The Legends are taking a vacation and they’re ready for some fun in the sun...or at least, they think they are. Plan your getaway when Apex Legends: Escape launches November 2.

Learn more about Apex Legends: Escape: http://x.ea.com/70896

Ash’s problems are all in her head...but that’s the most dangerous place they could be. Who is Ash, and who is Leigh?

To be a Legend, you have to have something special inside you… something bold. Something fierce.

Something monstrous.

Starting October 12th and running to November 2nd, join the Monsters Within Event. Fight to conquer the Encore Arenas map, the place where Seer made his name as a man to be reckoned with. Special event-limited cosmetic sets highlight the scary side of some of our most fearsome Legends, including Revenant, Bloodhound, Caustic, and Seer.






Encore is located on Seer's home planet, Boreas, and is one of the main arenas where he has been seen fighting. Seer’s most ardent fans would often cluster to watch him duel there. This map is open and offers strong environmental awareness. Good teamwork and strategy are key if you want to succeed in this arena.



The layout offers combat over two high-ground power positions. On one side we have a VIP Lounge. The lounge platform provides direct combat. Flank options in the interior sections bring good clutch opportunities and strategic ways to dominate the fights.



Across the VIP Lounge is the Performance Stage. Establishing control there depends heavily on support fire from your teammates. The flanks on top of the seat ramps are wide and exposed. The middle of Encore is devoid of high ground positions and separates the stage and the lounge platform.




The last week of this event features the return of fan-favorite Shadow Royale. Take part in a darker version of the Apex Games, overseen by Revenant with a horrifying twist. All slain Legends respawn in a Shadow-Form to exact revenge and help their living squadmates. Shadow lives are infinite, and your squad’s not eliminated until the last living Legend falls.




Also, complete challenges to get different rewards every week, including Apex packs, an event pack, and a new Loba skin.


New to this event are special limited edition Monsters Within Packs. For 400 Apex Coins, players can get an Event Thematic Pack that’s guaranteed to have a non-dupe event-limited item. We’ll also be offering some classic skins from previous Halloween events on the Apex Store, like Wraith’s “Mistress of Evil” and Crypto’s “Deadly Byte” skins.

• Monsters Within Packs are available for a limited time during the Monsters Within Event, but the items will always be available in the standard Apex Pack pool of items
  
• Monsters Within Packs however, guarantee you one non-duplicate Monsters Within Thematic Event item
  
• The new thematic event will introduce 40 new items around the Monsters Within theme
  
• Monsters Within items can always be crafted with crafting metals. After two seasons, crafting metal costs of Monsters Within Items may be reduced.
  
• To preview/view what the new items are, players can go to the thematic event tab in-game

Some items not available in all territories.

• For more information around event thematic packs please visit our FAQ page https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends/about/frequently-asked-questions

From 10/26-11/1, celebrate Dia de los Muertos! Octane is hosting the party with a new Muerte Rápida Bonus Bundle with Epic “Muerte Rápida” skin, Epic “Altar Ego” banner frame, a matching Rare “Flirting with Death” skin for the Volt and 2 Octane Packs (each guaranteed to have at least one Octane item).



Three other related bundles are returning to the Store: the Loba Banshee Bundle with her Epic “Banshee Queen” skin and matching Epic “Ready to Pounce” Prowler, the Darkside for Gibraltar, with the “Darkside” Legendary skin and “Moonlight Bash” for the EVA-8, and Bangalore’s Soldado de la Muerte bundle with Legendary “La Catrina and “Soldado de la Muerte” skins and the Legendary Mastiff “Boomstick”. Or get them all in the Dia de Los Muertos bundle, which comes with 15 Apex Packs.

That’s all for now, Legends. See you on the spooky side.

It’s everyone’s favorite time of year: nights grow long and dark with shadows, and the Legends dress up for the occasion...and reveal the Monsters Within.

Fight to conquer the new Encore Arenas map, while special event-limited cosmetic sets highlight the scary side of some of our most fearsome Legends like Revenant, Bloodhound, Caustic and Seer. On October 26, rediscover Shadow Royale, a different kind of Battle Royale where slain Legends respawn in a Shadow-Form to exact revenge and help living squadmates. Shadow lives are infinite, and your squad’s not eliminated until the last living Legend falls.

