Every weapon buff & nerf in Apex Legends Season 18: Charge Rifle rework, R-99 nerf, more

❘ Published: 2023-08-07T15:41:12

Ballistic and bloodhound aiming weapons at other Legends in Apex Legends

Respawn Entertainment

Apex Legends Season 18 brings some hefty weapon buffs and nerfs which could potentially shift the meta. Here are all of the weapon balance changes for Apex Legends Season 18.

Apex Legends Season 18 will debut on August 8, bringing a heap of content and changes, including a massive rework for Revenant.

As well as this, each season usually brings a variety of buffs and nerfs to the game’s arsenal, and Season 18 is no different. For those interested in the changes that arrived for the weapons in Apex Legends Season 18, here are all of the buffs and nerfs that have been confirmed by the official patch notes.

Care Package & craftable weapons in Apex Legends Season 18
Apex Legends Season 18 brings major Charge Rifle rework
Every weapon buff & nerf in Apex Legends Season 18

Care Package & craftable weapons in Apex Legends Season 18

For Season 18 of Apex Legends, the devs have thrown the Prowler back into the Care Package with the select fire Hop-Up after absolutely dominating the ALGS. The Hemlock returns to floor loot with some buffs in replacement of the Prowler.

Further, the Rampage and R-99 have left the crafting rotation and have been replaced by the Nemesis and Mozambique with Hammerpoints.

Apex Legends Season 18 brings major Charge Rifle rework

The Charge Rifle has received a major rework in Apex Legends Season 18, as the devs have decided to remove the hitscan feature. From Season 18, the Charge Rifle will now be a projectile weapon with bullet drop.

Players will have to charge the weapon up by holding the shoot button down and will now have to take bullet drop into account when trying to hit long-range enemies.

Revenant isn’t the only rework in Apex Legends Season 18.

According to the devs, you can still beam people at range, as it actually deals more damage the further away the enemy is, but it’s no longer hitscan so it will be difficult for you to hit the target with the projectile bullet drop and charge time.

Every Apex Legends Season 18 weapon buff & nerf

The official patch notes for Apex Legends Season 18 have revealed all of the balance changes for the game’s arsenal:

WEAPONS

Charge Rifle Rework

New ballistics and projectile
- Removed hitscan
- Removed pre-fire laser
- Projectiles have player passthrough: 80% damage retained
- Opens doors
Projectiles gain damage with distance
- 50 meters: 75 Damage
- 300 meters: 110 Damage
New charge mechanics
- Holding the trigger down will increase charge
- Releasing the trigger will decrease charge
- Fires at 100% charge
Added Extended Sniper Mag attachment slot
- Base: 4
- White: 5
- Blue: 6
- Purple/Gold: 8
Ammo Consumption per shot reduced to 1 (was 2)
Handling timings adjusted
- Tactical reload time decreased to 3.5 (was 4.0)
- Empty reload time decreased to 4.6 (was 5.1)

All SMGs (R-99, Alternator, CAR, Volt)

Strafe Speed:ADS strafe scale reduced to 0.75(was 0.85)
Headshot multi reduced to 1.25 (was 1.5)

R-99

Vertical Recoil slightly increased
Ammo capacity reduced
- Base Ammo reduced to 17 (was 19)
- White Mag reduced to 20 (was 21)
- Blue Mag reduced to 23 (was 24)
- Purple/Gold Mag reduced to 26 (was 27)

M600 Spitfire

Added Barrels for improved stability
ADS Recoil improved
Hipfire spread slightly improved

Mastiff

Blast pattern tightened

HOP UPS

Boosted Loader (Hemlok, Wingman)

Reloading when near empty will speed up reloading and overload the next magazine

Hemlok overload ammo: 9
Wingman overload ammo: 3

Disruptor Rounds (Alternator, Peacekeeper)

Increases shield damage

Alternator shield damage increased by 20%
Peacekeeper shield damage (per pellet) increased by 25%

Double Tap Trigger (EVA-8, G7 Scout)

Removed from floor and crafting bundles

Grenades

Frag Grenade
- Outer Radius increased to 350 units (was 320)
- Inner Radius increased to 125 units (was 96)
Thermite
- Adjusted fire VFX to better match damage area

Well, there you have it, that was all the Apex Legends Season 18 weapon buffs and nerfs. For more on the battle royale, check out some of our other guides below: