Respawn Schedules Nerf For Apex Legends New Charge Rifle

Update: An update to Apex Legends finally nerfed the Charge Rifle. Find out what else changed in our story about the patch.

In Season 3: Meltdown, Apex Legends introduces a bunch of changes, including a brand-new map, playable character, battle pass, and weapon--the Charge Rifle. The new weapon has proven to be a dominant force in the game so Respawn is planning on nerfing it.

"We want to be thoughtful in the way we make changes for it," Respawn community manager Jay Frechette said in the first episode of Apex Devstream, a video series aimed at exploring the behind the scenes of Apex Legends. "So with the Charge Rifle, this won't be a [straight-forward] damage nerf. We'll be increasing the amount of ammo that is used per shot, changing the mag size for it, and also bringing in a bit of the falloff damage." For anyone unfamiliar with the term, falloff damage refers to how much weaker something becomes the further the affected target is.

In regards to how soon players can expect these changes, lead designer Brent McLeod said he's hoping they go live the week of October 14.

Currently, the Charge Rifle is one of the strongest sniper rifles in the game. So on a large map like World's Edge, one that encourages long-range encounters, it's one of the best options you can have in your arsenal. The weapon initially fires a small laser that does moderate damage before shooting a much stronger beam that does considerable amounts of damage. It's probably one of the best weapons to use if you're playing as new character Crypto, because its lack of bullet drop and fairly fast fire rate allows you to quickly snipe at opponents you spy with your drone.

Looking through Apex Legends Trello page, there are a few other notable changes scheduled for Respawn's battle royale as well. Respawn is planning to implement an option to keep the deathbox UI open while taking damage, for example, allowing you to go back to the way the UI used to work prior to Season 3 if that's what you prefer. Perhaps most intriguing is a patch to add the option to spend Legend Tokens to re-roll your daily challenges. Between all three in-game currencies, Legend Tokens are the one that most players have in excess, only spending them to buy new playable Legends. Having the option to use them to get new dailies would be a huge boon for those working through the battle pass who occasionally get challenges tied to characters they never play or don't own.