Learn more about Apex Legends: Emergence: http://x.ea.com/69275
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/playapex
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playapex/

Launch Apex Legends™ from Oct 5–Nov 1. Weapon Charms will be automatically granted and added to your inventory, and accessed from the Loadout tab on the homepage.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriptions/ea

Join EA Play to make your games more rewarding with access to great player benefits and a library of top titles. Members get more from your game including exclusive player challenges and in-game rewards, plus member-only content that lets you stand out from the crowd. And when it’s time to find your next favorite game, we’ve got you covered with an ever-expanding library of our fan-favorite series and premium games. You can even try out select new release games for up to 10 hours of playtime with no commitment. If you decide to buy, your saved progress will carry over, so you can continue where you left off. Our members also save on purchases of EA digital content, with a 10% member discount letting you save on full games, points packs, and DLC.

*CONDITIONS, LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY. SEE https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/eaplay/US/en/PC/ FOR DETAILS.

Welcome to the Evolution Collection Event! Our resident modder is showing those plonkers who’s in charge with the Rampart Town Takeover, Big Maude. Check out her mobile shop, parked between Lava City and the Geyser. It’s sure to be a popular POI for the rest of Emergence. Check out the full blog below for all the details in the update.




After a few rough starts to her previous shops, Rampart is pulling out the big guns with the mod shop of her dreams. Finally, she'll be able to show the Outlands—and Big Sister—what she's always been capable of creating.

Enter Big Maude, Rampart’s custom shop (also a giant tank, what else would you expect?) located near Lava City in World’s Edge. This POI is big enough to accommodate a few teams fighting over the shop itself, and she’s also built a wonderful paintball course out front that acts as a spill off location if the drop just looks too spicy.

Inside the shop, you can use collected materials to purchase Rampart’s Custom Modded Paintball Weapons from the new Vend-it Machines. These guns cost a bit, but they come fully kitted at different tiers. This should give players a reason to rotate here mid-game if their weapons just aren’t as upgraded as they’d like.

As usual, be on the lookout for extra lore sprinkled around. Rampart’s shop is back open for business!




Rampart has slipped into the Arenas where she’ll be offering modded weapons at special discounts! These marked-down modded weapons replace their base version for the match, making lower tiers of that weapon unavailable. Her special deals update frequently, so be sure to check what’s available in your match and plan accordingly.






While the brick-and-mortar location might be in Battle Royale, Rampart’s bringing her entrepreneurship into the Arenas too in “Rampart’s Arenas Extravaganza,” with special discounts meant to inspire players to change up their usual loadouts. For all of her hard work, Rampart’s getting a “Problem Solver:” a brand-new Heirloom pipe wrench, complete with a gumball dispenser. Who could ask for anything more? Oh, well - how about an upgrade to Sheila?



Finally, unlock event-limited cosmetics for Wraith, Octane, Pathfinder, Fuse, Bangalore, Rampart, and Lifeline that give a glimpse into what our Legends could become with time and technology on their side.


Sheila has gone mobile!

• Rampart will now be able to run around with Sheila out, and shoot while walking. The spin up is longer, and she only gets 1 magazine in this mode.
  
• Once Sheila is out, you can put it away and pull it back out until you run out of ammo (or hit the cooldown time).
  
• At any point, you can still place Sheila down for your teammates to use. Once placed, it has infinite reloads and acts just like the previous version. You cannot pick it back up.

Dev Note: A legend based solely on a defensive position is hard to get right in Apex Legends. We think Rampart has a place as the ultimate defensive Legend, but we wanted to give her a little more ability to be reactive and push with her team. As usual, we’ll be watching to see how this plays out and will adjust accordingly!

• VFX (similar to the pulse on Loba ult placement) added to increase visibility for when a totem is placed nearby.

• Reduced jump pad horizontal distance by 10% - 15%.
  
• Reduced the rate of Octane’s Stim regen from 1.5 to 1.0 hp/sec.

