Apex Legends Season 12 update: Crypto buff, Caustic nerf, weapon changes, and more.

The Apex Legends Season 12 update will be released on February 8th, and perhaps the most exciting part for most players is seeing the new season patch notes, which are expected to bring drastic changes to legends, weapons, and gameplay. Check out the full patch notes below.

Celebrate the third anniversary of Apex Legends with the new season of Defiance. It will feature a brand new Control LTM featuring two teams of nine players, punk rock legend Crazy Maggie, the first map update of Olympus, an exciting new Battle Pass, a brand new Ranked Season, and more.

In honor of the game's third anniversary and its amazing community, Apex Legends players will be able to unlock three of the best Legends and three themed packs. Additionally, if you log in during the first three weeks of Defiance, you will receive a Legendary Pack*.

NEW LEGEND

Mad Maggie, the ruthless warlord and most violent psychopath of the Outlands, has returned. She bursts into the game like a balloon, ready to demonstrate her aggressive style of play. Shotgun prowess, the ability to smoke enemies out of cover and crushing power - aggressive players will love playing as Mad Maggie.

Passive Ability: Wrath of the Warlord
Temporarily reveals damaged enemies. No movement speed penalty when using shotguns.

Tactical Skill: Drill of Rebellion
Fires a drill that crashes into obstacles and burns enemies on the other side.

NEW TIME MODE "CONTROL"

Defiance kicks off with Control, a brand new limited-time mode that brings you adrenaline-fueled gameplay where two teams of nine will fight to capture and control points on the map. These are the biggest teams in the game today. Players will be able to pre-select their weapons, the arena, and for the first time will experience the euphoria of seeing the same legends fight side by side. Such exciting minutes can only happen in Control mode. Death in this mode is not over yet, because throughout the match, players will be able to respawn and continue the battle until one of the teams scores enough points to become the winner. So get ready for some amazing Legend fights when Control becomes available on February 8th. Read the details from designer Mark Yampolsky in the blog.

GET REWARDS BY THE START OF THE SEASON

In honor of the game's third anniversary and the amazing Apex Legends community, we're giving away rewards to all players who log in during the first three weeks of Defiance*. From February 8 to February 15, all players will unlock three Octane themed packs by simply logging into the game. If players don't already have this character, it will be automatically unlocked. From February 15 to February 22, players who log into the game will unlock three Wattson themed packs, as well as the legend itself if it is not on your character list. And we'll wrap up the Valkyrie celebration when, between February 22 and March 1, players who log in will unlock three Valkyrie-themed packs and a Legendary Pack, while those who have yet to unlock this Flying Legend will receive it simply by logging into the game. So be sure to log in between February 8th and March 1st to unlock your rewards!

MAP OLYMPUS UPDATE

The Olympus phase transition has been hacked and now the floating city has crashed down, causing destabilization throughout the city and changing the map. Perhaps forever. You will find yourself on Olympus, full of malfunctions, where you will discover new territories and places. But that's not all!

• The map has been expanded to spread out squads and thereby ensure that the center of the map (Laboratories and Estates) is not the only battlefield visited in every game, and to reduce the chance of a third party spontaneously engaging in combat.
• Increased the number of possible routes to help players get around and out of tight spaces.
• Introduce new interactive places on the map where you can play with the enemy, which will attract players to new zones and give new impressions of Olympus.

Full blog from map designer Alex Graner, detailing what to expect from the Olympus map update.

Players in the queue for matches will land exclusively on Olympus during the first week of the season, after which we will add the Place of the Storm and Kings Canyon to the rotation.

STORM LOCATION MAP UPDATE

Fauna update

It's been a full season since we added PvE to Battle Royale, and while we were happy with how the fauna functioned, we noticed that Bloodhounds were sometimes too much of a challenge with little to offer in return. In addition, we have noticed negative points that upset the players, which we hope to resolve this season. We will lay out the details of the changes and the reasons for them in another blog, but in short:

