According to the devs, there will be a major update at the start of Apex Legends Season 1 that would bring significant changes to the way the game plays out.
Earlier today we did an article on the first Apex Legends Live balance update that brings several changes to weapon damage system. It turns out that the devs have planned an additional update that will go live at the start of the Season 1.
Currently, Respawn Entertainment has not commented on the exact date for Season 1. Many believe that it will drop sometime in March, however, there is no concrete evidence for this. Dataminers have already extracted info regarding some new legends that will be coming to Season 1 of the game.
For now, let us see what the season 1 update of the game has in stores for us.
Apex Legends Season 1 Update Would Bring Major Balance Changes To Hitboxes
Taken from the original Reddit Post, the devs had the following to say,
For character balance, we look at a combination of things: pick rate, win rate, and character v. character matchup win rate among other metrics, and, of course, player feedback. The results between the 5 small and medium rig characters have been positive – they are all in a safe band of relatively equal power. Our large rig characters, however, are underpowered and their natural size appears to be a large contributor. We’re planning on adjusting the size of the large character hitboxes to better fit the model. If these changes are insufficient to bring these characters in line, we’re also considering a range of other changes such as natural damage reduction as well as individual kit power tweaks. Because many of these changes are significant, we want to make sure they are heavily tested before they go live, in the event they are necessary. Below is a quick overview on the roadmap of how we’re thinking about bringing large characters back in line.
It seems that the devs are really serious about balancing the game and the first glimpses of it can be seen in the update that dropped today.
As stated in the Reddit post, it looks like the “Large Rig” characters are the ones that currently underpowered. To remedy this the season 1 update would introduce hitbox changes to even out the playing field.
In short,
Overall, we want to try to increase the power level of the large rig characters, before we consider large nerfs to everyone else. While we’ve made small adjustments, we’re hopeful that increasing the power of large rigs is healthier than nerfing everyone else.
Following are the planned changes for Apex Legends Season 1 update.
Major balance changes:
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Hit box size reductions and optimizations for Caustic, Pathfinder and Gibraltar
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We’re better sizing hitboxes to character gear & model
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Since these adjustments have a MAJOR impact on the game, we want to make sure there aren’t any major bugs, so we didn’t want to rush them out
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If these adjustments prove to be insufficient, we’ll consider additional adjustments during Season 1
Minor balance changes:
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Caustic
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Traps – Reduced cooldown to 25 seconds from 30 seconds
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Traps – Increased radius and proximity radius by about 10%
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Traps – Removed a 1 second delay on the smoke dealing damage to players
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Pathfinder
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Insider Knowledge – Increased the number of beacons in the world to 12 from 10
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Lifeline
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Care Package – Removed slight chance that level 4 armor and helmets will drop
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Wraith
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Into The Void – Cooldown increased from 20 -> 25 seconds
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Bangalore
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Double Time – Reduced move speed bonus to 30% from 40%
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Let me know in the comments if you are looking forward to Apex Legends Season 1.