• When Bloodhound pings a clue from their passive, it will now show their teammates in quickchat how long ago the event took place

• Draw speed slightly reduced from 0.56 to 0.54
  
• Arrows per brick increased from 14 to 16
  
• Arrows per inventory stack increased from 28 to 32

• Reduced hipfire spread
  
• Hipfire resets slightly faster

Dev Notes: The Hemlok’s hipfire effectiveness was reduced a few seasons ago and since then the weapon has seen a steady decline in use. Bringing back some of that hipfire strength (but not all) should help the weapon feel more consistent in close quarters without being dominant or affecting its medium-range excellence.

Damage per pellet increased across all draw strengths
• Short draw damage: 4 to 6
  
• Medium draw: 7 to 9
  
• Full draw: 11 to 12

• ADS Strafe speed increased to shotgun strafe speed while Shatter Caps are enabled
  
• Charged pellet damage multiplier increased from 35% to 50%

Dev Notes: When Shatter Caps work they feel amazing, but currently it can still feel a little punishing to swap into the mode. Increasing the damage potential and improving the CQC flow of the 30-30 should help Shatters feel a little more accessible and rewarding.

• Cool-off time slightly increased
  
• Overheat lens replacement time slightly increased
  
• Rounds before overheat reduced at base and all Energy Magazine tiers

- Base: 22 to 20
- White: 24 to 22
- Blue: 26 to 24
- Purple/Gold: 28 to 26

• Arenas price adjustments:

- Base: 500 to 600
- Blue: 300 to 250
- Purple: 400 to 350

Dev Notes: We’re nudging down the L-STAR’s core stats a bit to smooth out the power progression in what we think is a slightly more healthy top-end. We’ll keep a close eye on the L-STAR and it’s recoil as we enter the second half of Emergence. In Arenas, we’re well aware of it’s prevalence in high-level lobbies and are pricing it out of the first round. These changes essentially increase the blue cost by 50 and keep the purple price the same. If its pick rate remains unchanged, we will hotfix further adjustments.

• EVA-8 and Mozambique headshot damage multiplier reduced from 1.5 to 1.25 bringing it in line with the Peacekeeper and Mastiff.

Dev Notes: The EVA-8 holds a lot of power in its speed and leniency compared to its counterparts, the PK and Mastiff. It’s got the edge with fire rate and consistency so we’re shaving off some of its spike damage to even the playing field. We’re normalizing the Mozambique as well for consistency within the shotgun class and to give the P2020 some space as the more precise early game weapon.

• ADS charge time decreased from 1.0 to 0.8

• Shortened the out-of-bounds timer from 30 seconds to 15.

- Your timer should be reset after being respawned.

• Swapping from Red to a Gold Shield with more health no longer requires a long press.
  
• Evo Shields in deathboxes now show their health.
  

• Early Leaver Warning has been improved to help people from accidentally leaving before their party is dead.

- You now need to hold the confirm button down for a small amount of time
- The highlighting is different colored than other prompts to catch your attention
- Red text warning showing your leaving penalty added

• Added character portraits to "detected" widget for recon characters.

• Fixed a bug where Streamer mode wouldn’t anonymize the names on the scoreboard in Arenas mode
  
• Fixed issue for when players would randomly get un-readied while matchmaking in Ranked.
  
• Fix for Ranked Arenas: longest win streak number was incorrect for some players when viewed in the Stats screen.
  
• Fixed cases where players would still see Ranked icons when switching over to Arenas while inspecting personal stats.
  
• Fix for cases where the player would still see the Abandon Penalty countdown when getting other messages like RECEIVED PREMIUM CURRENCY.
  
• Removed the red speaker icon that would show up on the upper right corner of the screen that served no purpose.
  
• Fix for when the Playlist Selector would sometimes flicker.
  
• Players should no longer encounter a string issue in the Timeline when they have a ";" in their username.
  
• Fixed cases where the name of killed players was not always showing up when a player died.
  
• Fixed a rare bug that can cause the Observer to get stuck on the Intro Screen at the start of a match.

• Motherload ultimate will no longer highlight enemies far below the ring.

