system to the old one. Moreover, Respawn also admitted that they messed up.

You’ve spoken, and we’ve listened. With the release of Season 22, we will restore the ability to get the premium Battle Pass for 950 Apex Coins. We recognize that we could have handled the Battle Pass changes better– that’s on us.” Said Respawn.

Although most new changes are going away, changes like 2 BP in season [1 BP in each split], 60 levels inside each BP and the introduction of a new Premium type BP still remain.

Apart from the BP revert, Respawn also addressed the community’s biggest complaints concerning cheaters and game-related issues. Respawn promises to be more transparent and acknowledges the fact that they need to improve their communication with the community moving forward.

Moving forward, we recognize that we need to be more timely, transparent, and consistent in our communications with you. Your priorities are our priorities: cheaters, game stability, and quality of life updates are top of mind. We need to get better and it’s why we’re acknowledging them here.” Said Respawn in the statement.

Hopefully, Respawn will learn from its mistakes, listen to the community in the future, and work toward making Apex Legends the best Battle Royale game once again.

More Related: Everything we know about ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs

The post Apex Legends reverts to old Battle Pass system and acknowledges its mistakes appeared first on GameRiv.

Since the only way for Respawn to profit from Apex Legends is through microtransactions, the game developers regularly add unique cosmetic items. These cosmetic items are added to the game through various offers, battle passes, store events, collection events, and more.

With the release of Void Raider at the start of Season 21, Respawn debuted a new kind of sale known as the Milestone event. The skins available at the event are not as good as those from regular sale events, but they are still less costly than those from collecting events. On July 23, 2024, Respawn will launch Void Reckoning, a Milestone event that is comparable to that one.

More Related: Everything we know about ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs

Void Reckoning Milestone Event

The Void Reckoning Milestone Event will have a total of 22 items, of which 1 is reactive recolored skin, 10 are legendary skins, and the remaining 11 are cosmetic items and skins. Here are all the legends and weapon skins’ video showcases shared by HYPERMYST:

Here are the Void Reckoning banner frames shared by HYPERMYST:

Apart from these cosmetic items, the event will also feature free skins and an LTM. According to HYPERMYST, the Void Reckoning milestone event will go live on July 23, 2024, and end on August 6, 2024.

More Related: Apex Legends receives 80% negative reviews in last 30 days on Steam

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The Pro League stage of ALGS 2024 Split 2 has recently ended with mind-blowing grand finals from 4 different regions. 36 teams have qualified for the Split 2 Playoffs through the Pro League showdown. Moreover, 2 top teams from South America have also made it to the Playoffs. The last 2 spots have been given to 2 Chinese teams via direct invitation, making it a total of 40 teams in the Split 2 Playoffs battle.

This year’s Split 2 LAN will be held at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. The event will last for 4 days, and the teams will fight against each other to win a 1 million USD prize pool. Here’s everything we know about the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs.

All Qualified Teams

Thanks to North America’s continuous dominance, the region has already occupied 12 slots out of 40. On the other hand, EMEA will send 8, APAC North will send 9, and APAC South will send 7 teams in the Split 2 Playoffs. This year, there is no Pro League for South American teams. However, 2 teams from South American teams are still going by competing through the challenger circuit. The remaining 2 teams have been directly invited from China by ALGS, making the total number of teams 40.

Here is a list of all 40 qualified teams from each region:

Format Explained

The tournament will consist of two phases: a group stage and a double elimination bracket structure to decide the winner. In the group stage, the 40 teams will be split up into 4 groups, each with 10 teams. In a six-match series, each group will compete against the other three groups to advance into the bracket stage.

After the group stage finishes, the top 20 teams with the most points will advance to the winners bracket, and the bottom 20 teams will duke it out against each other in the losers bracket round 1.

After that, the top 10 teams from the winners bracket will directly go to the grand finals, and the bottom 10 from the winners bracket will go to the losers bracket round 2, where they’ll face off against the top 10 teams of the losers bracket round 1.

The top 10 teams from the losers bracket round 2 also reach the grand finals. The bottom 10+10 teams from losers bracket round 1 and 2 will be eliminated from the Playoffs.

Now, what happens in the grand finals? The grand finals will be played out in a match point format. A team becomes match point eligible when it reaches 50 points. If the match point eligible team wins the next match, they’ll be crowned as the winner. Every other position apart from the winner will be determined by total points (highest to lowest.)

