Loba and Mirage get huge buffs in Apex mid-season patch notes

The Apex Legends mid-season 23 patch notes have continued the season of support, with big buffs to both Mirage and Loba. The pair were the two support Legends that didn't get major buffs at the start of Season 23.

Elsewhere, there are some big changes to some of the games most popular weapons, with the Charge Rifle, Mastiff, Peacekeeper, Nemesis, G7 Scout and more getting adjusted. This includes a very rare mid-season introduction of a brand new mechanic.

We've got everything you need to know about the Apex Mid-Season patch notes, including analysis of the biggest changes so you can be prepared ahead of the patch going live tomorrow.

You can also here from Respawn directly on the thinking behind these changes:

Loba has sat in a strange place in Apex Legends for a while. She has a small, but notable playerbase. Her abilities, especially the ability to loot remotely, combined with being able to craft expired banners have made her the ultimate escape and reset Legend.

However, Loba has become known as a legend for ratting and hiding in Ranked. She has lacked positive, aggressive power and this patch takes steps to address that.

Loba's Tactical:

Loba's Ultimate:

Other Loba Buffs:

Loba's Upgrades:

There are also a raft of changes to Loba's Upgrades. These are focused on letting her specialise a little bit during a game. There will be two Upgrades that focus on improving how her Black Market works. Then, a path that pushes her more towards a Skirmisher role. This will improve the power her bracelet has. Her new upgrades are as follows:

It's been a very long time since Mirage got a bit suite of buffs. He has felt very left behind, as his fellow Legends get more and more powerful over the course of several seasons. Now, Respawn are trying to help Mirage carve out his own spot in the meta at long last. They see him as a "jack of all trades" Legend that can be flexible, which might see him become a good utility option for teams in Ranked. Don't expect to see a lot of Mirages running around at the ALGS Championship in Sapporo, Japan however.

Mirage Passive Buffs:

Mirage Upgrade Buffs:

In order to make Mirage the "jack of all trades" that Respawn envision, he is getting some adjustments to his Legend Upgrades. Mirage will be able to choose between getting a scan on bamboozled enemies or gaining access to ALL class-based bins, beacons, consoles and package scans. This will make him one of the most flexible Legends in the entire game in terms of what he can offer to a team.

Pathfinder:

Vantage:

There are some big shake-ups to the weapon meta in the Apex Mid Season patch notes. Importantly, these are designed to help break the chokehold that the Mastiff has on the meta as things stand. At the moment, it is a must-use weapon at the higher level of gameplay. While this is in part down to the high amount of players using Gibraltar and Newcastle, it is also because the Mastiff is a very strong shotgun at both close and medium range.

It's very unusual for a mid-season update to Apex Legends to introduce a whole new mechanic. The Season 23.5 update adds a new concept, called "Accelerated Weapons". Weapons with this ability will do the following:

There are three weapons that will be Accelerated Weapons:

Another very notable set of changes is to the Charge Rifle. This powerful sniper got a major overhaul a few seasons back, changing how the weapon works. Since then, the weapon has been significantly harder to use and has fallen behind in popularity with competitors the Sentinel and Longbow.

Now, the weapon is getting an overhaul to try and improve how accessible the weapon is to use.

All Charge Rifle changes:

Mastiff:

Peacekeeper:

RE-45:

Todays Apex mid-season patch notes will bring a pretty big shake up to the meta. Loba and Mirage currently sit in the middle of Legend pickrates, and neither are especially popular. Both are below 2% amongst Master and Predator level players, and hardly feature.

These changes should help both Legends have a lot more relevance. Loba's biggest weakness has always been her movement. The Black Market Ultimate has plenty of use, especially in end games, and immediately off drop. Now, with her Tactical getting buffed, she will have a lot more offensive potential. That should help Loba feel a lot better in fights.

However, some players may find this change frustrating. Loba already has a reputation as a legend that runs away and avoids fights. Most solo queue players have an experience with a Loba player who breaks off and rats out a ranked game - making her better at that may not help this problem.

For Mirage, how useful his new cloaking ability will be is yet to be seen. On the face of it, it seems like it will be very useful. There will be ways to try and take advantage of his ability. Perhaps you don't fully heal between fights, allowing you to pop a cell for a quick burst of cloaking time. Phoenix Kits, often shunned, are now also very valuable for Mirage. As the slowest healing consumable, they provide the most cloak time.

The ability for Mirage to access all Supply Bins, Ring Consoles and Survey Beacons in the game is also very interesting. After these Apex patch notes, Mirage could be an absolute Evo machine. However, there are of course other legends that can do this. Having Legends that also access these things, but have better base abilities, could be what still keeps Mirage out of the meta.

In terms of weapon changes, the Mastiff is getting the biggest nerf. The first half of Season 23 has been a firm Mastiff meta, and that will likely end when the update drops tomorrow. However, that is not to say the Mastiff won't still be useful. Developers said in an interview with esports.gg that their main focus is reducing how good the Mastiff is at medium range. Currently, you can hit big damage at quite a sizable distance.

The changes in this mid-season update are designed to shift that power towards the Peacekeeper. If you want a shotgun for longer range, the choke ability on that Shotgun is what you are looking for after this update.

Otherwise, the Nemesis seems like a big winner in this update too. The new Accelerated Weapons mechanic seems like it will be very powerful. Of the three weapons, the Nemesis is the strongest one and is already popular amongst some pro players.

Also benefitting from this mechanic is the CAR SMG. Between that and the return of the Select Fire on the Prowler, there will be more options for a viable loadout without a Shotgun.

The Charge Rifle being automatic is a terrifying prospect. We will need to wait and see exactly how effective and easy to use it is, including how much the Select Fire spawns. With that said, an automatic sniper is a brand new concept in Apex Legends and is certainly going to be worth experimenting with.

You will need to commit to using the weapon though, as Apex Developer Eric Cavanese told esports.gg, the power of the Charge Rifle is gatekept somewhat as you need to locate the Select Fire Hop-up to access the new automatic mode.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Apex Legends Season 23 news.