Apex Legends patch notes: What changes in season 22 update?

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of experience under my belt, let me tell you, I’m absolutely thrilled about the latest updates coming to Shockwave! The Welcome Pass and Challenges for new players are a fantastic way to onboard them into the world of BR gaming. It’s like a rite of passage, isn’t it? Start with Wraith, Bloodhound, and Lifeline, then work your way up to the legends of your choice. Ah, the memories!

Apex Legends season 22 is here and so are its patch notes.

The update is available to download and install across all platforms now and brings with it season 22 or, as it’s otherwise known, Shockwave.

In the Season 22 update for Apex Legends, there will be modifications to class perks, adjustments in balancing, upgrades for Legends, and additional features as well.

As a seasoned battle royale player with countless hours spent exploring different maps, I am thrilled about the introduction of the E-District on the new map for the Shockwave season. Having played extensively on Broken Moon and Storm Point, I’m eager to see how this fresh addition will change the game dynamics and offer new strategies. The rotating maps in both Pubs and Ranked modes promise an exciting experience, and I can’t wait to adapt my playstyle and conquer this new territory.

Keep reading to find the full list of Apex Legends patch notes for season 22.

What changes in Apex Legends season 22?

The major headline change in Apex Legends season 22 is the introduction of a new map: E-District.

As a dedicated fan, I can’t help but get excited about the unique gaming experience that E-District promises. Although it preserves the essential features that make an Apex map exceptional, it also ventures into uncharted territories. It introduces numerous buildings, emphasizes vertical gameplay, and offers diverse landscapes to keep things fresh and innovative.

You can see the new neon-soaked map in the image above.

During the initial part of the season, E-District will take turns with Broken Moon and Storm Point in both Public and Ranked games. Moreover, E-District will serve as the main map during the opening three days of the season.

With a fresh season comes a fresh battle pass, along with another title update. To gain access to the premium battle pass, you’ll need to accomplish a series of tasks by 6pm on 17th September (UK time) or 10am PT in the United States.

In addition to everything else, you’ll discover enhanced abilities for the Controller and Recon classes, along with several adjustments regarding balance, characters, and game mechanics. The detailed list of updates is quite extensive, featuring a fresh Bot Royale mode specifically designed for novice players.

Full Apex Legends patch notes for season 22

To save you time, we’ve highlighted the key changes in our summary, such as tweaks to weapons and characters’ balances. However, for a comprehensive understanding of all updates, we recommend visiting the official blog post detailing the Season 22 patch notes.

Keeping that thought, let me share some highlights from the Apex Legends Season 22 update (thanks to EA):

Controller and Recon Class Perks

Controller Class

New Class Perk

Zone Overcharge: Controller Legends now have extra shield capacity when playing in zone

The Zone automatically grants an overcharge of 25HP shield capacity
This capacity is permanent while the player remains in zone (white ring area on the map)
Overcharge is lost when leaving zone (after 5s delay)
Overcharge can be healed with cells, batteries and abilities while in zone
If a player enters the zone at full shields, the overcharge pip will fill automatically
If a player acquires a shield core that overcharges beyond this extra zone capacity, that additional overcharge will still drain normally but the zone overcharge will remain
Zone Overcharge will never enhance Legend Armor beyond maximum (red) capacity

New Quality of Life

Control Legends now have the ability to retrieve their undamaged Tactical items from afar. To do this, they simply need to glance backward at their items and press a designated button.

Additionally, if the player abandons the area, they will prompted to recover ALL possible objects
Remotely recovering these objects will restore the Tactical charge

Recon Class

New Class Perk

Threat Vision: Recon Legends now gain threat vision when aiming down sights

Threat vision will highlight enemies that the character has Line of Sight to whenever using ADS (aim down sights)
This ability will not work through walls or smoke, and it’s limited in range by the type of scope or zoom range of an ability

Survey Beacons

Faster to use ~3s (was ~7.5s)
Shortened range of ~500m (was scanning the entire map)
No longer randomly distributed and all will now be turned on with every map
Scanning now grants 75 EVO (was 200 EVO)
Now pulses 3 times over 15s, with each pulse taking a snapshot of enemies in range for 5s
Now release a large in-world scan wave that players can spot to identify an activated beacon (enemies no longer receive a scan message)
Enemies scanned will display along the edges of the mini-map even if not in

Update: Stat Trackers

We’ve made a huge quality of life upgrade to Stat Trackers and are separating out the Stat and the Art. You’ll now be able to set these on your Legend Banner Cards separately. The Art on your trackers have also been made universal, which means they can be applied to any Legend Banner Card. We wanted to give players more ways to customise their Banner Cards and let you show off your more than just one Legend there. It’s also a great way to show off your Legend ships!
Login at any point during Shockwave to automatically unlock three new Stat Trackers to add to your mix and match collection

To learn about the latest additions to our Battle Pass, head over to our specialized blog post and accompanying infographic at this link. In short:

With the launch of Season 22 on August 6th through Split 1, we want to give you an opportunity to get the Premium Battle Pass. You can unlock it by completing a series of simple in-game challenges before the end of Split 1 on September 17th at 10:00am PT:
Play 2 matches in Trios on a specific map
Deal 1,000 damage as a Recon or Controller Legend in BR
Open 15 Supply Bins in any mode
Deal 500 damage in BR with a specific weapon
Complete 10 levels of the Battle Pass
Starting with Split 2 on September 17th, you can get the Premium Battle Passes the same way as before: by using 950 Apex Coins. You’ll be able to earn enough Apex Coins via the Battle Pass to get future passes
The Battle Pass options now include better rewards—and with the re-tuned Battle Pass challenges, it’ll be faster to complete at only 60 levels

Balance Updates

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 to 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 per cent (was 50 per cent)

Gold Weapon Rotation

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

Gameplay Updates

Aim Assist

Console crossplay into PC lobbies: Aim Assist strength reduced 18 per cent
Console performance mode crossplay into PC lobbies: Aim Assist strength reduced 22 per cent
Controller on PC: Aim Assist strength reduced 25 per cent

Aim Flinch

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

Loot Bin Reset

From the midpoint of each game onward, Shockwave will cause all loot containers to shut and re-roll their contents, greatly enhancing the likelihood of high-grade and rare items appearing in them.

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 hold interact on them for a significant amount of time to crack them open for their team
Displayed on the map and minimap

Loot Pool

Reduce the spawn rate of Purple and Gold attachments by about 50 per cent

Reorganisation: 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
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 direct line of sight (you can breathe now, Bangalore mains)

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 feat 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)

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 Experiences

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
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 Rumbles

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 matches 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 deathboxes from getting stuck in doorways and blocking exits
Should now be lootable in broken doorways
Will now contain a shield core if the enemy disconnected 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 on 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 hearts 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 optimised 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 optimisations 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 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 performance impact of looking at Death Boxes and intermittent performance spikes from champions banners

2024-08-07 15:35