Schedule

The ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs will run for 4 days straight. The tournament will begin on August 29, 2024, and end on September 1, 2024. The first two days are booked for the group stage and the later two for the bracket stage and grand finals.

Here’s the full schedule across different time zones:

• Group Stage
  • August 29, 2024 matches:
    • Match 1: 10:00 AM CEST/ 1:00 AM PT/ 4:00 AM ET
    • Match 2: 2:15 PM CEST/ 5:15 AM PT/ 8:15 AM ET
    • Match 3: 6:30 PM CEST/ 9:30 AM PT/ 12:30 PM ET
  • August 30, 2024 matches:
    • Match 1: 10:00 AM CEST/ 1:00 AM PT/ 4:00 AM ET
    • Match 2: 2:15 PM CEST/ 5:15 AM PT/ 8:15 AM ET
    • Match 3: 6:30 PM CEST/ 9:30 AM PT/ 12:30 PM ET
• Bracket Stage
  • August 31, 2024 matches:
    • Losers Bracket Round 1: 10:00 AM CEST/ 1:00 AM PT/ 4:00 AM ET
    • Winners Bracket: 2:15 PM CEST/ 5:15 AM PT/ 8:15 AM ET
    • Losers Bracket Round 2: 6:30 PM CEST/ 9:30 AM PT/ 12:30 PM ET
• Grand Finals
  • May 5, 2024 matches:
    • Match Point Finals: 4:00 PM CEST/ 7:00 AM PT/ 10:00 AM ET

Standings

*We will update the standings once the tournament starts. So, keep checking the article for updated ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs standings.

More Related: Apex Legends Esports World Cup 2024: Teams, Schedule, and Standings

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If you visit Apex Legends’ store page on Steam, you’ll find that 80% of the people in the last 30 days have left negative reviews for this game. As of this writing, 28.2 thousand users have left reviews for Apex Legends on Steam, and among them, 22.5 thousand reviews are negative.

So, what enraged people so much that 80% of the community had to put a thumbs down to Apex Legends in the last 30 days? If you look into the Steam reviews, posts on social media groups, and the Apex Legends subreddit, you can find some common reasons why everyone is upset.

Firstly, Apex Legends has a serious cheater issue. Although it is not new, the number of cheaters has increased dramatically in recent days. Unfortunately, these cheaters aren’t even getting banned, which is ruining other players’ experiences. Many pro players and content creators are quitting the game because of this.

The quality of servers has also degraded. Cases like constant server-side packet loss, hit registration, and frequent crashes are very common concerns for Apex Legends servers. Many have already left the game in recent days for these reasons, which is apparent if you look at the player numbers.

The community was already on the verge of exploding, and the only thing that was stopping them from leaving Apex was its love for the game. However, the recent battle pass changes just made everyone think that Respawn does not care about its community anymore, which led the Apex Legends community to review bomb on Steam.

The lack of communication between the community and developers is a huge downside for Apex Legends. The game may die out if Respawn consistently chooses to ignore the community. Currently, Apex Legends still has Mostly Positive user reviews on Steam, with 861 thousand total reviews. However, the way Apex Legends is moving forward, it may not take very long for the rating to be changed to Mostly Negative.

More Related: Apex Legends Esports World Cup 2024: Teams, Schedule, and Standings

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Apex Legends is unquestionably among the greatest multiplayer games ever made. The perfectly implemented hero-shooter genre into the battle royale environment has made the game win many awards.

However, no matter how good the game is, the lack of communication between the developers and the community has forced many players to quit the game in the past 5 years. And recently, things have gotten worse, leaving a negative impact on the player base as a whole.

Due to the massive changes in Season 16, Apex Legends received a huge gain in player base. Sadly, even though we got five whole seasons following that, the number of players has not grown at all. The player base has actually dropped significantly. The number of average daily gamers on Apex dropped to 139.7k in the past month, the lowest level in 29 months. Furthermore, there is no indication that things will get better in the following days.

The lack of content, unreliable servers, and rampant cheater issues are some of the major reasons why Apex has been experiencing such a low player count for more than two years. The players are already upset that instead of fixing the game, Apex only releases cosmetics that do nothing else to improve the gameplay experience.

Now, Respawn has rubbed salt into the wound by introducing the uncalled-for overhaul to the Battle Pass that forces players to spend 20 USD every season to buy the battle passes. With that, the players will lose motivation to keep grinding the battle pass because, no matter whether you complete it or not, you have to spend 10 USD and purchase the battle pass in the next split.