• Bloodhound damage reduced from 30 to 20, shock wave strength reduced.
• The quest reward for the Bloodhound's Nest has been increased from 90 to 150. crafting materials (250 total for the large bloodhound nest in the center of the map). Note: Rewards in the form of materials are equally distributed among all allies who are nearby at the time of clearing the nest. All players (regardless of squad) in the area can receive a portion of 250. crafting materials when clearing a large bloodhound nest.
• Fauna targeting rules have been reworked, now damage is the main factor, which will help make targeting fauna more convenient and less chaotic.
• Introduces a targeting limit for bloodhounds so that at any given time only 3 bloodhounds can target a player.
• Disabled the spawning of the Bloodhound Lair if two teams are inside the same nest at the same time (with the exception of the huge Bloodhound Nest in the center of the map). 
• Outside the ring, bloodhounds will be non-hostile unless attacked.
• Bloodhound Dens do not spawn outside the ring if the Bloodhound Camp is inactive.
• The number of roaming bloodhounds in small Wildlife spots has been reduced from 3 to 2, and their movement radius has been halved until they are attacked.
• Made some minor changes to help units clear Nests faster.
• Slightly increased the drop rate of highest tier consumable items from all fauna.

Landing craft route logic.

Although the Storm Spot has a fairly balanced landing zone distribution, we noticed that the typical landing craft flight logic often prevented landings in the upper northeast corner of the map. We've tweaked the distribution and moved the center point slightly to the northeast, which will make Highpoint and Lightning Rod more accessible, while still allowing players to land in the lower southwest if desired.

The images below show 400 landing craft flight simulations, before and after the changes:

Finally, below are a few other changes.

• Improved behavior of fauna when attacking vehicles. Now targeting and attacking occurs on the vehicle occupied by players, and not on individual players in it.
• Improved the behavior of fauna when affected by electricity-related abilities, now Wattson's barriers and Ash's tactical skill now stun fauna more believably.

RANKED MODE UPDATES

In Apex Legends, the main goal is to be the last legend standing, and killing enemies is the way to achieve this. Last season, we made changes to provide some flexibility by rewarding players with high kill counts, but not necessarily first place finishers. We love this flexibility, but after watching some high-ranking matches, we noticed that the players were overly focused on hunting for kills. Players who look forward to higher places and team play should be rewarded appropriately. 

Briefly, the changes are as follows. 

    Maximum number of OU: 175 → 125

Place Points and Kill Bonus:
    

This measure will make life more difficult for teams that do not aim to take high places. We raise the number of points for a place for teams in the top 5; We are making a relaxation in the AP limit and adjusting the issuance of bonuses for killing - for the maximum effect, now you need to do 2-3 fewer kills.

Stage 1 will be played on Olympus, and in Stage 2 in April we will move on to Kings Canyon.

COMMUNICATION FILTER

This season, we're introducing a new feature that will allow players to choose who they want to receive voice and text messages from, the "Communication Filter". Players will be able to find this feature in the settings menu under "Gameplay" and will have 3 options available to them.

• Everyone - You can see and hear all text messages and voice chat from all players.
• Friends Only - You only see and hear text or voice chats from your friends.
• Off - You can't see or hear any voice or text chat.

Players can also unlock any player of their choice: a friend of a friend or just a worthy ally.

UPDATES

BALANCE OF LEGENDS

Crypto

Drone view UI and other gameplay improvements

• Added game status (e.g. ring info, round timers), minimap, kill feed, team status, and tag info to the drone UI.
• The drone UI now displays the health level of the drone itself instead of Crypto's health/shields metric.
• Landmark markers are now displayed on the screen while flying the drone (same as when flying Crypto itself).

Neuroconnection - changes

• Neurolink detection angle increased from 160 to 240 degrees.
• Neurolink detection is now turned off during drone recall.

Reconnaissance Drone - changes

• Reworked drone placement process.
  • If you press the tactical skill button, Crypto releases a drone that flies in a straight line in the direction where Crypto was looking for several seconds.
  • If there is a wall (or other object) in its path, the drone will collide with it and turn around to look away from the wall.
  • Crypto will no longer immediately jump to drone vision after launching it this way.
  • Pressing and holding the [Tactical] skill button will also launch the drone forward, but in this case, Crypto will immediately gain access to the vision from the drone.
• Drone health reduced from 60 to 50.
• The drone marker on the game screen has been changed to improve visibility.
• The drone marker is now always displayed on screen if the drone is released (rather than when it is off screen).

