Notorious Apex Legends ‘second-life’ exploit finally patched in new hotfix

One of Apex Legends’ original and most notorious exploits, which allowed players to retain the ability to shoot their weapons while downed, has finally been addressed in a new hotfix pushed live in Respawn’s battle royale this week.

Plenty of exploits have plagued Respawn’s battle royale since its debut a year ago, but none have risen to notoriety quite like Apex’s ‘second-life’ glitch, aka the ‘shoot-while-downed’ bug, which gives players a chance beyond defeat.

This game-breaking bug was rare, but even popped up in ranked lobbies. Players would retain the ability to use and, more importantly, shoot their weapons after being knocked when the bug struck. It would often decide entire firefights.

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Earlier this month, Apex devs responded to calls for the bug to be squashed once and for all, and finally confirmed they had a fix on the way. Two weeks later, they have now unveiled the hotfix meant to eradicate the exploit for good.

• Read more: Apex Season 5 Fortune’s Favor revealed: Loba, Quests, more

The notorious exploit has finally been put to pasture in a newly-released April 30 hotfix, Respawn confirmed: “Today we pushed through a quick patch that fixed an exploit which allowed players to shoot their weapon when downed.”

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This change will be a welcome relief for many, even if the wait as a particularly lengthy one. Respawn’s move to stomp out the exploit is also quite timely ⁠— ranked queues are set to reset with Season 5’s arrival on May 12.

• Read more: Could we see Loba finally battle Revenant in Season 5?

Unfortunately, the ‘second-life’ bug wasn’t the only problem plaguing Apex across its Season 4 lifespan. Mirage has been dogged by an odd bug that auto-revives enemies in battle, which has seen his play-rate plummet even lower.

Dexerto can only assume this Mirage bug was left untouched due to the major rework the Holographic Trickster is set to receive in Season 5. Considering many of Mirage’s abilities will change, Respawn will likely patch out the bug then too.