Apex Legends

Apex Legends Season 16 patch notes: Legend classes remastered, buffs & nerfs, Nemesis burst AR, more

Joseph Pascoulis
apex legends ash on storm point

The Apex Legends Season 16 update has arrived to spice things up greatly in the battle royale. For those interested in the changes and new content coming, here are the full patch notes for the new season.

It’s been four years since Apex Legends launched, and Season 16 is celebrating the game’s anniversary, not only with a brand-new patch filled with content and changes but also a Collection Event.

The Apex Legends Season 16 update has arrived, and it evolves the series and brings it back up to speed with the players who have been harnessing their skills and knowledge about the battle royale since its release.

Here’s everything you need to know about Apex Legends Season 16, including the patch notes and content.

Apex Legends Season 16 release date

Apex Legends Season 16 launched on February 14 at around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM GMT.

Players will be able to update their game at this time and boot it up to enjoy the brand-new update.

Apex Legends Season 16 removes Arenas

For those that don’t yet know, Arenas has been removed from Apex Legends in the Season 16 update. Arenas wasn’t meeting the dev’s expectations and so they have decided it is time for the mode to be removed.

Have no fear, as the devs are filling the gap that Arenas will leave with TDM and a new Mixtape playlist.

New Apex Legends Assault Rifle: Nemesis burst AR

The Season 16 patch for Apex Legends finally introduces a new weapon to the game, the Nemesis burst AR.

This new AR is an energy weapon, and the devs say that they would like it to rival the dominance of the R-301 and Flatline in the Assault Rifle weapon class.

Remastered Legend classes

Apex Legends Season 16 did not bring a new Legend to the game, so the devs have decided to completely remaster the Legend classes instead. Five brand-new Legend classes will be introduced in Season 16, which all bring individual unique perks to the table.

If you’d like a full breakdown of the remastered Legend class system, check out our guide on the new Apex Legends Legend classes.

Apex Legends Anniversary Collection Event

Respawn Entertainment will celebrate Apex Legends’ fourth anniversary with a bang, as a new Collection Event will launch along with the patch.

The event will bring 24 new cosmetics, a community-created reward tracker, 150 Heirloom Shards for those who complete the collection, and even an anniversary-themed takeover for all the maps.

There are even free login rewards for the occasion. For more information, check out our dedicated piece on the Apex Legends Anniversary Collection Event.

Apex Legends Season 16 patch notes

Here are the full patch notes for the Apex Legends Season 16 update:

Legendary Shotgun Bolt

  • New shotgun bolt rarity tier added to floor loot and crafters
  • Gold Perk: Automatically reloads rounds while sliding. Activates while equipped or stowed.

Care Package Rotation

  • Hemlok Burst AR enters the Care Package
  • Rampage LMG returns to the floor

Weapon Crafting Rotation

  • Longbow DMR enters the crafter
  • Volt SMG enters the crafter
  • G7 Scout returns to the floor
  • C.A.R. SMG returns to the floor

Gold Weapon Rotation

  • Nemesis, Rampage, PK, Wingman, R99

Anvil Receiver Hop-Up [R-301, Flatline]

  • Removed from floor loot and crafting

Hammerpoint Rounds Hop-Up [Mozambique, P2020]

  • Added to floor loot and crafting
  • Rarity tier increased to Legendary

C.A.R. SMG

  • Reduced base ammo capacity to 19 (was 20)

R-99

  • Increased damage to 12 (was 11)

Assault Rifles

  • Significantly reduced hipfire accuracy

R-301

  • Reduced damage to 13 (was 14)

Hemlock Burst AR [Care Package]

  • Damage increased to 23 (was 20)
  • Headshot Multiplier increased to 1.8 (was 1.75)
  • Improved recoil
  • Integrated Boosted Loader Hop-Up
  • Boosted Loader: Faster reloads at low ammo that overload the magazine with 9 extra rounds

Mastiff

  • Spread pattern adjusted to be tighter
  • Added Tactical Stocks attachment to improve reload speed and handling
  • Increased projectile size at close range

Peacekeeper

  • Added Tactical Stocks attachment to improve reload speed and handling
  • Increased projectile size at close range

EVA-8

  • Increased projectile size at close range

Rampage LMG [Floor]

  • Reverted to non-Care Package version
    • Damage reduced to 26 (was 28 in Care Package)
    • No longer auto-energizes when picking up
  • Energy decays slower when not firing