Developer comment

Crypto cannot boast that it is often chosen. The goal of these changes was to make his set of abilities more accessible and interesting. Along with the new placement option, we've lowered the drone's health to discourage sloppiness in the process. Crypto is still a methodical and calculating legend, and manually controlling the Hack is still the main way to do good intelligence. Changes to the drone view interface should also help with this. On his own, Crypto has never been weak; we are aware of his strengths at a high level and will monitor his performance.

Caustic

Traps "Knox" can now be destroyed after detonation.

• 150 oz.
• Detonated traps will disappear after 11 seconds. (instead of 12,5 sec.).
• Gas effects persist for two seconds after the barrel breaks or expires (gas particles still persist a little longer as they dissipate).

BALANCE OF WEAPON AND EQUIPMENT

Supply Drop Changes

This season, the Smenshchik submachine gun returns to the list of ground-based loot - it will be replaced by the powerful medium-range Volt SMG.

"Change"

• Removed modification of penetrating ammunition.

PP "Volt"

• Damage increased from 15 to 17
• The maximum magazine capacity has been increased from 28 to 30 rounds.

Modifications

Kinetic Charge - "Triple Effect" and "Peacemaker".

Sliding with Triple Buff or Peacekeeper in hand greatly speeds up choke and automatically reloads ammo.

Threshing ammunition - P2020, Mozambique and RE-45.

• P2020
  • +50% damage against targets without shields.
• "Mozambique"
  • +35% damage against targets without shields.
• RE-45
  • +35% damage against targets without shields.

Explosive tips - repeating rifle 30-30 and bow "Bozek".

• Passively affects hip fire with both weapons.
  • ADS still provides the most accuracy.
• Removed the ability to switch.
• 30-30 - Shot damage reduced from 8 to 7.
• Bow - Shot damage reduced from 12 to 11.

triple effect 

• Weak cartridge.
• Damage per bullet reduced from 23 to 21.

Developer comment

Triple Effect's return to ground mining has proven to be positive, but it still slightly outperforms the competition due to its effectiveness at a distance. We are reducing the power of the cartridge left over from the days of the sniper's past so that the weapon matches the parameters of the Marksman rifle.

VK-47 "Flatline" 

• Damage per bullet reduced from 19 to 18.

Fury RP (hot fixes).

• Damage reduced from 28 to 26
• Reduced the number of shots in the Charge state from ~40 to ~34.

Developer comment

On January 13, 2022, we fixed an issue with infinite charges on Fury and Guardian. And at the same time we weakened Fury in advance. We include these changes here for those who previously missed our messages.

Weapon replacement with all parts

• Added: RE-45, Triple Buff, Peacemaker, Bloodhound, Chaos. 
• Removed: Mastiff, Repeating Rifle 30-30, R-301, CAR, Longbow.

Weapon making

• The VK-47 Flatline and MV Longbow Rifles can now be crafted with 30. materials at any point of production.
• Crafted weapons cannot be found on the ground.
• The crafted weapon has no mods and comes with two boxes of ammo.

Developer comment

As we continue to introduce new weapons and loot into the game, we need to consider their impact on potential loot glut and the ability to find the right item to equip. With this change, we'll be able to keep weapons available while giving ground loot a bit of a break. 

Crafting items

• First aid kit price reduced from 20 to 15 units.
• Kinetic Charge added to crafting rotation.

