The Apex Legends Season 7 patch notes were released on November 2, and along with all the new content coming in Ascension, Respawn Entertainment have also made changes to five of the game’s guns, added the new Quickdraw Hop-Up, and switched up Supply Drops.
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There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the launch of Season 7, as Apex players will finally get to try out a brand new map for the first time in over a year, along with a new Legend, the game’s first-ever vehicle, and more.
However, almost as important as all the new content are the changes Respawn Entertainment implemented as well, especially when it comes to several of the important weapons. All of the details about these weapon tweaks can be found below.
Apex Legends Season 7 weapon buffs
L-STAR
The L-STAR is one of three weapons that were given a boost in Season 7, as Respawn made three adjustments to Energy Machine Gun: a new recoil pattern, reduced venting time, and decreased time it takes to reduce heat.
- LSTAR has a new recoil pattern that kicks horizontally at first and then settles into a relatively consistent upward recoil. Players who feather the trigger will be able to keep the LSTAR in the good portion of the recoil pattern.
- LSTAR venting time after letting go of the trigger has been reduced 0.4s -> 0.15s.
- LSTAR will now reduce heat faster when not overheated — 1.15s from 99.9% to 0% charge if not overheated, still 2.45s if overheated.
The devs explained that the L-STAR had “some limitations that caused it to feel worse” than they’d like, especially the recoil pattern, which “snaked back and forth, which was too difficult to control reliably.”
“We are reducing those pain points to improve the viability and feel of feathering the trigger and adjusting the recoil pattern to reward players who can effectively control the LSTAR’s heat,” they said.
Havoc
In a previous patch, Respawn had given the Havoc a brand new recoil pattern, which they say actually proved to be “too erratic and difficult to control.” As a result, the pattern has been updated and will now kick up, then right, then left, then up again.
Sentinel
The buff to the Sentinel is actually a major rework; the sniper rifle, when fully energized, now has an amplified damage effect rather than just hurting an enemy’s shields. Furthermore, the gun’s energized base damage was increased from 70 to 88.
- Read More: Apex Legends Season 7 patch notes
The changes were meant to make the sniper more viable when in an energized state; the devs felt that, previously, it was “a bit too situational and only benefited if the opponent has more than 70 shield.”
Apex Legends Season 7 weapon nerfs
Hemlock
Only two weapons were directly nerfed in this update, one of them being the Hemlock, which has gained more prominence in recent months after receiving several considerable buffs.
Turns out, those buffs may have made the assault rifle a bit too powerful, which is why Respawn have increased its horizontal recoil and recoil magnitude while reducing the headshot multiplier:
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- Increasing horizontal recoil of the first 3 shots slightly to the right (first burst when in burst mode)
- Increasing recoil magnitude in the later stages of the pattern
- Reducing headshot multiplier 2.0 -> 1.75 (44 -> 39 damage headshot against no helmet base character)
In order to compensate for the increased recoil, however, Respawn have reduced the recoil multiplier when in single fire mode: “Recoil should mostly be increased in burst mode rather than single fire mode.”
Triple Take
After having already been nerfed in a recent patch, the Triple Take’s effectiveness has been cut down again, this time with its fire rate being reduced from 1.3 to 1.2.
“The Triple Take is still performing a bit too well after the most recent nerf, so we are reducing the fire rate back to what it was before the 6.0 patch,” the devs explained. “We will be watching in the future to see how just the integrated choke, sniper ammo increase, and new popularity affect the weapon’s performance.”
Supply Drops & fully kitted weapons
As is the case for pretty much every season, the launch of Ascension has shuffled Supply Drops a bit. The R99 is no longer a Supply Drop exclusive weapon and has been returned to the normal loot pool, which means its stats will return to that version of the gun.
- Damage: 12 -> 11 (from Care Package version to normal pre-season 6)
- Ammo 20/22/24/27
Replacing it is the Prowler, which now boasts a magazine size of 35 rounds and reserve ammo of 175 rounds.
The fully kitted weapons have also been shuffled around, as all five have been replaced with a new batch of guns in their place:
- Removed: Devotion, Mastiff, Triple Take, Flatline, Volt
- New: Wingman, Sentinel, Havoc, G7, Alternator
Hop-Ups
With Season 7 comes the brand new Quickdraw Hop-Up for the Wingman and RE-45. This attachment, when equipped, reduces the guns’ draw-time and how long it takes to aim down sights (ADS), whole also reducing the hip-fire spread when not moving.
To make room in the loot pool, the Selectfire Receiver has been removed, although that shouldn’t be too consequential since the Prowler, which normally needs this Hop-Up to switch between burst and full-auto, can now do so without the attachment
That wraps up all of the weapon changes in the Apex Legends Season 7 patch. Remember, these buffs and nerfs will not go into effect until Ascension is fully live in-game, which is scheduled to be on Wednesday, November 4 at around 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET.
For more information about the rest of this update’s contents, you can check out the full Season 7 patch notes here.