Apex Legends Season 18: Resurrection is just a few hours away, and Respawn has given players a detailed look at all the changes coming to the game this season via Season 18’s patch notes and the Resurrection battle pass trailer, both of which were released this morning.
Quick Facts
- Major changes include Revenant’s new ability set and class, a complete overhaul of the Charge Rifle, and the reintroduction of the Disruptor Rounds and Selectfire Receiver weapon hop-ups.
- Ranked Mode rewards will see changes, with Ranked-exclusive skydive trails being removed and replaced with banner frames.
- Season 18’s public battle royale matches will have a map rotation featuring Broken Moon, Kings Canyon, and Olympus.
Revenant Reborn
Though Revenant’s new ability set was confirmed last week, the Season 18 patch notes revealed an additional detail: Revenant’s new legend class. Currently, he’s an Assault-class legend, but when he’s “reborn” on August 8, he’ll be moved to the movement-focused Skirmisher legend class, which will give him the class-exclusive Care Package Insight perk. This perk allows Revenant to see (and ping) Care Packages–and the highest-tier loot item inside them–through walls, terrain, and other obstacles.
Recharged Charge Rifle
Another massive change included in the patch notes is the completely reworked Charge Rifle. Instead of firing a sustained beam, the Charge Rifle will now be able to fire shorter bursts that can be charged up to increase damage. Damage also increases the farther the projectile travels, rewarding players for aiming well in long-range engagements. Additionally, the Charge Rifle’s energy beam can now pierce multiple targets, making it the perfect choice for taking out multiple, closely grouped enemies at once. Starting this season, the Charge Rifle can also destroy doors and make use of an Extender Sniper Magazine attachment. Overall, these changes make the Charge Rifle function much more similarly to the way it did in Titanfall 2, so players who are familiar with Respawn’s previous titles will likely find themselves right at home with the new Charge Rifle design.
Map rotation
The patch notes also provide confirmation on the upcoming season’s map rotation. Season 18’s public battle royale matches will take place on the following maps:
- Broken Moon
- Kings Canyon
- Olympus
Reworking the ring
The Resurrection patch notes reveal another feature that’s being reworked this season: The ring itself. Starting in Season 18, Round 1’s ring size will cover 20% more surface area than it currently does, giving players a bit more room to breathe (and loot) before they need to worry about rotating to the next POI. Subsequent rounds’ rings will stay the same size, but there are some changes to incoming damage–Round 2’s ring will now inflict 4 damage per tick, up from the current 3 points of damage, while Round 4’s ring damage is being reduced from 20 damage per tick to 15.
There have also been some changes made to the ring’s shrinking speed in certain rounds, but the biggest change by far when it comes to timing is a decrease in the overall time it takes to complete a battle royale match. Matches taking place on smaller maps will now last a maximum of 19 minutes (previously: 21.5 minutes), while matches held on larger maps (like Broken Moon) will now last a maximum of 20 minutes, down from the previous 22.5 minutes.
Weapons and hop-ups
The Rampage and R-99 are returning to the standard loot pool in Season 18, with the Nemesis and Mozambique (equipped with Hammerpoint Rounds) taking their place in the Replicator. The Double-Tap Trigger and Hammerpoint Rounds hop-ups are being removed from the game entirely this season, with the Boosted Loader and (somewhat controversial) Disruptor Rounds replacing them in the loot pool.
The Hemlock is being removed from the Care Package and returning to floor loot (with slightly decreased damage output). The Prowler SMG will take its place, entering the Care Package and receiving two buffs as a result: Increased damage (16 damage per shot, up from the current 15) and an automatically activated Selectfire Receiver hop-up, making the weapon fully automatic by default.
Lastly, the following weapons will be upgraded to Legendary-tier in Season 18:
- Alternator
- Charge Rifle
- Hemlock
- Peacekeeper
- Rampage
Legends
Aside from Revenant’s massive overhaul, the biggest legend-related changes coming to Apex this season are changes in ability recharge rate. The following legends’ will have their ultimate ability cooldown times changed in Season 18:
- Bangalore’s Rolling Thunder: 240 seconds (+60 seconds)
- Catalyst’s Dark Veil: 150 seconds (+30 seconds)
- Gibraltar’s Defensive Bombardment: 180 seconds (-90 seconds)
- Horizon’s Black Hole: 210 seconds (+30 seconds)
- Loba’s Black Market Boutique: 150 seconds (+30 seconds)
- Mad Maggie’s Wrecking Ball: 120 seconds (+30 seconds)
- Pathfinder’s Zipline Gun: 180 seconds (+60 seconds)
- Wraith’s Dimensional Rift: 180 seconds (-30 seconds)
Keep scrolling to check out the patch notes, which are listed in full below. For more information on the upcoming season, check out everything we know about Season 18, and don’t forget to finish your Season 17 battle pass (and claim all the free loot from the Neon Network Collection Event) before Apex Legends Season 18: Resurrection goes live on Tuesday, August 8 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.
