Apex Legends Voidwalker update: All buffs and nerfs for weapons, Legends and more

The new Voidwalker event went live in Apex Legends on September 3, bringing a big map change and new cosmetics, but there were also some major tweaks to weapons and legends that you may have missed.

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Developers Respawn Entertainment have stuck to their plan of making updates somewhat infrequently, so as not to upset the balance or ‘meta’ of the game too drastically, too often.

The previous Apex Legends patch, which dropped alongside the launch of the Iron Crown event, also made some wholesale changes to weapons and legends, but after further feedback and testing, more tweaks have been implemented for the Voidwalker event.

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Weapon balancing

Only two weapon changes have been implemented in the September 3 update, but one of these changes affects an entire class of weapons: the SMGs.

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Projectile width has also been increased for the Triple Take, although specifics of the change have not been provided. This is a small nerf though, as it will make landing all three projectiles on an enemy a bit trickier.

• Increased projectile width for the TripleTake
• SMG weapons are no longer compatible with the 3x HCOG and 2x-4x variable ACOG scopes.
  • Note from design: Our goal with this change is to better define weapon archetypes and improve the looting experience so that players aren’t accidentally picking up a long range site for a close range weapon that they have to manually remove.

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Legend balancing

Two legends have been adjusted in the Voidwalker update, Wattson and Bloodhound, with the former most significantly impacted. It appears that Respawn are concerned about Wattson being a little too good, and she has now been given ‘low profile attributes’.

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This was a nerf first implemented for Wraith, Lifeline and Pathfinder, who, because of their slender/short physical shape, take 5% more damage than other legends. On the other hand, Caustic and Gibraltar (the bulkier legends) take 10% reduced damage, thanks to being a bigger target overall.

Wattson

• Wattson will now have low profile attributes [takes %5 more damage to base health]
• Reduced the maximum number of Interceptor Pylons that can be active to 1.

Bloodhound

• Fixed an issue that allowed players to cancel the start up animation for their ultimate when activated while using a zipline.

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Bug fixes

In addition to the buffs and nerfs, a number of bug fixes and quality of life changes were also made:

• Fixed a bug where sometimes a player’s reward would not display properly after completing a challenge that awards crafting metals.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes players would see a different rare skin equipped to the Legend they are spectating when hanging from a ledge.
• Fixed some issues related to script errors.
• [Xbox] Fixed issue where sometimes players would have issues connecting to a match at the same time as their party forcing them to join Legend Select late with Legends already locked.
• [PS4] code fixes to address crashes related to out of memory issues.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes players would still be in an out of bounds state when they are not actually out of bounds.

QUALITY OF LIFE

• New Promo Window – A new feature we’ve added to the Lobby that will display offers and info and allows for direct navigation to the website or store. 
• Added Auto Sprint feature to all platforms that can be turned on or off. This is disabled by default and can be changed in the Settings menu.
• Players can now adjust Aim Down Sight look sensitivity per optic zoom level.
• Visual improvements to Legends in the Lobby and Character Select screen
  • Increased overall brightness.
  • Softer/lighter shadows.
  • Improved reflections on hard surfaces.
  • Improved detail and contrast to textures.
• Added UI to the Spectator View that lets players easily tell if they are spectating a squadmate or enemy.
• Added setting to disable weapon auto switching when ammo runs out.

With how close we are now to Apex Legends Season 3 (expected in early October), this is likely the last major update we will have until the new season begins.

Wattson has certainly been a fan favorite since her addition at the start of the second season, so there will be some players understandably disappointed with her nerf, but it remains to be seen if it will lead to overall better balancing.