• Increased the hitbox for Exhibit Ultimate to better match the model.

• Loba can no longer glitch into Skyhook when using her tactical.
  
• Fix cases for when Loba’s ultimate visualfx do not appear while aiming down sites.

• Fixed bug that could get players stuck under the map after dismounting from Ramparts Turret on a Trident.

• Fix for the times when pinging a Prowler would trigger a voice line that mentions a removed hop-up.

• Fix for cases where it appeared that Gibraltar's Ultimate caused dropped audio.

• Fixed a bug where Wattson would start matches with 30 fences.

• Fixed an exploit where players could get continuous missiles after exploiting Valkyrie's passive/tactical as well as use the Vtol jets infinitely.

• Fix for when players would still see "Amped" or "Revved up" from Sentinel or Rampage after swapping weapons.

• Fix for reactive skins, “Precision Calibur” and “Attention to Detail” where part of the skins appeared stuck in place when shooting.

• Various fixes on World’s Edge cleaning up some bad collisions, exploitable hiding spots, and areas where players could get stuck.

• Fix for the mysterious fire show that could appear in Firing Range and cause a crash.

• Fix for cases where players were able to reach farther than intended when punching an enemy player.
  
• Private Match Fix - Observers should no longer get stuck on the intro screen for the duration of the match.
  
• Fix for Audio fluttering that could happen when killing someone during self-revive.
  
• Various fixes to improve overall game stability.
  
• (PC only) You’ll no longer be able to bind forward movement to the Mouse wheel on PC. This previously enabled an exaggerated movement tech known as "Tap Strafing. See the dev note below for more context.

Written by John “JayBiebs” Larson

__
9/13/21 UPDATE: The planned changes to tap-strafing have been delayed to a later patch.

via @respawn Twitter

The @playapex team has recently discovered some unexpected side effects of our planned changes to tap-strafing.

It is still our intention to address some of the most egregious use-cases of tap-strafing, but for now we are delaying our planned change to a later patch.

Movement is sacred in Apex. We weigh every change to these systems carefully and value feedback.

After further testing, we've concluded we need to take more time to get this right to make sure related movement mechanics aren't caught in the cross-fire.
__


Earlier this week, we announced our intention to “remove tap-strafing,” a decision that was met with surprise by many movement enthusiasts. Tap-strafing is a term associated with different sorts of movement, depending on who you ask. Internally, we generally use it to describe what many associate with scroll-wheel strafing.

To be more explicit, this change targets multiple rapid directional commands after jumping. Movement should feel unchanged for controllers and for M&K (mouse-and-keyboard) players who hadn’t heard of the term “tap-strafe” until this week. Thanks to the work of a couple of our engineers, this is now easily tunable on the fly, and we have the ability to iterate on or even revert it completely without a client update.

Our goal is to remove some of the sharpness in momentum conservation around 90°+ angles. That’s what I’m thinking of when I use the term “tap-strafe” throughout this post. Things like wall-bounce redirects back onto that same wall should feel unchanged, but movement afforded by scroll-wheel strafing will be removed.

Since tap-strafing is a unique M&K mechanic, many platforms have asked about our approach to controller-specific systems like aim assist. As Apex and its players evolve, it’s only prudent for us to continue to evaluate whether or not aim assist needs adjustment. When top-level controller players say they would be alright with nerfing aim assist, we definitely take note. Players should not feel forced to use a specific input type to stay competitive

When people say, “Gee dang it, Respawn’s balancing decisions cater to controller players,” the best answer I have is: “When it comes to accessibility, we often must consider controller players given the constraints compared to M&K. But, accessibility isn’t the same as balance design, and it’s a strawman argument to treat it as such.”

This is why we believe tap-strafing exists solely as a design problem. Even in a M&K-only Apex world, or a scenario where controller and M&K could tap-strafe just the same, we don’t believe it would be a healthy change with the freedom it currently allows, for three main reasons:

The first issue: it’s highly inaccessible. By “inaccessible,” we mean that it’s an opaque technique that’s practically impossible to learn organically (and the most egregious examples require a strange keybind).

