Apex Legends Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth event patch notes: New mode, buster sword, skins, more

The Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth crossover is almost here in Apex Legends, and Respawn has now revealed exactly what players can expect, including a new takeover mode, the Buster Sword (in two forms), and lots of new skins.

In a very unexpected announcement at The Game Awards, Apex and Final Fantasy fans were delighted to see the crossover come together.

But, Respawn initially kept the details under wraps, with players wondering what exactly to expect after the teaser trailer.

Now we know, there will be a new takeover event mode, which replace the regular BR, and the highlight for many will be the introduction of Cloud’s Buster Sword – which is coming both as a weapon, and a new cosmetic item.

Here’s everything coming in the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth event in Apex Legends.

Final Fantasy VII Takeover

In this new mode, players will be able to wield the power of a Buster Sword R2R5, which can be used as a weapon in the mode once found around the map or in Care Packages.

The sword will have both light and heavy attacks, the ability to block to reduce incoming damage, as well as a dash move. And, you can fill the meter to use the “quintessential Limit Break”, such as the Omni-Slash we see in the trailer.

Buster Sword: New Heirloom for all legends

In addition to the mode-exclusive version of the Buster Sword, another version, called Buster Sword R5, will be available sort of like an heirloom, but for all Legends.

Rather than needing to complete a collection event to get the heirloom, this event simply has 36 cosmetic items that will randomly drop in event packs. The Sword will also come exclusively in these packs.

This version of the sword will have no gameplay abilities, rather simply being a replacement for your Legend’s fists or heirloom, if you have one. Notably, it will not enter the Mythic shop after the event, meaning the only time it will ever be available is during the event, in the packs.

Event skins

As mentioned, there will be 36 cosmetic items added with the event, including Legend and weapon skins.

New skins in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth event pic.twitter.com/3ofJjxJ3FN

— Apex Legends News (@alphaINTEL) January 4, 2024

Unlike collection events, these items are only available through the event packs. There is however a four-pack guarantee option, which ensures you will get a Legendary or Iconic item (until you have acquired all items of that rarity).

Although, the six Iconic skins for Wraith, Horizon, Wattson, Crypto, Valkyrie and Newcastle will be available in the item shop.

Respawn Entertainment

New Hop-up: Materia

In the takeover event mode, Materia Hop-Ups can be found and used for “increased effects and/or bonuses.”

Respawn explains, “Each Materia Hop-Up has its own impact and will only attach with select weapons, and can spawn in the world and event-limited Cactuar Ticks!”

Blue Materia	HP Absorb	Damage enemies to heal yourself
Green Materia	Lightning	Reload an empty weapon to emit a shock nova, damaging and slowing nearby enemies
Purple Materia	Crit Rate Up	Random criticals provide extra damage
Red Materia	Summon	Summon a Nessie companion to attack your foes
Yellow Materia	Assess	Damage enemies to see their remaining health

Gil & Reward shop

Finally, there will be a new event currency called Gil, which can be acquired in matches and then used for rewards, including packs, badges and other event-limited items.

Respawn Entertainment

The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth event in Apex Legends will start on January 9, and run until January 30.

Twitch drops for the event will also be available from January 12 – 30, by watching select Twitch streamers.

PATCH NOTES

BALANCE UPDATES

Crafting Rotation

• R-301 and Volt leave the crafter and are back on the floor
• Hemlok and Alternator enter the crafter

WEAPONS

• Mastiff
  • Tactical reload time reduced to 0.9 (was 1.03)
  • Empty reload time reduced to 1.6 (was 1.7)
  • Draw Time reduced to 0.45 (was 0.8)
• R99 
  • Damage reduced to 11 (was 12)
• CAR SMG
  • Damage reduced to 12 (was 13)

LEGENDS

Catalyst

• Piercing Spikes
  • Now require line-of-sight to an enemy player to activate
  • Spikes that have not been activated will still slow players

Horizon

• Improved Horizon audio to make “falls” less silent
  • Hard landing audio adjusted to match other legends
  • Soft Landings now play audio in world ( not just for Horizon )
  • Gravity Lift exit audio range increased to make it easier to hear characters who exit

Newcastle

• Castle Wall: impact will now destroy Conduit’s Energy Barricade mines
• Mobile Shield: can now be destroyed by enemy Crypto EMP
• Delayed balance adjustments from the season 19.0 patch are now fully integrated

Rampart

• Amped Walls are no longer destroyed by friendly Crypto EMP or Mad Maggie’s Wrecking Ball

