Respawn shipped a new Apex Legends balance update on October 1 that fixes Alter’s ability reliability and nerfs Axle’s slide and drone tools, while applying another round of tuning to the Apex KO mode. The update is the latest balance patch since Respawn rolled out the EA Javelin anticheat for Apex Legends.
Alter fix and Axle nerfs
Alter’s tactical and ultimate abilities have been fixed for unreliable usage near large moving structures. Axle’s passive sliding lateral control is nerfed by 50 percent, making it harder to keep slide momentum while tightly cornering. For Nitro Gate users, sliding lateral control is nerfed by 25 percent, aim assist is disabled for players under the effect of the Nitro Gate, and the Nitro Gate initial push speed is reduced to 650 from 700.
Axle’s Kickstart drone ultimate has lower knock-up and shorter chase time. If the drone locks on immediately after being deployed, the resulting knock-up is significantly decreased. Max knock-up magnitude is reduced to 650 from 700, and max drone chase time is reduced to 8 seconds from 10 seconds, so the drone gives up on an active chase 2 seconds sooner.
Apex KO fighter tuning
Apex KO, the Street Fighter 6 crossover event in Apex Legends, receives additional tuning changes as Respawn continues to track community feedback. Fighter’s Defense is reduced from 55 percent damage reduction to 50 percent. Respawn said fighters are still difficult to take down in a 1v1 gun-versus-fighter fight, so this gives players using guns a bit more damage against a charging fighter.
Max ultimate charges for Ryu, Chun-Li, and Dhalsim are reduced from 3 to 2. Respawn said these fighters could cast multiple ultimates in a row and wipe enemy teams without enough time to respond, so the stored ultimate count was reduced by 1 without changing ultimate meter gain rate or damage output.
Passive Fight Gauge regeneration now turns on when a player is not in Fighter Form and is below 1 pip of Fight Gauge. Respawn said this counters mid-match droughts of Fight Gauge Tokens as K.O. Trucks are destroyed, letting players reach Fighter Form more often.
