Respawn nerfs Valkyrie, buffs the L-Star in Apex Legends season 14 patch notes

Respawn has released the patch notes for Apex Legends‘ 14th season and the devs have plenty of upcoming changes for fans to try out.

Following Valkyrie’s dominance in the most recent iteration of the ALGS, Respawn has seen fit to nerf her quite a bit. Her Missile Swarm tactical no longer slows enemies’ ability to aim and turn. The movement slow it places on enemies has been decreased from 2.5 to two seconds, and its explosion radius has been decreased. Her Skyward Dive ultimate was also nerfed: players will now travel upward a little more slowly as a result of a height reduction of 25 percent.

Valkyrie’s VTOL Jets passive saw an acceleration on activation reduction of about eight percent, and her fuel consumption on activation was increased by 33 percent. She’ll now receive a 20 percent debuff to her aerial boosting and strafing when she’s hit by slowing effects. Alongside these nerfs, Newcastle and Mad Maggie received big buffs, while Horizon was slightly nerfed.

The upcoming patch is also adjusting plenty of weapons. After being hit by the LMG nerfs in season 13, the L-Star is back in fighting form this season with faster projectile speed, an increased number of shots able to be fired before it overheats, and a reduction in particle flash when hitting non-armored targets. The Volt and G7 Scout were both nerfed as a result of their coming out of the care package, and the Bocek and the Rampage LMG were buffed on their way in. The C.A.R. SMG no longer takes any kind of barrel attachments, even the new laser sights mod.

Alongside these balance changes, Respawn has made even more changes to Apex‘s ranked structure, including a +5 entry cost to all tiers and the removal of diminishing returns on eliminations when calculating kill RP. This is the most recent of many wide-ranging adjustments Respawn has made to ranked play to create a more balanced and accurate rank system for players.

Players learned last week that Respawn was removing the self-resurrection perk of gold knockdown shields entirely, to be replaced with the Guardian Angel ability from gold backpacks. (Gold backpacks now have the new Deep Pockets perk.) Other changes released early include the Reforged Kings Canyon update and big buffs to the EVA-8, including an increased base rate of fire and the ability to take stocks. The Bocek Compound Bow and the Rampage LMG will be going into the care package, taking the place of the Volt and the G7 Scout. The Wingman now uses sniper ammo and magazines, while the Spitfire now uses light ammo and magazines. SMGs and pistols will be able to take advantage of laser sights, a new barrel mod that reduces hipfire spread.

Apex season 14 begins tomorrow, Aug. 9.