Apex’s season 19 puts Wingman in care package, R-301 and Volt in Replicators

This year, your Halloween nightmare might be a red Wingman.

Apex Legends is moving its revolver to the care package in season 19, bringing the L-Star back to floor loot, Respawn Entertainment confirmed at a press event this week. This will be the first time the weapon will appear in the crates instead of on the ground.

The Wingman has been one of the staples of Apex since the game’s inception, thanks to both its uniqueness and lethality. Respawn has tweaked it in different ways since the game launched, from curbing its 12-round magazine to making it use sniper ammo.

When season 19 launches, however, players will have to look to the skies or death boxes to find this weapon since it will only be available through care packages or looting. 

The Wingman’s move to the care package comes with an expected touch-up in its firepower. Game designer John Larson teased a buff to its damage, the Boosted Loader hop-up, and the modified Skullpiercer Elite attachment, which should make it “pretty spicy.”

As usual, the care package weapons aren’t the only ones switching sources. The new season will bring the 30-30 Repeater and the RE-45 back to the ground, and lock the R-301 and the Volt SMG behind crafting. There will be an easy, deterministic path to get those guns, though players may not stop to craft them if they have better options at hand.

Also leaving the Replicator pool is the x1 Digital Threat sight, which is moving to the regular loot pool as a gold drop. In a Bangalore-focused meta, being able to bypass the Digital Threat’s intended rarity by crafting it “felt a little cheap and hard to predict,” Larson said.

As a new game-wide change, care packages will always have one weapon in them at any stage of the game after this season, according to Larson. “We want care packages to feel worth it every time,” he said. “If you don’t open a care package and an enemy opens a care package in the area, you should be on high alert.” So while the Wingman may seem harder to obtain, players likely won’t miss it as much as if it had been sent to the crate a season or two ago.

Lastly, the Boosted Loader hop-up is leaving the pool and the Turbocharger will lose its damage nerf from season 15. “You should never have to consider that a weapon is better without a hop-up,” Larson said.

The hunt for your red Wingman in the care package kicks off when season 19, Ignite, launches on Oct. 31.