Secondly, tap-strafes have terrible readability and limited counter play. Path grapples and Octane pads aside, I’ve seen clips of players breaking ankles with victims (including high-skill players) who are at a loss for what to do. While it’s not terribly prevalent, I’m concerned about how this could continue to evolve as more players adapt and further develop their tap-strafe mechanics.

The third point, and the most problematic, is how tap-strafing is exacerbated by movement abilities. I can buy that a tap-strafe at normal velocity in a gunfight occurs infrequently and is relatively mild enough to not immediately kill with fire. But Path grappling past and tap-strafing back into your face with a Mastiff, or Octane cranking 90s while maintaining ridiculous speed both bring up greater gameplay concerns.

Mobility creep is something to be very mindful of in this game. While many love the freedom that Apex’s movement system affords, constraints are just as important. It’s not surprising that mobility legends are highly popular. Why don’t we just do more of that? Well, over time (and I’d say we are already seeing it) mobility creep can open up a Pandora's box of new problems to solve. How is third partying affected by mobility? Within a fight, how are frontlines defined? How quickly can I close the gap on an enemy? As a game, Apex is designed to work well with a finite number of movement possibilities.

I feel it’s important to note that limitations don’t always equate to lowering skill-gaps; there are skill-gaps in working within constraints. One could argue that bunny-hop healing lowered the skill-ceiling—players could make up for misplays with less constraints on their ability to safely heal. Different types of skill expression are changed when we touch something like perfect air control, for better or for worse.

Hopefully this provided some context, and as always, we’re happy to hear your thoughts.

Learn what a Legend can become in the Apex Legends Evolution Collection Event. Rampart shows what she’s made of in her Town Takeover, launching her pop-up shop “Big Maude” and taking over the Arenas store in “Rampart’s Arenas Extravaganza”. Unlock event-limited cosmetics for Wraith, Octane, Pathfinder, Fuse, Bangalore, Rampart and Lifeline that give a glimpse into the next stage of a Legend’s evolution. Collect all 24 cosmetics to unlock Rampart’s new Heirloom!

Launch Apex Legends from Sept 2–Oct 4. Weapon Charms will be automatically granted and added to your inventory, and accessed from the Armory tab on the homepage.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriptions/ea

Join EA Play to make your games more rewarding with access to great player benefits and a library of top titles. Members get more from your game including exclusive player challenges and in-game reward, plus member-only content that lets you stand out from the crowd. And when it’s time to find your next favorite game, we’ve got you covered with an ever expanding library of our fan favorite series and premium games. You can even try out select new release games for up to 10 hours of playtime with no commitment. If you decide to buy, your saved progress will carry over, so you can continue where you left off. Our members also save on purchases of EA digital content, with a 10% member discount. Letting you save on full games, points packs, and DLC.

*CONDITIONS, LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY. SEE https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/eaplay/US/en/PC/ FOR DETAILS.

Report for duty with the Bangalore Edition, packed with everything you need to show opponents what a trained professional should look like. Receive Apex Coins and be at the ready with the all new Legendary “Super Soldier” Bangalore and “Trusty Sidekick” G7 Scout skins, and accessorize proudly with the new limited “Striker” badge and “Mark of a Hero” gun charm.


Apex Legends™ is a free-to-play hero shooter game where legendary characters battle for glory, fame, and fortune on the fringes of the Frontier.

Launch Apex Legends during the reward availability window. Weapon Charms will be automatically granted and added to your inventory, and accessed from the Armory tab on the homepage.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriptions/ea

"Join EA Play to make your games more rewarding with access to great player benefits and a library of top titles. Members get more from your game including exclusive player challenges and in-game reward, plus member-only content that lets you stand out from the crowd. And when it’s time to find your next favorite game, we’ve got you covered with an ever expanding library of our fan favorite series and premium games. You can even try out select new release games for up to 10 hours of playtime with no commitment. If you decide to buy, your saved progress will carry over, so you can continue where you left off. Our members also save on purchases of EA digital content, with a 10% member discount. Letting you save on full games, points packs, and DLC.

*CONDITIONS, LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY. SEE https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/eaplay/US/en/PC/ FOR DETAILS."