Season 17 will change the way you play Apex Legends. We’ve gathered the confirmed patch notes so far for the newest season Arsenal.
Apex Legends Season 17 releases on May 9. The season promises exciting changes including a new legend Ballistic, changes to ranked, a major map rework, and weapon mastery. The Apex Season 17 patch notes have been confirmed by the developers, so let's get to them!
New Legend - Ballistic
Ballistic is the latest legend to join the Apex Games in Season 17. He's an Assault class legend with abilities that enhance his team's weapons and disable enemy weapons.
- Passive Ability - Sling (Store an additional weapon that doesn't take attachments)
- Tactical Ability - Whistler (Fire a projectile that overcharges enemy weapons)
- Ultimate Ability - Tempest (Enhances allied weapons for a limited duration)
Learn more about Ballistic and his abilities.
Balance Updates (Apex Season 17 patch notes)
Crate Rotation
- L-Star EMG enters the crate
- RE-45 returns to the floor
Weapon Crafting Rotation
- Alternator SMG enters the crafter
- Sentinel enters the crafter
- EVA-8 returns to the floor
- 30-30 Repeater returns to the floor
Gold Weapon Rotation
- Flatline, Triple Take, Spitfire, Mastiff, Volt
Loot Spawns
- Improved Vault Loot
- Increased chances of gold loot
- Added light mags to spawn pool
- Improved Cargo Bot Loot
- Removed small healing items, Mobile Respawn Beacon, White Armor, White Backpack
- Adjusted Large Healing and Heatshield spawns to allow for more desirable loot spawns
- Removed gold weapons from purple tier Cargo Bots but increased spawn chance in gold tier
Weapon Changes
Only five weapons will receive changes in the Apex Season 17 patch notes, and the new season will not be introducing a new weapon. The L-star will now be a crate weapon, and we unfortunately will wave goodbye to the crate RE-45 - which was an amazing gun.
Weapon | Changes in Apex Season 17 patch notes |
|---|---|
| L-Star EMG (CRATE) | - Added Disruptor Rounds: 60% damage increase against shields - Base Damage Reduced to 16 (was 17) - Projectiles now have passthrough: 60% damage retained - Projectile growth increased - Improved recoil pattern - Removed barrel - Ammo Stockpile: 324 - Reduced VFX brightness when hitting unarmored targets |
| 30-30 Repeater | Projectile size increased when fully charged |
| Triple Take | - Projectile size increased - Improved hipfire spread - Tightened bullet pattern when fully choked - Ammo per shot reduced to 1 (was 3) - Magazines sizes adjusted to match the new ammo costs - Purple Mag: Increased to 10 shots (was 9) |
| R-99 SMG | - Removed 1 bullet from base and all magazines - No Magazine reduced to 19 (was 20) - White Magazine reduced to 21 (was 22) - Blue Magazine reduced to 24 (was 25) - Purple & Gold magazine reduced to 27 (was 28) |
| Charge Rifle | - Reduced shots per magazine to 3 (was 4) - Reduced spawn rate |
Legend Changes
Surprisingly very few specific Legend changes for Apex Season 17, but instead tweaks to their classes - which were introduced in Season 16.
Legend/Class | Changes in Apex Season 17 patch notes |
|---|---|
| Catalyst | Dark Veil Scan Highlights & Diamonds are no longer visible through the Dark Veil |
| Mirage | Class changed from Skirmisher to Support |
| Ash | Now gets slowed to weapon sprint speed instead of weapon walk speed when targeting with her tac |
| Assault Class | - Smart loot gains have been adjusted to reduce skipping an upgrade tierIt will now be less likely to jump from White to Purple or Blue to Gold - Optics are now given based on team rather than just Assault Legend who opens them - Added special drop rate for Gold Optics |
| Skirmisher Class | - Care packages are now automatically pinged for the team on reveal. (This includes empty Care Packages that have already been looted by another team) |
| Support Class | - Support Bins will now guarantee at least one Battery in one of the Secret Compartment slots - Support Bins will now award MRBs if your ally is dead, even if you don’t have their banner card. - Legend Banners can now be crafted by ANY player who has a Support Class Legend in their Squad |
Related articles
Changes to Ranked Mode
Ranked is finally receiving an overhaul in Apex Legends Season 17. It's going to be the biggest change to Apex Legends Ranked since its launch. The changes are designed around making Ranked matches more "competitive" and establishing a level playing field for all players. The highlights include:
- A hidden MMR system
- 10 placement matches to calibrate the player's capabilities at the start of the season
- RP system replaced with new system based on winning the battle royale rather than farming kills
- No more splits. The Ranked season continues throughout the game's season.
Read the detailed changes to Ranked in our in-depth article about it.
Weapon Mastery in Apex Legends Season 17
Season 17 will bring a brand new progression mechanic to the game in the form of Weapon Mastery. Weapon Mastery is a progression system that rewards players for playing specific weapons and completing challenges with them.
- 100 weapon mastery levels on each weapon
- Every 20 levels, players will have to complete a weapon-specific trial for a reward
- Rewards include unlockable Legendary Skins, weapon mastery trackers, and banners
Here's a detailed explanation of the Weapon Mastery system.
Apex Legends Season 17 brings a brand-new firing range
Apex Legends is revamping the Apex Firing Range. It's been a long time coming but the firing range now serves as a proper training ground for new players. New features include:
- Revamped weapons and loot area
- Agility Course
- Dueling Pit
- Combat Simulations for Training
- Customizable dummies, Improved targets, and Dynamic statistics to track real-time performance.
Evac Towers for additional rotation methods
Apex Legends is adding a brand-new survival item called Evac Towers in Season 17. These are deployable jump towers that can be used to rotate around the map or quickly escape sticky situations. Some pointers on how they work.
- Operate similarly to Jump Towers around in-game maps.
- Take up the survival item slot (Mobile Respawn Beacons, Heat Shields)
- Have limited hit points and can be destroyed by opponents to cancel the rotation.
Read all about how they work in our detailed article on Evac towers.
World's Edge Revamp
World's Edge is one of the oldest maps in the game and is receiving a long-due makeover in Season 17. Most of the changes affect Fragment, a large and most popular POI of the map. Additionally, Lava City has been replaced by a new POI called Stacks.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the patch notes and more esports news.
