In Apex Legends Season 23, “From the Rift,” players are getting a mix of nostalgia and fresh updates, featuring a return to day-one Kings Canyon in the new Launch Royale mode and an extensive range of character, weapon, and class balance changes.
The major highlights include a rework for Lifeline, major buffs for Gibraltar and Newcastle, and adjustments across the board to various support characters, aiming to make them more versatile and impactful in team settings.
Apex Season 23 Patch Highlights
Legend Changes
- Lifeline – Lifeline’s rework headlines this update, transforming her from a reactive healer to an active team support.
- Combat Glide (Passive): Lifeline can now glide with her D.O.C. drone in mid-air.
- D.O.C. Heal Drone (Tactical): The drone can follow a teammate, healing them dynamically.
- D.O.C. Halo (Ultimate): Deploys a shield around her team, allowing allies to consume healing items faster.
- Gibraltar – Gibraltar’s kit gets a significant buff, improving his utility and durability in fights.
- Dome of Protection cooldown reduced from 30 to 17 seconds.
- The dome is now immune to Crypto’s EMP and Maggie’s Wrecking Ball.
- New level two Evo upgrades include Big Bruddah, increasing bubble size by 20%, and Fast Shotties, boosting movement speed and auto-reloading shotguns on knockdowns.
- Newcastle – Enhanced as a frontline support character, Newcastle is more resilient and versatile.
- Mobile Shield now takes no damage and can be moved even when Newcastle is knocked.
- Retrieve the Wounded (Passive) gets a 50% HP shield buff.
- New Ultimate Savior upgrade grants allies in Castle Wall’s impact range a 15-second shield regeneration.
- Crypto – Crypto faces nerfs to balance his drone’s power.
- His drone now takes ring damage, surviving up to 10 ticks before being destroyed.
- Off the Grid upgrade now occasionally flickers, reducing invisibility.
- Additional Legend Adjustments
- Horizon: Gains the new Battpack upgrade, giving her an extra battery per stack.
- Mirage: Health bar visibility on decoys removed, adding more ambiguity in combat.
- Revenant: Adjusted Forged Shadows ultimate to regen 50 HP gradually instead of refreshing instantly.
Support Class Overhaul
Support legends now have a broader set of benefits to compensate for banner crafting being available to all. They can heal on the move, revive allies faster with health regen, and spawn a mobile respawn beacon when crafting a banner.
Weapon and Hop-Up Changes
- Boosted Loader: Now activates with zero ammo.
- L-STAR: Damage increased to 18 per bullet; extended energy magazines provide more firing time.
- Longbow: Damage increased from 55 to 60 per bullet.
- Peacekeeper and Triple Take: Both receive a choke speed boost, while Triple Take also gets a fire rate increase.
- Rampage and Sentinel: Both weapons see improvements in energy decay rates and reloading.
- Spitfire: Buffed to 19 damage per bullet.
- Care Package Rotation: The HAVOC now joins the care package lineup with classic Selectfire mode, while Devotion returns to ground loot.
Launch Royale Mode
Season 23 introduces Launch Royale, a nostalgic mode that recreates Apex Legends’ original experience on Kings Canyon. This mode includes day-one weapon stats, legacy Gold knockdown shields with self-revive, and Gold backpacks with fast-healing perks.
Conclusion
With extensive updates, Apex Legends Season 23 aims to renew the support meta, rebalance weapons, and bring back a taste of the game’s roots in Launch Royale, alongside several quality-of-life improvements to round out the experience.