Apex Legends players have noticed a dominant meta in the game’s esports scene, with Bangalore and Caustic being the go-to legends for devastating results. However, game designer John Larson has announced that season 19, Ignite, will bring a balance pass to address their power imbalances.
Larson acknowledges that Bangalore and Caustic’s versatility has made them popular choices, but the goal of the upcoming changes is to rein in their tactical and ultimate abilities. Specifically, Caustic’s tactical ability, Piercing Spikes, will be tweaked to allow bullets to pass through it. Additionally, the maximum number of spike traps will be reduced to two, and the throw range will be brought in line with other Controller legends. These changes aim to make players more mindful of managing their abilities and holding down different types of buildings.
Caustic’s ultimate ability, Dark Veils, will also receive a small nerf to its duration, reducing its impact on fights, especially in the final circles.
Moving on to Bangalore, Larson describes her as the counterpart to Caustic in the “can’t see shit” meta. However, the nerfs coming to Bangalore are carefully tuned to maintain her core gameplay moments. The changes include reducing the duration of her Double Time passive, shortening the lifetime of her smokes, and decreasing the stun from her Rolling Thunder ultimate. These changes are aimed at the top end of players who are more surgical and strategic in their gameplay.
It’s important to note that these changes are not intended to completely gut Bangalore or Caustic. Larson assures that the majority of players won’t feel the impact of these changes significantly.
In addition to the nerfs, other legends will receive minor buffs and tweaks to improve their overall experience. For example, Wattson will have an extra bullet in her ultimate, Wraith’s passive will be more reliable, and Rampart’s Castle Wall will receive some love.
Players will have the opportunity to try out all of these changes when Apex season 19 launches on October 31st across all platforms.
Source: DOTESPORTS
