Apex Legends got a beefy set of patch notes ahead of the release of the game's next update with those notes addressing a couple of the most common requests from players. Caustic got nerfed to make the Legend and his gaseous devices less oppressive, the Mastiff was adjusted so that it potentially won't change the course of a fight with just two well-placed shots, and the lanky Pathfinder no longer has the Low Profile debuff that causes him to take more damage. Some unexpected changes to other Legends were included in the same update as well to give people more to look forward to even if you don't use the Legends and weapons mentioned above.

Caustic's been a common topic of discussion when it comes to the Apex Legends meta concerning how well he's able to slow down engagements and deny opponents access to certain areas. His gas will now do less damage overall while his ultimate got a full minute added to the cooldown. Horizon got a similar nerf with a minute added to her ultimate as well.

Some other changes were made that weren't expected but may make the meta more interesting regardless. Gibraltar no longer has faster heals when under his dome, though he can still revive teammates quicker. Another defensive Legend, Wattson, now has a passive similar to Octane's where she passively regenerates shields. With Rampart's barriers also affected by the update, the defensive meta may look a bit different after the update releases considering how every defender was adjusted somehow.

The full patch notes containing all the balance changes for Apex's next update can be seen below:

Legend Updates

Caustic

• Nox Gas Grenade cooldown increased from 2.5 minutes to 3.5 minutes.
• Nox Gas damages at a flat rate of 5hp per tick instead of ramping up from 6hp → 12hp.

Pathfinder

• Removed Low Profile

Gibraltar

• Removed 15% faster heal item usage while in Dome of Protection.

Horizon

• Increased Black Hole cooldown from 2 minutes to 3 minutes

Revenant

• Revenant's Silence now disables Mirage's cloaked revive & respawn as well as Octane's Swift Mend.

Wattson

• Wattson now has passive shield regen at 0.5 hp/s (half of Octane's current health regen rate).

Rampart

• Explosives damage Amped Cover normally, instead of inflicting 200 damage.
• Explosives damage Sheila normally, instead of inflicting 175 damage.

Weapon Updates

Weapon Optics

• All gold AR and LMG default optics updated to 2x Bruiser.

Mastiff

• Pellet damage decreased from 13 → 11. Fire rate increased from 1.0 → 1.1.

Wingman

• +1 bullet to every magazine size, including base.

Hemlok

• Increased hip-fire spread.

Quality of Life Changes

• Kings Canyon Loot - we've done a pass on the loot to bring up the quality across the map, while also maintaining a certain amount of loot after Mirage Voyage has flown away.
  • The wooden shacks across the map should have a few more pieces each, and generally be a little higher quality.
  • Spotted Lake has been reduced to Medium Quality from High.
  • Crash Site has redistributed the loot in the area slightly. The amount stays the same, but the higher quality loot should be in the ship.
  • Caustic Treatment has more loot than Water Treatment, and it remains Hiqh Quality.
• Locked Weapon Optic Swapping - For guns with fully locked attachment slots, like fully-kitted gold weapons and most crate weapons, you can now remove the optic and replace it with a different sight. This does not apply to the Kraber sniper rifle.
• Assists have been added to the in-game HUD, next to kills. This was already present in Ranked and now has been added to unranked. Assists still don't contribute to XP. This has replaced the Spectator "eye" icon.
• Assists and Knocks have been added to your squad's banners and will show at the end of a match.
• Club names now appear on Match Summary and Champion screen if all players are part of the same club.
• Items will no longer "stick" to Crafting Replicator when dropped on the Replicator.
• Badge Progress - for badges that have longer amounts of progress, hovering over the badge will show you more information. For example, if you're trying to get 50 wins as Lifeline, you'll now see that you have 45 instead of somewhere between 15 and 50.
• Ping My Deathbox - While respawning on a dropship, you can now ping your own deathbox to help locate it easier.
• Gold Backpack - Players being revived by a gold backpack will have a crackle of energy—based on the tier of armor they wear—while the revive is taking place. They will also display the armor heal FX when the revive is finished. This change should help players prioritize pushing a revive in progress.
• Players on PC can now go back to the title screen from the lobby to allow switching of data centers without restarting the game.
• Added numbers to the Advanced Look Controls. This should help people experiment and easily revert back to their favorite settings.
• When scanning a beacon for Ring 6, you should now be able to see the location where Ring 6 finishes.
• Inspect Weapon - Since the Survival Slot took its button on controller (we only have so many buttons!), Inspect Weapon has been moved to the emote wheel by default. It can be bound to any key on PC.