Apex Legends Season 2 has brought a big update to the game. Battle Charge has changed things for the map, the balance of weapons, and even the legends available. The Battle Pass costs 950 Apex Coins (that is about $9.50 in actual money) and gives you a fair bit of content. However, even if you’re not paying for the battle pass this new update has brought plenty to the game.
Battle Charge looks like it has really shaken things up. Season 2 is aiming to improve on Season 1of Apex Legends, which faced criticism for being fairly static along with sub-standard rewards for the paid battle pass. The developers have addressed some of these problems. Some of the previous Battle Pass exclusive rewards are now available for free.
Balancing changes have been made to the existing elements of the game along with some new content. You will need to adjust your strategies for the changes that have been made. Since Apex has remained fairly static until Season 2 began to approach, players might not be as used to changes as those playing Fortnite. You will need to take some time to adjust to quite a different metagame. These patch notes will show you what has changed and how that is going to impact you and your time in Kings Canyon.
New Content in Battle Charge
Battle Charge obviously launches with the Season 2 Battle Pass which includes all sorts of free rewards, however, some things have changed for all players with the new update.
- Tracker – This time around the Season 2 tracker is free for all players rather than unlocked. The stats tracker still isn’t as in-depth as it could be, so you might want to continue using an external tracker.
- Apex Packs – Every player gets five.
- Wattson Skin – The Hot Rod Skin will be given out for free to players. Not much use if you’re not purchasing that legend, but provoking that purchase is likely the point.
- Leviathan – After some run-ins with monsters just prior to the season launching, Season 2 is bringing the Leviathans even closer into the action. These creatures have made it all the way into the arena and have caused a number of changes to the map.
- Wattson – The new legend is now available in the store. You can unlock her for 750 Apex Coins or 12,000 Legend Tokens.
- Ranked Leagues – This is a major update to Apex Legends with Battle Charge. If you’re interested in playing ranked matches (and you probably are if you’re reading patch notes) then there is a full guide on how it works here.
Weapons Changes in Battle Charge
Much like in Fortnite, each new season brings new weapons and a change to the metagame of Apex Legends.
- L-Star EMG – This is a new airdrop weapon that fires plasma projectiles. It has a high damage rate but will overheat if it is fired for too long. The L-Star is only available in Airdrops and comes with a limited amount of ammo. This makes it a little single-use but this balances it with its relatively high strength.
- Disrupter Rounds – This is a new Hop-Up attachment that increases damage down to shielded targets. It is compatible with the Alternator and RE-45.
- Hammerpoint Rounds – This is another Hop-Up attachment than increases your damage to unshielded targets. It is compatible with the P2020 and Mozambique.
- Energy Mags – Another new attachment in the Battle Charge update, this one is compatible with Havoc, Triple Take, and Devotion. It increases your magazine capacity. Your reload speed is also increased if it is of Rare grade or better.
- Skull Piercer – This has been upgraded to gold tier and its rarity adjusted accordingly.
- Flatline – Damage rate has been increased by three points.
- P2020 – Damage rate has been increased by one point.
- Triple Take X Precision Choke – The choke time for this has been reduced from 1.5 to 1.1.
- Alternator – Damage rate has been reduced from 13 to 15 and recoil mitigation increased for every barrel attachments. This isn’t really a major change but helpful to some.
More Weapon Alterations in Battle Charge
Developers seem to be making up for lost time with these changes. There have been quite a lot of adjustments to weapons and attachments, here’s some more:
- Kraber – Damage rate has been increased in Battle Charge from 125 to 145. The headshot scale has been increased very very marginally from 2.0 to 2.05 and leg damage increased from 0.76 to 0.8. The rarity has also been increased. These are very slight adjustments but might make something of a difference.
- Arc Star – Ignition delay has been increased from 2.5 to 2.8. Sticking a player who has full health and no armor will down them. If you’re at the edge of the explosion, your shield is no longer entirely shattered. These are relatively balanced changes.
- Airdrop Weapon Spawn Rates – These have been altered to change based on the stage of the game. Early game airdrops will now give more Krabers and late game ones will give you more Mastiffs.
- Bug Fixes – The game’s weapons have had a number of fixes. This includes the exploit of using the weapon inspect function to cancel out other moves and some recoil issues.
Legend Changes
The legends have been adjusted to make room for Wattson and ensure every player is well balanced. If you’re particularly attached to one play style or another you should find your legend here to make sure the damage isn’t too bad.
Bloodhound
- Eye of the All-father – You can now track enemies in real time instead of where they’ve just been! This now lasts for 1.5 seconds. The angle of your scan has been changed from 110 to 90.
- Tracker – Duration has been increased from 60 seconds to 90 seconds. A few bug fixes have also been made to ensure this works how it should do.
Mirage
- Vanishing Act – You can now cancel out of this cloak early if you want to. There is also a delay that now happens when disabling the cloak.
Caustic
- General – Damage reduction has been increased from 10% to 15% and you’re now immune to slow effects from weapon fire.
- Nox Gas – The effect of this on teammates has been reduced by 50%.
Gibraltar
- General –Damage reduction has been increased from 10% to 15% and you’re now also immune to slow effects from weapon fire.
- Dome of Protection –Duration of this has been increased by three seconds.
Pathfinder
- General –Hitbox has been adjusted. Incoming damage has been increased by 5%
Lifeline
- General –Incoming damage has been increased by 5% and the D.O.C heal drone now gets destroyed after two damage ticks by the circle.
Changes to The Ring from Battle Charge
The Ring has undergone some charges in Battle Charge. Although it isn’t that big of a change, you need to keep it in mind. Get updated on this so you’re not caught by surprise next time you don’t keep up.
The damage rates for each circle have been adjusted. Round 1 now does 2% damage per tick, round 2 does 5% damage per tick, round 3 does 10% per tick, round 4 and do 20% damage per tick, and round 6 and after does 25% damage per tick.
The speed of the ring and time in-between has also been adjusted:
- First Circle –This starts to close in after three minutes and takes two minutes to close.
- Second Circle – It will close in after two and a half minutes and take another two minutes to close.
- Third Circle – This starts to close in after two minutes and fifteen seconds, it takes two minutes to close.
- Fourth Circle – It will close after two minutes and take two minutes to close.
- Fifth and Sixth Circle – These two will start to close in after a minute and a half, and take a minute and forty seconds to close.
- Seventh Circle – This weirdly goes back up to closing in after two minutes, it takes a minute and twenty seconds to close.
- Eighth Circle – This will start closing after twenty seconds and take a minute and twenty seconds to close.
Quality of Life Changes in Battle Charge
If that wasn’t quite enough to get your head around there are some more minor improvements and adjustments with Season 2.
- Pings – Pings have been altered in a few situations and more detail has been added to hop-up requests.
- Legends’ Appearance – This has been improved both when dropping and in the lobby.
- Hover Tank– Hit detection has been increased while it is moving.
- Server Optimizations – Helpful if you’re trying to get the best frames per second possible.
- Bug Fixes – Quite a few of these, but none major enough to affect your gameplay. Full list available here if one minor bug fix has been bugging you. You can also register some new bugs here.
These changes will really make a big difference to Apex Legends. If you’ve drifted off from the game for the Fortnite World Cup or to spend time in a medieval royale, now is a better time than ever to get back involved. Although to make the most out of the new changes you need to refresh yourself on running the best settings, keybinds, and getting the best frames per seconds in Apex Legends physically possible. While being aware of changes is necessary, this stuff will help you stand the best chance of winning in Battle Charge.