BUG FIXING AND EASIER GAMEPLAY

• Fixed a bug due to which many legends were missing voice lines when placing a mark on a flyer in a cage.
• Fixed an issue with the Recharge Accelerator that caused the ammo meter to remain highlighted when switching from a nearly depleted Hemlock or Wingman to another weapon.
• Fixed an issue with the Replicator that could cause an item to get stuck inside when crafted with a full inventory.
• Fixed an issue where matchmaking prompted players to return to the game after ten years.
• Fixed a number of lighting bugs in some places on Olympus.
• Fixed an issue where Mirage Decoys could get stuck on surfaces that protrude slightly from the ground.
• Arenas: Fixed an issue where Crypto's drone charges could be used multiple times by a single drone.
• Arenas: Fixed an issue where attempting to charge Fury or the Guardian Rifle at the start of a round would reset the charge at the start of the round.
• Fixed an issue with Crypto's drone that was causing it to not show the names of allies.
• Fixed a bug due to which, while sliding, players could use melee weapons on sloped surfaces and thus accelerate.
• Fixed a bug due to which when accelerating the Fury RP and simultaneously detaching the extended magazine, the acceleration bar would disappear forever.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Guardian and Fury charge timers to display incorrect times (not adjusted for animation).
• Fixed an issue where certain Horizon Legendary Skins would block part of the screen when using ADS on a Tracker with a 1x Holo Sight.
• Fixed a bug due to which the results of weapon tests were not displayed in the match summary.
• Fixed a bug due to which, when wearing golden armor, 2 cells were required to charge the "Guardian" instead of 1.
• Reduced the volume of the sound effect when hit by the L-STAR.
• Fixed an issue where players could receive a Jump Boost from Death Containers next to Horizon's Gravity Elevator after using it.
• Crosshair Color Adjustment - Limit values ​​to 0-255 to avoid vulnerabilities.
• Scope Color Adjustment - Fixed flaws in the color scheme of the interface, noticeable when using ADS on different sniper scopes.
• Fixed a bug with crosshair settings where rapidly changing the light bar could result in a drastic performance drop on other platforms and a crash on Switch.
• Based on feedback, we've changed the in-game icon for Ashe's passive skill to be smaller and closer to the ground.
• When hitting an object it can't stick to, Ash's tactical skill charge now bounces off of it instead of self-destructing (recharge timer is no longer refunded).
• Ashe's ultimate targeting has been made easier, targeting more distant areas.
• Fixed a bug due to which the sound of the shots from the R-99 played constantly after switching the spectator to another player while the sound of firing from the R-99.
• Storm Spot: Fixed an issue that prevented players from shooting through the mesh fences in the Antenna area. 
• Place of the Storm: Fixed an issue that could cause players to get stuck inside the map when using Valka's ultimate ability in the Control Center.
• Spot of the Storm: Based on feedback, we've tweaked the Endgame Rings so that they don't drive everyone into areas with no cover or lair occupied by Bloodhounds.
• Storm Spot: Fixed an issue where the Gravity Gun could fire at the player if they were under it.
• World's End: The fragment has been upgraded from High to Medium loot. This was done in the 11.1 update, but accidentally omitted from the update description.
• World's End: Fixed an issue with Loba's Ultimate Ability that prevented it from reporting that items in the panels were blocked during trials (although the siren worked normally).
• Fixed an issue that caused Gibby's arm to be missing when executing Pathfinder's Iron Fist.
• Fixed a bug due to which the entire map hears a sound if the player cancels the beacon scan.
• Fixed an issue where Valkyrie's hands in the Cloud Marauder Legendary skin were much darker in 1st person than in the lobby and other 1st person skins.
• Fixed a bug due to which players could lose some abilities if they were hit by Ciar's tactical skill at the moment of transition to crafting.
• Fixed an issue where Caustic's barrels that were in the process of being placed (mid-throw) would not be removed when Caustic died.
• Fixed an issue where the Wattson Interceptor Pylon would sometimes charge less shields than expected.
• Fixed a bug that resulted in a crash if players accepted a request to join a club by double-tapping the confirm button.
• Fixed an issue that caused Wraith's Portal to stutter when placed mid-air with the Gravity Gun.
• Fixed a bug due to which butts did not fall out of the fauna on the map "Storm Spot".
• Improved behavior of fauna when attacking vehicles. 
• Improved the behavior of fauna when affected by electricity-related abilities, now Wattson's barriers and Ash's tactical skill now stun fauna more believably.
• Slightly increased the drop rate of highest tier consumable items from all fauna.
• Added the ability to see an ally's survival item while the inventory is open.

Correction of some strange rules for identifying and rewarding assists and kills.

• When leaving the game, players will no longer deny you kills and assists.
• Reviving no longer resets damage history.

PRIVATE MATCHES UPDATES

• Spectator: Added the ability to turn off the kill feed in freecam mode.
• Observer: Fixed the visibility of the ring on the minimap.
• Observer: Fixed kill calculations for the Status and Stats screen.
• Fixed generation of statistics totals for team slots with default names.
• Disabled club features in private matches.
• Added unique player IDs for the post-game API (same as the real-time API).
• Live API Changes
  • Added "weaponSwitched" event. Shows the current item equipped by the player.
  • Added player names for squadEliminated and matchStateEnd events.
  • Added ally names to the observerSwitched event.
  • Fixed bugs due to which items were displayed as "Unrecognized".
  • Fixed an issue where the characterSelected event was not populated by all players.

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