Apex Legends – April 16 Game Update 1.1.1

This week, the Respawn team released Patch 1.1.1. Product Manager Lee Horn (Leeeeeee-RSPN), Senior Designer Sean Slayback (RespawnSean), Community Manager Jay Frechette (Jayfresh_Respawn), and Lead Designer Brent Mcleod (Scriptacus) took to the Apex Legends subreddit to discuss the changes with the community. Check out all the details in their own words below, or head over to the official Reddit post and jump into the conversation.

Before we get to the notes, we know there are some ongoing issues that have been frustrating you folks that didn’t make it into this patch. We are actively working on many improvements, and we’re aware of the reports around audio issues, slow mo servers, hit registration, and more. We’ll provide more info when we can but know that we hear you folks and are working hard to address this stuff. For 1.1.1 we’re introducing some balance adjustments for Legends and weapons – check out designer notes and info below.

Hey all,

Leeeeeee-RSPN here with RespawnSean, Jayfresh_Respawn, and Scriptacus to give a quick update on live balance for Legends and weapons.

LEGEND BALANCING

At the start of Season 1, we previously talked about how our beloved Thicc Bois (Pathfinder, Gibraltar, and Caustic) were getting crushed due to their hitbox size compared to other Legends. We first wanted to try adjusting hitboxes to better fit the model. For Pathfinder, this change worked very well. (Note: separately, we are actively investigating and working on fixing unrelated hit registration issues sometimes affecting all characters). However, after looking at the data and player feedback, Gibraltar and Caustic only improved slightly with the hitbox adjustments.

We don’t believe that hitbox and character kit tuning is sufficient to bring Gibraltar and Caustic in line with their smaller competitors. Starting with Patch 1.1.1, Gibraltar and Caustic will get a new perk added to their passive – Fortified*, which reduces damage taken by 10%.

* Over the week or two following this change, we will be watching how they perform with this additional protection and aggressively tune it if they are still underpowered relative to their size. Our goal is to ensure both Legends are viable picks by the end of this process.

Additionally, we’re also making a few quality of life kit adjustments to ensure their marquee abilities are a more impactful part of their individual playstyles.

CAUSTIC

• Fortified Passive Perk added: reduces damage taken by 10%
• Gas Damage per tick increased: 1 -> 4
• Ultimate Throw distance increased: 28 meters -> 33 meters

GIBRALTAR

• Fortified Passive Perk added: reduces damage taken by 10%
• Gun Shield health increased: 50 -> 75

WEAPON BALANCING

On the weapons’ side of the equation, we’ve made a number of changes to try to improve the power of long-range gameplay. We’re reducing leg shot damage reductions on sniper category weapons, so you’re not punished for landing inaccurate shots at long distances. Given the semi-auto and low damage nature of our current sniper suite, coupled with the general speed and evasiveness of many Legend kits, it already takes several challenging shots to down someone at range. Because of this difficult sniper environment, we’re also reducing general sniper weapon sway and hitting the DMR with a few targeted buffs to make it more viable to engage Legends at range.

Separately from the sniper category, we are nerfing the Spitfire a bit, but our goal is to still keep it strong, as it’s a rarer spawning weapon. The Wingman is receiving a few magazine size nerfs, so that it doesn’t dominate the stock gun vs. stock gun battle early on due to its super high damage per bullet. Lastly, the Havoc is getting some general ammo and charge beam buffs to bring it in line as a viable energy ammo AR that competes with the R-301 and Flatine/Hemlok. The end goal is that the Havoc pressures a player’s ability to find Energy ammo, but is less dependent on finding attachments, whereas the R-301 and Flatline/Hemlok have less ammo pressure, but a higher reliance on finding more attachments to achieve power.

• G7 SCOUT / TRIPLE TAKE / LONGBOW DMR
  • Lowered leg shot damage reduction: 25% -> 10%
  • Reduced base weapon sway by about 33%
  • Reduced base sway speed by about 25%

• LONGBOW DMR
• Increased fire rate 1.2 -> 1.6
• Increased magazine size
  • Base mag increased: 5 -> 6 rounds
  • Common mag extender increased: 6 -> 8 rounds
  • Rare mag extender increased: 8 -> 10 rounds
  • Epic mag extender increased: 10 -> 12 rounds

• HAVOC
• Increased base magazine size: 25 -> 32 rounds
• Charge Beam
  • Reduced cost per shot: 5 -> 4
  • Increased close range damage: 55 -> 60
  • Increased damage at range: 45 -> 50
  • Close range damage falloff increased: 35m -> 75m
  • Ranged damage falloff increased: 75m -> 125m

• WINGMAN
• Reduced magazine size
  • Base mag reduced: 6 -> 4 rounds
  • Common mag extender reduced: 8 -> 6 rounds
  • Rare mag extender reduced: 9 -> 8 rounds
  • Epic mag extender reduced: 12 -> 10 rounds

• SPITFIRE
• Reduced base damage: 20 -> 18
• Magazine extender attachments reduced
  • Common mag extender reduced: 45 -> 40 rounds
  • Rare mag extender reduced: 55 -> 45 rounds
  • Epic mag extender reduced: 60 -> 55 rounds

• ADJUSTMENTS TO GOLD WEAPON ATTACHMENTS
• Gold Havoc
  • Now has Turbocharger
  • Now has 1x-2x variable holo site
• Gold R301
  • Now has 1x-2x variable holo site
• Gold Wingman
  • Now has digital threat

BATTLE PASS XP BONUS EVENT

In honor of Thicc-boi buffs, we’re going to be running a bonus Battle Pass XP event. From approximately 10 a.m. PST 4/16 through approximately 10 a.m.PST 4/18, your first Top 5 of the day (your squad places fifth or better in a match) will grant you one full bonus Battle Pass Level (29,500 BPP), up to a max of level 110. You can earn this once per day.

We’ll also be finding other moments during the season to add Battle Pass XP bonuses, so stay tuned!

ADDITIONAL CHANGES

• JUMP SHIP SPEED
  • Increased the speed of the ship by about 50%
    • We felt that the ship was moving a bit too slow after watching player behavior, so we’re speeding it up so players that like to drop later in the flight path don’t have to wait so long.

• BUG FIXES
  • Fixed UI bug where the wrong percentage would be displayed for all boost badges.

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