LEGENDS

Seer

  • Passive – Heartbeat Sensor
    • Audio from Seer’s passive is now more audible to enemy players
    • Activation is now delayed to match raise animation of weapon or unarmed
    • Lock-On indication will now only show on heartbeat cadence of target
  • Tactical – Focus of Attention
    • No longer shows full body scan on scanned targets
  • Ultimate: Exhibit
    • No longer reveals on initiation
    • Duration reduced from 30s to 25s
    • Cooldown increased from 120s to 180s

Bloodhound

  • Passive – Tracker
    • White Ravens
      • Ethereal White Ravens will now occasionally spawn near Bloodhound when no enemies are around.
      • White Ravens can be interacted with or scanned to trigger them to fly towards the nearest enemy player
      • The White Raven will leave a misty trail behind for Bloodhound to follow, and will share this direction with their team on the map.
      • Using a White Raven will recover 25% Tactical / Ultimate charge
      • Scanning a White Raven will fully refund the Tactical Charge
  • Tactical – Eye of the Allfather
    • Reduced full body scan time from 3s to 1s
    • Diamond target on scanned enemy is unchanged
  • Ultimate – Beast of the Hunt
    • No longer recharges or speeds up the cooldown rate of Bloodhound’s Tactical
    • Will launch a White Raven that flies towards the nearest enemy
    • Killing an enemy while in Beast of the Hunt will also trigger a White Raven

Mirage

  • Passive – Now you see me…
    • Mirage and his ally now remain cloaked after a revive for 3s
    • Weapons remain stowed while cloaked
    • Drawing your weapon will remove the cloaking effect early
  • Mirage Clones
    • Bamboozles are now only triggered by bullet fire and melee
    • Enemies who are bamboozled now receive notification on their screen
    • Bamboozle icon marker now tracks the Bamboozled player’s movement 
    • Bamboozle icon marker duration increased from 2.5s to 3.5s  

Pathfinder

  • Passive – Insider Knowledge
    • Pathfinder’s passive benefits are no longer gained by scanning Survey Beacons
    • Pathfinder’s passive benefits (Ultimate charge and 10s Ultimate Cooldown reduction) are now gained by revealing Care Packages with the Skirmisher ability 
  • Ultimate – Zipline Gun
    • Max Range increased by ~60%.
    • Max Speed increased by 66%. 
    • Acceleration and exit speed adjustments.
    • Targeting improvements, including updated visual and audio cues.
    • Can no longer place the end station on OOB zones. 

Wraith

  • Ultimate – Dimensional Rift
    • Max Portal Distance has been doubled  (~76m to 152m)
    • Portal Duration reduced from 60s to 45s
    • Wraith now increases speed over time when creating longer portals

Horizon

  • Tactical – Gravity Lift
    • Increased weapon spread in Gravity Lift
    • Increased vertical speed of Gravity Lift by 10%

Lifeline

  • Passive – Combat Revive
    • Reduced the slow penalty on Lifeline when initiating a revive
  • Ultimate – Care Package
    • Decreased the drop animation speed of Care Package from 14s to 8s
    • Increased the deployment range of Care Package

RANKED – MAP ROTATION

Ranked queue will now rotate through all maps in play, 24 hours per map. The maps for the first split are:

  • World’s Edge
  • Storm Point
  • Broken Moon

LIVEAPI 2.0

Official release of version 2.0 of Live API for PC previewed during 15.1.2. The API is a built-in mechanism for listening to gameplay events and programmatically interacting with Apex Legends. This release includes:

  • Support for WebSockets server connection
  • Support for Protocol Buffers (protobuf) to send and receive data
  • Configuration through both command line and JSON
  • 12 new API requests, including
    • 2 gameplay requests: ChangeCamera and PauseToggle
    • 10 lobby requests specifically for Custom Match

More information, including technical documentation, can be found in the LiveAPI folder of the game installation.

QUALITY OF LIFE

  • Added map rotation previews to the game mode selector in the lobby.
  • Players can now be any team in Gun Run.
  • Increased the odds of becoming Team Nessie in Gun Run.
  • Team Nessie is now viewable for all teams.
  • Added new indicator on HUD unit frames for the Ratings Leader in Control.
  • Consumables now show a progress bar for teammates next to their unit frame on the HUD. Similar to reviving. 
  • Added damage to the scoreboard in Control.
  • Increased the minimum distance between airdropped replicators and other airdrops.
  • Map Features when accessing the Full Map now reflect currently selected Class Perk info. Additionally, the Hot Zone map feature description is removed from the Full Map while the Hot Zone is hidden from the map. 
  • When in Firing Range, players now regain full health and shields when they reselect their legend in the legend select menu.
  • Added ability to ping for an optic even if the optic attachment slot is filled.
  • Slightly increased audio for enemies attaching, riding, and detaching from Ziprails.
  • Adding Credits to Items inspired and designed by Creators.

