The Apex Legends devs have been trying to figure out how to nerf Seer for what feels like an eternity. He’s been a dominant force ever since FURIA demonstrated just how powerful he could be at the 2022 ALGS Championship, but Respawn hasn’t managed to figure out how to tune down his power without completely nerfing him into the ground.
There are some significant Seer changes coming in the Dressed to Kill collection event update on June 20. Seer as you once knew him is done, as significant changes to his tactical make these nerfs almost feel like a rework. But many of the game’s best players can’t figure out if these will succeed in nerfing Seer, or if Respawn accidentally buffed him.
So, what’s changing about Seer, and will these changes actually be a nerf?
All Seer nerfs in the Apex Legends Dressed to Kill update
A lot of Seer’s kit is definitely getting a nerf. In fact, his ability to cancel healing, revives, and activate a respawn beacon has been removed from his tactical ability entirely, completely changing how the character functions. Here are all of the Seer changes coming, according to Respawn.
Seer changes in the Dressed to Kill update
Passive ability (Heartbeat Sensor):
- Range of Heartbeat Sensor reduced from 75m to 50m
- Delay to detect initial heartbeat “significantly reduced.”
Tactical ability (Focus of Attention):
- Range of Focus of Attention tactical reduced from 75m to 60m
- Firing speed of ability now 30 percent faster
- Ability no longer cancels heals, revives, or activating respawn beacons
- Scan duration reduced from eight seconds to 2.5 seconds
- Scan now gives a full body scan instead of a diamond
- Enemies hit by tactical are slowed for 2.5 seconds
- Enemies silenced abilities now last 10 seconds (up from 1.75 seconds)
- Enemies that have been silenced and are in line of sight now have a “threat outline” seen by Seer and his teammates
Ultimate Ability (Exhibit):
- Throw range on ultimate reduced from 50m to 15m
- Enemies in the ultimate will now only show footsteps instead of diamonds, unless the enemy is firing a weapon
- Enemies that fire a weapon in Seer ultimate will have a diamond scan on them for 1.25 seconds
Did Seer get nerfed or buffed?
That’s still a matter of opinion at this point, as no one’s actually played Seer with the new changes yet. At the moment, I think Seer definitely got nerfed, but there are a few compelling arguments to the contrary.
As Seer has primarily been used over the course of the past year, he’s definitely been nerfed. His ultimate is a tiny bit less flexible thanks to the nerf on the throw range and his Heartbeat Sensor passive is also very clearly not as good at detecting enemies with its range getting nerfed. But the tactical ability is the real question, as it got the biggest rework.
Related: Apex Legends patch notes: Dressed to Kill update
Seer no longer canceling heals and revives is a huge nerf to the character, as Seer players often used the tactical ability to prolong an enemy being downed when that enemy was behind cover that they couldn’t otherwise shoot through or around. Keeping enemies downed or at low health gave Seer’s team more opportunity to heal themselves, if they need to, or time to advance on a team and use their number advantage to win a fight. All of that is gone now.
The real question is if the different abilities Seer’s tactical now has offsets those nerfs. With the introduction of the long ability silence and a slow effect that goes onto his scan, Seer now feels much more like Bloodhound in that his abilities are less about gaining perfect information at all times and more about winning a fight. Eight seconds is a long time for many characters to go without any of their abilities, and for bulky characters that heavily rely on using their abilities, like Newcastle, getting scanned by Seer now puts them at a serious handicap.
Seer can still be a fearsome fighter with his new tactical, but I do think that slowing and silencing an enemy with a scan is still far less useful than canceling a revive or a shield battery. After all, a silence doesn’t stop a character from healing—or from shooting back at a Seer team, which they couldn’t do if they were still knocked.
And with his ultimate now undeniably worse than it’s ever been, I think it’s safe to classify these Seer changes as a nerf, and not a buff.
We’ll see how it all plays out when the Dressed to Kill update goes live on June 20.
