Apex Legends Season 13 patch notes: Newcastle, Ranked changes, buffs & nerfs

❘ Published: 2022-05-09T15:08:17

Respawn Entertainment

Apex Legends Season 13: Saviors starts on May 10, and brings the new Legend Newcastle, massive changes to Ranked play, and a new location on Storm Point. Here are the fulle patch notes for Season 13, with everything we can expect in the update.

Although Newcastle is the star of the new season, we can also expect numerous changes to Legends and weapons in the game already, as Respawn looks to balance out any existing issues.

We already know that massive changes are coming to Ranked play, with tier demotion, a new ‘rookie’ tier, and more. You can check out all the Ranked play changes here.

But, what else is in store for the Season 13 update? Check out the full patch notes from Respawn below.

Apex Season 13 update release time

The Apex Legends Season 13 update will release on Tuesday, May 10, at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST.

New season updates can be quite large, and with map changes and a new Legend, expect to be downloading over 20GB of data, depending on your platform.

For PlayStation players, it is often possible to preload the update early, usually the day before.

Apex Legends Season 13: Patch Notes

New Legend: Newcastle

Upcoming legend “Newcastle” in Season 13.

Newcastle joins the Apex Games – Bangalore’s brother leaves his secret life and new family behind, in order to protect his town.

We’ve seen Newcastle’s abilities in action in the gameplay trailer, showing he has a deployable shield, and can revive enemies while protecting them with his arm shield too.

Check out everything you need to know about Newcastle here.

Storm Point map changes

Storm Point arrived in Apex Legends Season 11.

The Downed Beast is a new POI on Storm Point. A high-tier loot location, you’ll be able to fight inside, around, and on top of the beast’s lifeless carcass.

This is a new addition to the map, rather than replacing any existing POIs, so nearby Mill and North Pad remain unaffected.

There is also new IMC Armories – where you can fight waves of spectres to unlock smart loot based on your gear. Here’s how the new Armories work.

Ranked Reloaded

One of the biggest changes for Season 13 is Ranked Reloaded – a major overhaul of the Ranked system.

Tier demotion – you can now derank out of a tier, to halfway down the previous tier
New Rookie tier added – lower than bronze. This is only for new players.
Kill RP cap removed
Entry costs changed. For Masters+Predator, entry costs increase with total RP (5 RP every 1000 RP, up to 175 RP)
Assist timer increased from 10s to 15s

And there are lots more changes besides. For a full breakdown, check out our Ranked Reloaded guide here.

BALANCE UPDATES

Fortified Legends

Fortified no longer reduces headshot damage

Crafting Rotation

Flatline & Longbow coming out and are now floor loot
Rampage & R-301 going into crafter

Gold Weapons

EVA-8, Bow, Flatline, P2020, Spitfire

Helmets Buff

Blue helmet headshot damage reduction increased from 40% to 50%
Purple helmet headshot damage reduction increased from 50% to 65%

Kraber

Headshot multiplier down from 3.0 to 2.0
Damage reduced from 145 to 140

Rampage

Increased reload time from 2.6 to 3.1
Slightly increased handling times

LSTAR

Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
Overheat cool-off time increased from 2.5 to 3.6
Slightly increased handling times

Devotion

Damage reduced from 16 to 15
Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
Increased reload time from 2.8 to 3.2
Draw time increased to 0.8 from 0.7
Holster time increased to 0.75 from 0.65
Raise time increased to 0.65 from 0.55
Lower time increased to 0.6 from 0.5

Havoc

Improved recoil at the start of the pattern

Dual Shell

Removed from floor loot and crafting bundles

Mozambique & Peacekeeper

Increased limb damage from 0.8 to 1.0

Crate Weapons

Spitfire back to floor loot
Mastiff into crate

Spitfire

Damage decreased from 19 to 18
Purple & Gold Magazine capacity reduced from 55 to 50
Crouched hipfire spread increased
Removed barrel attachment slot
Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
Increased reload time from 3.2 to 3.4
Draw time increased to 0.8 from 0.7
Holster time increased to 0.75 to 0.65
Raise time increased to 0.65 from 0.55
Lower time increased to 0.6 from 0.5

Mastiff

Tightened blast pattern
Ammo capacity reduced from 6 to 4
Stockpile ammo: 28
Damage per pellet increased from 11 to 14
Increased pellet size
Fire Rate increased from 1.1 to 1.2

Cells & Syringes

Cells and Syringe spawn rates have been lowered by about 18%

Rampart Improvements

Sheila spin-up time decreased from 1.75s to 1.25s
Amped Cover deploy health increased from 45 to 120
Amped Cover deploy time decreased from 4.25 to 3.6