The latest changes that no one requested sparked massive dissatisfaction against both Respawn and EA. The inevitable end of Apex Legends might not be far off if this keeps up. The community may overlook the changes with the battle pass changes. But why would the community continue to support Apex Legends if Respawn does not offer new content and improve the existing gameplay experience?

More Related: Apex Legends Season 22 overhauls Battle Pass system but removes the option to buy it with Apex Coins

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As of Season 21, Respawn has released a total of 29 weapons in Apex Legends. As it is a competitive battle royale, Respawn makes endless changes to these weapons to keep the meta fresh and balanced almost every season. And because of these changes, the weapon choices for players change.

Apart from the direct weapon buffs and nerfs, other factors such as legends, maps, and attachments also have impacts on the weapon. I know it’s a hassle to keep up with the meta. But don’t worry! I will make your life a little bit easier.

More Related: Apex Legends: Best Legends to Play in Season 21

Here’s my complete weapon tier list for Season 21 based on the current competitive meta. I will also explain why I put each weapon in a specific tier, so you know what’s actually up rather than blindly trusting the tier list.

Note: We updated the weapon tier list after the Season 21 Double Take event.

Tier	Weapons
S-Tier
A-Tier
B-Tier
C-Tier
D-Tier
E-Tier

S-Tier Weapons

Kraber

As long as Respawn doesn’t nerf Kraber to the ground, it will always remain an S-tier weapon in Apex Legends. The sniper is so powerful that Respawn had to significantly lower its drop rate chance compared to other supply drop weapons in the game.

Hemlok

It is easy to deal good damage to enemies that are far away with snipers and marksman weapons. However, it is quite hard to kill them. Moreover, they are pretty much useless in close-to-medium-range fights. But Hemlok doesn’t have those weaknesses. With some practice, you can annihilate enemies with the Hemlok from long distances.

Volt

As Havoc received a nerf in the Season 21 Double Take update, Volt is now the new secondary weapon of choice for most players. Its high damage output, easy controllability, and mobility definitely puts it in the S-tier right now.

Nemesis

If you are not comfortable using the Hemlok, the Nemesis should be your alternative go-to primary weapon in Season 21. Being a fully-automatic AR, many of you prefer to use it rather than Hemlok.

A-Tier Weapons

Devotion

As Devotion is a care package weapon right now, you don’t need to look for attachments. It is literally an upgraded Havoc with a minor cost to your movement. However, that’s not even a factor right now, as you don’t need ADS to use it. Just run into a team and press the left mouse button, and the mighty Devotion will do the rest of the work for you.

Havoc

Players figured out that Havoc was a broken weapon to use in Season 21. However, Respawn finally caught up with that and gave it a noticeable magazine nerf. However, Havoc is still a great weapon to use. You just need to find the right magazine.

Flatline

Flatline is the uncrowned king of Season 21. It is a great weapon, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use it. Especially if you dislike using burst weapons or Havoc without a Turbocharger, you should definitely run Flatline, as I used to do the same before switching to Hemlok as my primary gun.

EVA-8

EVA-8 is right now the best shotgun in the game. Although it has a low per-bullet damage output compared to Peacekeeper and Mastiff, the fire rate compensates for the lack of damage. Moreover, it is a fully automatic shotgun, so it is very user-friendly.

G7 Scout

Thanks to the G7 Scout buff in the Double Take update, the Marksman weapon is now an insane gun to use for long-range fights. However, it is only effective in battles that are medium- to long-range. So, we are unable to place it in the S-tier.

B-Tier Weapons

Bocek

I had a hard time deciding where to place Bocek on this tier list. The weapon has a high damage potential in all ranges. But it also lacks consistency and is very situational. Both pros and cons for Bocek are balanced. So, I decided to put Bocek in the B-tier.

Spitfire

Spitfire is a practical weapon that many people don’t like to use, mainly because it is really heavy and slows you down. As Apex’s gameplay becomes faster and players get better, LMGs are becoming less popular. On the other hand, Spitfire is extremely effective against players that have just spawned. So, if you spot one right away, you should grab it.

Sentinel

As a sniper, Sentinel is a beast. Moreover, if you’re playing Rampart, having Sentinel almost feels like Kraber. All you have to do is make sure you carry enough shield cells to keep the Sentinel juiced all the time.

Peacekeeper

The shotgun meta is slowly fading away. However, the Peacekeeper is still a great shotgun for close-range fights. The Peacekeeper’s only flaw is that it can feel extremely inconsistent at times. But if you’re a demon with it, there’s no reason not to use it.

