Apex Legends Season 16 adds new Nemesis Burst AR to beat Flatline & R-301

Apex Legends Season 16, for the first time since the CAR SMG in Season 11, will add a new weapon in the form of the Nemesis burst-fire assault rifle. Here’s what you need to know about the new gun. 

New content is always in demand in the world of Apex Legends. Season 16 is set to deliver on that front, with major changes to legend classification among the many changes to grace Respawn’s battle royale as it approaches 4 years old.

There has been a clamor from the player base for a new weapon for some time now, with the last totally new gun to drop being the CAR SMG, way back in Season 11. 

We now have confirmation that Season 16 will bring a new weapon in the form of the Nemesis burst-fire AR, which was originally mined by leakers in late 2021.

Apex Legends Nemesis assault rifle 

The weapon is an AR, meaning players can expect it to fit somewhere between SMGs and LMGs in terms of handling, damage, and range. 

It will be a burst-fire assault rifle, with the bursts firing four bullets rapidly.

However, where other burst weapons like the Hemlok require players to continually press their fire button for the next burst, the Nemesis will be an automatic burst weapon. 

That means players can hold down their trigger and the weapon will automatically fire bursts as quickly as possible. It also boasts an incremental fire rate, so the delay between bursts will reduce the longer players hold down their fire button.

Naturally, it will bring the strengths and weaknesses burst fire weapons typically do. The delay between bursts will see players vulnerable to enemies with fully automatic weapons but the lack of recoil from a burst weapon means accurate shots should be more achievable. 

The Nemesis will offer players a maximum magazine capacity of 32 shots, so 8 x 4-bullet bursts. With no mag attachment, it has 20 shots, or 5 bursts.

It remains to be seen how it slots into the nerfed assault rifle class, but Respawn did promise they’re “shipping it hot” to provide immediate competition to the R-301 and Flatline, which have long dominated.