Valkyrie

Can no longer freely spin while launching during Skyward Dive

Out of Bounds

When going out of bounds the following will be disabled:
- Legends Abilities
- Weapons, Ordinances and Survival Items
- Healing items (Will not cancel mid healing)
- All Active Passives (e.g. Valks Jet Packs)

World’s Edge

Redesigned windows at Lava Siphon’s Control Tower to focus sightlines
Added some additional cover around Lava Siphon’s Lava Pit
Gondola loot has been tweaked. The chances of finding high-tier armor in them have been notably reduced. Climatizer and Lava Siphon will still remain as High Tier Loot POIs

ARENAS PRICING ADJUSTMENTS

Thermites

100 → 75

Charge Rifle

Lvl 1: 200 → 150
Lvl 2: 200 → 150
Lvl 3: 450 → 400

Longbow

Base: 400 → 300
Lvl 1: 250 → 200
Lvl 2: 300 → 250
Lvl 3: 400 → 350

Sentinel

Lvl 3: 400 → 350

Bocek Bow

Lvl 2: 250 → 200
Lvl 3: 300 → 250

Triple Take

Base: 600 → 500
Lvl 1: 250 → 200
Lvl 2: 300 → 250
Lvl 3: 400 → 300

Devotion

Lvl 1: 150 → 200
Lvl 2: 250 → 350

L-STAR

Lvl 1: 200 → 150

Havoc

Base: 350 → 400

Hemlok

Lvl 2: 250 → 200
Lvl 3: 350 → 300

Prowler

Lvl 2: 300 → 250
Lvl 3: 350 → 300

BUG FIXES

Fix for players inside of Bangalore smoke unintentionally getting aim assist on targets outside of smoke.
Fixed bug where Valk could no longer use Jumptowers if she has been previously shot down during her Ultimate.
Fix for Volt animation for cases where the weapon and reticle have a jittery animation when the player is crouched.
Fix for cases where weapons and attachments can be dropped/switched during Charge Tower interaction leading to animation glitch.
Fix for Charge Rifle Legendary skin “Curse of the Amazon” where the upper part of the weapon blocked camera view when aiming down sites.
Fixed bug for cases when the user accesses the replicator and pulls up their inventory before the UI for the replicator shows up, they can drop their weapon and is stuck in a crouched position.
Canyonlands: Fix for cases when players could get blocked when trying to activate Valk’s Ultimate.
Fixed a bug where Season Trackers were no longer showing what season stats they are tracking.
Fixed bug where the Sentinel could charge instantly when vaulting.
Xbox One: Fix for cases where players sometimes had to skip the Legend Select phase due to being stuck on the “waiting for players” screen.
Fixed issue when Knocking a player on an enemy team and then dying before getting the kill, can lead to the kill being rewarded to another team instead
ARENAS – Fixed issue where Boosted Loader was missing on Wingman.
Fixed issue where Finishers are not counted as damage towards Challenges.
Fixed bug where Purple Evo shields glow through closed care packages, loot pins, and Lifeline Care Packages.
Fix for cases where players could get killed by a death box if coming in contact with it on an airship.
Fixed bug for an issue with Players getting killed when throwing a caustic barrel up against an opening door.

CRYPTO

Fix for cases when Crypto’s heirloom (sword) appears stuck in the middle of his body while his drone is deployed.
Fixed issue when inspecting his Heirloom with the “Deadly Byte” skin equipped, can show missing arm texture.
Fix for cases when players could recall their Drone instantly after activating their Ultimate.
Fixed bug for when Crypto is using his legendary skin, and while being revived by a Mirage, he turns invisible except for his sunglasses which remain visible during the revive.

FUSE

Fixed bug where using Fuse’s Tactical in water caused the audio to get overwhelmingly loud.
Fix for bug where players can extend Motherlode’s range if used on flyers, Crypto’s drone, loot drones, and Loba’s Bracelet.

HORIZON

Fix for cases when Horizon’s Ultimate disappears if the player opens a door next to it.

MIRAGE

Fix for bug where the shield regeneration from Wattson’s ultimate would reveal Mirage’s location when he is invisible while reviving.
Fixed bug for when Mirage’s decoys would sprint faster when the player is armed with an item than when they are unarmed.

PATHFINDER

Fix for an issue where grappling grounded Loot Rollers can cause the player to get flung at high velocity.

NEW CUSTOM MATCH SYSTEM

Custom Match is replacing the previous Private Match system.

Custom Match QOL improvements:
- UI & Design Improvements.
- Custom Match now saves Team Names & Match Settings when returning from match to lobby.
- Match flow improvements.
Added new launch parameters to pre-select viewing targets for Observer.
Updated the color pallet used by Observers when viewing teams (Map Overview + Highlights)
- Additionally, fixed the color duplication issue previously seen on the map overview
Updated the Team Eliminated Text with a unique color for Anonymous Mode in Custom Match.