Summary

  • Apex Legends' June 3 update nerfed Legend abilities for Alter and Ballistic.
  • Conduit received a cooldown reduction to her Tactical, potentially improving her pick rate in Season 25.
  • The update did not touch Ash, who has the highest pick rate in the game.

With June just getting underway, Respawn Entertainment has released a new update for Apex Legends that makes some significant changes to the battle royale. While the latest Apex Legends update does not add new content, it includes balance changes for several popular Legends.

Season 25 of Apex Legends began on May 6 and introduced a new Legend for the first time since Alter in Season 21. Known as Sparrow, the character is part of the Recon Class and features a robust kit, including Double Jump, Tracker Dart, and Stinger Bolt abilities. Thanks to this latest addition, the Apex Legends roster now features 27 characters to choose from. While Sparrow is unsurprisingly one of the most popular picks this season at 10.7%, according to Apex Legends Status, there are some other options that players have been finding very effective in battle. As a result, Respawn has looked to curb some of their power.

A group of Apex Legends characters
Apex Legends Still Has One Clear Leg Up Over Other Hero Shooters

Apex Legends holds a clear edge over other hero shooters thanks to its distinct class system and deeper, more strategic gameplay.

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As part of a new Apex Legends update on June 3, the developer has adjusted the abilities of three Legends: Alter, Ballistic, and Conduit. Specifically, Alter saw her Ultimate nerfed, as the delay when following opponents through a Nexus portal was decreased from eight to six seconds. This gives her team less time to regroup after teleporting, potentially letting opponents more easily finish off knocks. In addition, the Nexus reactivation delay has been increased from 30 to 60 seconds. Beyond Alter's Ultimate, Ballistic saw some substantial nerfs to his kit, with his overheat damage decreased from 30 to 15. Furthermore, his Ultimate no longer gets extended when knocking opponents.

While Alter and Ballistic received nerfs, Conduit was shown some love in the latest update. According to the patch notes, the cooldown time on her Tactical has been reduced from 31 to 21 seconds. It will be interesting to see how this change influences her pick rate in Season 25, as it should allow the Legend to keep her teammates' shields up more easily. In addition, the character received an increase to health regen per tick in an April update for Apex Legends, making her Tactical potentially even better. Despite focusing primarily on Legend ability changes, this June 3 update also fixed several crashing issues and resolved some problems with Ranked Ladders.

It is worth noting that this latest update left Ash untouched. This surprised some players, as the Legend continues to have the highest pick rate in the game by a wide margin. Many believe Ash’s highly mobile kit in Apex Legends, coupled with her Assault Class perks, continues to make her annoying to deal with in matches.

Time will tell if all these changes will make the game more enjoyable for those playing Apex Legends. With Season 25 almost a month old, players can look forward to the mid-season update in the coming weeks, potentially bringing even more substantial changes to the battle royale.

Apex Legends June 3 Update - Patch Notes

We just pushed an update to @PlayApex that includes the following fixes and changes:

  • Resolved several crashes related to Season 25
  • Fixed some minor issues with Ranked Ladders
  • Adjusted several Legend abilities, including:

Alter

  • Reduced the delay when following an enemy Alter's Ultimate portal from 8s --> 6s
  • Increased Nexus re-activation delay from 30s --> 60s

Ballistic

  • Reduced overheat damage from 30 --> 15
  • Removed the Ultimate extension gained from knocking other players

Conduit

  • Reduced Tactical cooldown from 31s --> 21s
Rating block community and brand ratings Image
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8 /10

Apex Legends
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Battle Royale
First-Person Shooter
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Systems
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Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 74%
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Released
February 4, 2019
ESRB
T for Teen: Blood, Violence
Developer(s)
Respawn Entertainment
Publisher(s)
Electronic Arts
Engine
Source on console/PC, Unreal Engine 4 on mobile
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play
PC, PS4, Switch & Xbox One
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Conquer with character in Apex Legends, a free-to-play* Hero shooter where legendary characters with powerful abilities team up to battle for fame & fortune on the fringes of the Frontier.

Master an ever-growing roster of diverse legends, deep tactical squad play, and bold new innovations that go beyond the Battle Royale experience—all within a rugged world where anything goes. Welcome to the next evolution of Hero Shooter.

This game includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items, including a random selection of virtual in-game items.

Cross Save
Cross Progression lets you share your game progress across PC, PlayStation®, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch
Steam Deck Compatibility
yes
Genre(s)
Battle Royale, First-Person Shooter
OpenCritic Rating
Strong
X|S Optimized
yes
PS Plus Availability
N/A