New Apex Legends Update Secretly Nerfs Bangalore And Caustic

An unannounced change to two of Apex Legends‘ most popular characters has caused quite the stir among fans.

Arriving alongside a new limited-time Collection event – Chaos Theory – yesterday, Respawn’s bumper-sized patch made a series of noticeable adjustments to several existing combatants, including nerfs for Gibraltar and Horizon. Both of these (and specifically the latter) have dominated the competitive meta for several weeks, with the general consensus among high-level players being that they were simply too effective. While further tweaks are expected to come in subsequent patches, this is at least a solid stopgap to help other, lesser-used Legends shine. Well, that’s the hope, anyways.

Certainly not contributing to a shake-up of tier lists is an undocumented nerf included alongside the above that, judging from comments provided by the development team over on Reddit, is a direct result of visual changes.

Caustic and Bangalore, both of which have access to sight-obscuring smoke and toxic gasses, are considered primarily useful for their ability to mask their or a teammates’ escape from an otherwise unfavorable situation. The central issue here, then, is that following yesterday’s update, these effects are now far less ‘solid’ in mass and no longer make it nigh-on impossible for an opponent to see through the mist. This is an intentional reduction in particle FX, says lead product manager Eric Hewitt, so it would seem that there’s little chance of the decision being reversed.

As for how much of an impact this will have on Caustic and Bangalore’s effectiveness, that remains to be seen and Respawn will likely prefer to let the meta once again settle before taking any further action. Is this the final nail in the coffin for two of Apex Legends‘ most popular heroes, though? Let us know your thoughts in the usual place below!