BUG FIXES

  • Fix for Crypto’s drone reticle not being centered when on 16:10 resolutions.
  • Fix for players not being able to emote if they were dead during the champion sequence.
  • [Control] Fixed an issue where the MRB disappears if the player holding it leaves the match.
  • Various UI bugs and improvements to the private match flow.
  • Various bug fixes to some cosmetic items.
  • Fix for the weapon camera in the Loadouts tab not resetting to the correct position when exiting a weapon from the Charms subtab.
  • Fix for footer buttons in the seasonal quest not being clickable.
  • Fix for the players’ crosshairs being present sometimes during the champion sequence.
  • The hide hints option no longer hides the waving person icon on items your teammates can use.
  • Fixed a bug where if a team was empty in Gun Run the HUD would display incorrect information.
  • [Emotes] fix for emotes camera sometimes passing through walls.
  • Removed exploit that allowed players to remain out of bounds longer than intended.
  • [Seer]Fixed an issue where Seer’s ultimate could be crushed by swinging doors.
  • [Seer]Fixed an issue where Seer’ s ultimate and Crypto’s drones would block large sliding doors.
  • [Seer] Fix for cases where Seer would have issues scanning Crypto.
  • [Seer] Fix for when Seer’s passive heartbeat sensor works through Catalyst’s ult when placed on uneven surfaces.
  • [Seer] Fix for cases here Seer’s tactical can get users stuck if used when they are crafting.
  • [Valkyrie] Fixed bug where her animation warps in the in-flight meal emote.
  • [Newcastle] Fixed bug where the Ultimate is not refunded/is not placed if a user is getting hit with Seer Tactical right when using it.
  • [Crypto] Fixed an issue where Crypto’s drone would be destroyed when he’s knocked but not eliminated.
  • [Crypto] Fix for bug where Crypto’s Drone scanning can block Catalyst from reinforcing doors.
  • [Crypto] Fix for cases where his Ultimate stops from deploying if Crypto gets downed
  • [Catalyst] Fixed bug where their Tactical makes it difficult to interact with ziplines, death boxes, and loot bins.
  • Fixed bug where the player is unable to use melee attacks through Catalyst’s Ultimate.
  • Fixed an issue where players could be stuck after being hit by Seer’s tactical while using a crafting station.
  • Fixed an issue where Seer’s move speed would be higher when in ADS while unarmed with the heartbeat sensor disabled.
  • Fixed an issue where Crypto would not be scanned by Seer’s tactical while he was piloting his drone and the drone was not also hit by the tactical.
  • [Vantage] Reduce the number of accidental tactical activations on controller when pulling out or putting away the ultimate with both bumpers.
  • [Vantage] Increase visibility of Sniper’s mark by adding on-screen prompt, similar to scans.
  • [Vantage] Using tactical in areas blocked by geo, can result in the player getting launched into the air
  • Fixed an issue where when Newcastle’s Ultimate was interrupted it would not correctly refund his Ultimate.
  • Fixed an issue where Newcastle would continue to target allies while phased with his Ultimate.
  • Fixed a rare issue were Newcastle’s tactical could get hung in the air and not deploy
  • Fixed an issue with the Black Hole that allowed it to pull players through walls and around corners incorrectly.
  • Fixed an issue where swapping legends in Firing Range would crash if bleeding out as Revenant.
  • Fixed an issue where swapping legends in Firing Range while in Crypto’s drone would crash.
  • Fixed an issue where Newcastle’s ultimate could fail to deploy on landing.
  • Fixed an issue where a spectator swapping between two players being healed by DOC would crash the spectator.
  • [Lifeline] Fixed ultimate cooldown appearing to need 101% charge.
  • Fixed an issue where the Ultimate is ready prompt could appear while the player is still skydiving.
  • Fixed bug where the previous Season rank is being shown on enemy gladiator cards. 
  • Reduced accidental launches on controller.
  • [DX12] Fixed missing error popup on launch for unsupported hardware.
  • [DX12] Fixed an issue where some emissive textures would not appear in third person.

For more on Apex Legends, check out all the new Firing Range updates and who the most popular characters are.

Image Credits: Respawn Entertainment

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