Apex Legends devs promise Gibraltar nerfs “still coming,” but not this patch
Respawn EntertainmentRespawn has confirmed the long-awaited Gibraltar gun shield nerfs are “still coming” in an upcoming Apex Legends update, after the promised Season 8 changes were conspicuously absent in this week’s ‘Chaos Theory’ patch.
Hefty shield-wielding legend Gibraltar has long sat atop the Apex Legends meta. In fact, since his Season 3 buffs, the Kiwi defender fallen out of the top three.
It’s been a point of contention in the Apex Legends community for some time; pros and ranked players alike have publicly called for nerfs regularly over the past 12 months. At first, Respawn stayed strong on the changes. They had “absolutely no plans” to change the defender, and only fiddled with his ult timings slightly.
Until, that is, the devs promised to look at his “broken” gun shield.
On Jan. 26, the Apex Legends balance team confirmed they would be changing the way bleedthrough (transferring damage to Gibraltar after his shield cracks) worked. These nerfs were tipped to arrive in the ‘Chaos Theory’ patch.
Only, they weren’t in the March 4 notes.
Don’t worry though — Respawn has already updated Apex fans on the status of the planned Gibraltar gun shield changes: “Don’t worry… they’re coming soon.”
Respawn Entertainment According to Respawn’s balance team, they were working on “the arm shield stuff” when they encountered a “nasty” set of bugs that slowed down their process.
“These stopped us from shipping the nerf,” they admitted.
The absence of the long-awaited gun shield nerfs in this week’s ‘Chaos Theory’ update doesn’t mean they aren’t coming, the devs added. The planned Gibraltar changes are still very much on the schedule, and should be “coming soon,” once the coding bugs get ironed out.
The Gibby nerfs — which have now been pushed back twice — should be included in the second Season 8 patch; that should be around late April or early May.
Respawn EntertainmentGibraltar’s gun shield may be safe — for now — but his dome is not.
The bulky Kiwi defender will have his Dome of Protection’s healing item speeds reduced by 15% in the March 9 patch. He will also be joined on the balance sheet by Pathfinder (losing low profile) and Horizon (her Black Hole cooldown is copping a one-minute hit), as well as Revenant, Wattson, and Rampart.
The Mastiff, Wingman, and Hemlok are all getting changes too. Catch up on the full “Chaos Theory” patch notes ahead of the big Season 8 update on March 9.