Wingman

Wingman just came out of the care package in Season 21. Unfortunately, the pistol no longer equips an extended sniper magazine. Nonetheless, it is still more versatile than any shotgun in the game. As a result, many people still prefer to use it still.

R-301

The R-301 is not the same beast we used to know. Even if you dump full magazines into enemies, they will still survive, and you’ll have to use your secondary to full-kill them. The R-301 still holds a special sentiment for many of us. So, only out of respect, I’ll keep the R-301 in the B-tier.

C-Tier Weapons

R-99

Everyone will agree that R-99 is just a garbage weapon in Season 21. No matter how satisfying the spray is, you’ll only do a decent amount of damage at best. It is just not enough to kill an enemy with R-99 anymore, even with a purple mag equipped.

30-30 Repeater

Hemlok’s entry in the medium- to long-range fighting meta has made 30-30 less appealing than it was in prior seasons. Moreover, the Skullpiercer is no longer available in the game. However, it is still an okay gun to use if you prefer playing passively. But, I wouldn’t personally recommend using it.

Alternator

The Alternator is a pretty decent weapon right off the drop. Moreover, if you can find a Disruptor Round, it becomes a beast in close-range fights. But this weapon also has two significant drawbacks. First of all, in long-range combat, the SMG feels almost worthless. And secondly, unlike Havoc, the Alternator is pretty much useless without the Disruptor Round.

Mastiff

Mastiff is somewhat on par with the Peacekeeper. However, a Mastiff without a shotgun bolt is really hard to use. That’s the only reason why I didn’t place Mastiff side-by-side with the PK.

Prowler

Prowler has slowly come out of the meta. However, it is still a great weapon in Season 21. It’s just that you won’t find anybody using it too often, just because there are other better options for close-range fights.

Longbow

Despite some great improvements for Longbow, I would still recommend not using it. To me, it still feels the same, even with the improvements. Moreover, with Skullpiercer removed, I don’t feel like it provides anything valuable. The only reason I would pick Longbow is as an attachment holder for my Sentinel. Otherwise, I’ll throw it in a ditch.

D-Tier Weapons

C.A.R

Using any other SMG other than Volt does not make any sense in season 21. Moreover, C.A.R.’s insane recoil doesn’t make up for its lack of damage output and magazine size. So, I don’t think anyone should use it.

L-Star

L-Star in season 21 is only good for holding the attachments for your other energy weapons. Other than that, it isn’t a good weapon to run in the mid-to-late game.

Rampage

Rampage is only good when equipped with a thermite grenade; without that, the gun isn’t that good. However, it has high damage potential. So, if you find it right after spawning, consider picking it up.

Triple Take

Even with the boosted loader hop-up upgrade, Triple Take is straight-up trash. If you really want to pick something up for long-range fights, use the 30-30 Repeater, G7 Scout, or Sentinel instead.

Charge Rifle

I personally pick up Charge Rifle sometimes just to have fun. And honestly, it’s not a bad weapon. However, hitting enemies with a Charge Rifle is hard because of the charge-up time. It is a high-risk, low-reward gun that everyone should avoid in Season 21.

E-Tier Weapons

RE-45

Many of you may not agree with me putting RE-45 as an E-tier weapon. However, putting it higher than this would also be an injustice to other weapons. RE-45 is nothing without the Hammerpoint. Even without the Hammerpoint, the weapon falls significantly short compared to other weapons in terms of damage and recoil. Not to mention, you literally can’t use this weapon outside the radius of 5–10 meters.

Mozambique

Mozambique was at least a B-tier weapon in Season 20. However, as Respawn removed the Digital Threat from the game, Mozambique has been demoted to an E-tier weapon once again.

P2020

P2020 falls into the same category as Mozambique. They are both meme weapons, and there’s no reason why you should use them unless you have no gun in your hands. Even then, punching out enemies might be a good option.

Final Words

I put together this weapon tier list based on the ongoing meta. Apex Legends has an incredible array of powerful weapons. Therefore, you are not required to use specific weapons exclusively and ignore the others just because I placed them in the S or A-tier. You might be skilled with or enjoy utilizing certain weapons. Therefore, do not limit yourself to using only a few weapons. Experiment with various weapon kinds and practice with them. Because, you may not always find the best weapons. Good luck, Legends!

More Related: Upcoming Store Rotation Skins in Apex Legends

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