MAPS

Storm Point

• Added and adjusted cover at ZEUS Station & ECHO HQ
• Added Ring Console to Coastal Camp
• Added Trident to Barometer
• Adjusted the position of the Ring Console, Survey Beacon and Crafting Station at Lightning Rod
• Reduced volume of ambient audio at ZEUS Station & ECHO HQ
• Removed Ring Console, Survey Beacon and Crafting Station from Thunder Watch
• Resolved a number of additional bugs and rat spots
• Restored missing Ring Console at Command Center
• ECHO HQ
  • Added four new staircases at ECHO HQ to improve vertical navigation around the perimeter
  • Rooftop of ECHO HQ is now out of bounds, Zipline and rooftop hatch has been removed
• Wattson’s Pylon
  • Adjusted position of the ziplines at Wattson’s Pylon to improve consistency of mantle jumping
  • Reduced amount of ultra rare loot at Wattson’s Pylon
• ZEUS Station
  • Added additional cover and ziplines at ZEUS Station for mixtape modes only
  • Increased the speed of the redeploy balloon zipline at ZEUS Station by 25%

MIXTAPE

Map Rotation

• Control
  • Hammond Labs and Production Yard are out
  • Lava Siphon and Caustic Treatment are in
• Gun Run
  • The Core, Estates, and Wattson’s Pylon are out
  • Skulltown, Fragment East, and ZEUS Station are in
• TDM
  • ZEUS Station, Skulltown, and Phase Runner are out
  • Wattson’s Pylon, Party Crasher, and Overflow are in

New

• Added new Legend voice lines that occasionally play on respawn
• Lowered Ratings reward for assists in Control 5 per assist (was 20)
  • This is in response to a recent change where we started counting assists in Control and TDM based on the whole team and not just within your individual squad

WORLD SYSTEMS

• Extended Supply Bins
  • Added a cap to the number of heat shields a team can receive from the secret drawer
  • Added a cap to the number of medkits a team can receive from the secret drawer

BUG FIXES

• Firing Range: players dying with a Nessie in their inventory will no longer find the Nessie deleted. Sorry Nessie Hunters!
• Players no longer get stuck due to spamming holosprays while skydiving
• Players no longer drop out of Wraith’s portal before reaching the other side
• Resolved small chance of getting 5 items in secret drawer of Extended Supply Bins
• Resolved bug preventing audio engine from properly utilizing fast storage drives when reading compressed audio data
• Startup logo video audio volume now respects the master volume slider
• Storm Point: players should now be able to use Evac Tower through the ceiling hatch in Command Center
• Trident collision should no longer occasionally push players through walls and floors

LEGENDS

• Ash: Ultimate can no longer be used with Tridents to get under map
• Bloodhound: Niflheim Hundr skin’s raven now white (was black)
• Catalyst
  • Piercing Spikes ability description now shows the correct max number of traps
  • Piercing Spikes can now be pinged again
  • Ultimate no longer shows as ready in inventory without being fully charged
• Conduit
  • Fixed Energy Barricade V-Shape deployment when looking directly at the ground
  • Tactical can no longer be used on respawning team still in dropship
• Crypto: fixed Crypto taking ring damage while standing in a heat shield if controlling his drone in the ring
• Loba: restored movement speed while holding Tactical if it was activated while standing still
• Mad Maggie
  • Fixed damage numbers not showing correctly when hitting Revenant’s ultimate shroud with Wrecking Ball
  • Passive no longer works through Catalyst’s walls
• Revenant: no longer occasionally becomes invincible during his ultimate if his shroud is broken while marked by Vantage’s Sniper
• Vantage: corrected Sniper Ult bullets damage to marked targets when breaking Gibraltar’s arm shield or Revenant’s ultimate shroud
• Wattson: Ultimate correctly recharges shields when placed after Bangalore’s smoke

MODES

• Abilities that outline players should no longer stop functioning after killing an enemy
• Silence abilities should no longer cancel auto healing
• Voice chat is no longer heard outside of the squad in TDM and Control

Control

• Caustic Treatment: weapons cannot be used on the supply ship
• Damage not taken while inside the respawn ship
• Players no longer occasionally spawn in a skydive state when respawning on Kings Canyon
• Players no longer lose invulnerability while still on the dropship when spawning on the MRB

CODE OPTIMIZATION

• Fixed issue with dynamic resolution not reacting fast enough to high graphics load. Improves frame rate stability on consoles
• DX12 (PC) video memory (VRAM) usage is now reduced by 1.5 – 2GB
• DX12 (PC) improved graphics performance with parallelization of rendering workloads
• Upgraded Nvidia Reflex SDK to v1.8 and adds support for latency markers

QUALITY OF LIFE

LEGENDS

Conduit

• Improved visibility for jammers
• Ultimate SFX can no longer be heard in other Firing Range instances

Mirage’s Decoys

• Improved issues against terrain that would cause destruction/floating
  • Any destroyed by terrain will now be refunded
• Improved to more correctly copy the ADS state of the player
• No longer mimic reviving or execution animations

Newcastle

• Voice line added when Newcastle removes one of his own Castle Wall segments