Apex Legends Season 18 Updates the “Infamous” Charge Rifle

Apex Legends players who’ve been keeping an eye on Season 18 news probably knew already that Revenant was getting a rework, but the Legend isn’t the only thing getting a major update next season. The Charge Rifle — one of the most contentious and “infamous” weapons in the game — is getting reworked, too. Respawn Entertainment is changing the weapon so that it’ll be projectile-based instead which means there should be a bit more skill involved in landing shots, but it’ll still be the long-range beast that it is now when it comes to picking off faraway targets.

A teaser shared just a few days ago showed something like a schematic for the Charge Rifle with all kinds of notes on it which should’ve been a giveaway that something was planned for it in Season 18. On Thursday, Respawn finally unveiled its plans for the sniper rifle and said that weapon should look more akin to something that Titanfall players are familiar with. It no longer has a beam that deals small amounts of damage leading up to the big burst and instead lobs one high-powered projectile at foes. Because of this change, players will also be able to equip sniper magazines to the weapon now.

“The Charge Rifle has been re-designed for immediate use in the Apex Games. No longer does the infamous weapon fire a sustained beam. Newly fitted with an Extended Sniper Mag attachment slot and boasting a number of changes to its firing mechanisms, Legends familiar with the anti-Titan model available during the Frontier Wars should feel right at home.”

The weapon can only be fired once it’s fully charged, so you’ll have to commit to the shot each time. Like the L-Star, the weapon will also have piercing powers meaning that it can damage multiple enemies at once. You can see it in action in the trailer above around the 1:18 point where it shows off Revenant’s new Ultimate while he uses the updated Charge Rifle.

Apex Legends Season 18 is scheduled to get started on August 8th, so expect to see plenty of players trying out the new version of the Charge Rifle then.