Transcend the Otherworld in the Astral Anomaly Event

Science, Legends, science we say! Brace for interdimensional chaos as Launch Royale returns with a vengeance and a turbocharged map rotation. Earn Bytes to redeem rewards like Epic skins for Seer and the Flatline. Pull from 15 event cosmetics including Legendary skins for Octane and more with an opportunity for Legendary skins for Horizon and Alter, each with a unique Character Select Animation.

LTM: LAUNCH ROYALE

Step back in time again for Launch Royale! Experience the LTM with the old school weapons, Legends, abilities, ruleset, but on all of the current day Apex Legends Battle Royale maps. Kings Canyon, World’s Edge, Olympus, Storm Point, Broken Moon, and District will all be available to play with Launch Royale. If you're craving that old-school Apex vibe on the modern maps, this is the best time to jump in and see where legends were born. Relive a refreshed nostalgia from January 7-20, 2025.

MILESTONE EVENT ITEMS

Pick-up 15 otherworldly limited-time cosmetics as you progress through the Astral Anomaly event. Each item received during the event counts towards bonus rewards that are automatically unlocked at milestones along the way including 10 Exotic Shards.

All 15 items will be available in Astral Anomaly Event Apex Packs† for the duration of the event, with each pack having a chance to unlock Alter’s “Anarchonaut” and Horizon’s “Dark Horizon” skins. Note: each event pack contains one event item and two standard items, and there are no duplicates of event items in these packs.

REWARD SHOP

Earn Bytes by completing daily event challenges, then check out the Astral Anomaly Reward Shop to redeem them for rewards and see your progress with all four event badges. Offerings will rotate halfway through the event.

STORE TAB

Looking for more stellar Legend skins? Checkout Mad Maggie, Crypto, and Seer’s skins in the shop until the event ends. Octane’s Legendary skin will also be available for direct purchase.

PATCH NOTES

BALANCE UPDATES

Care Package

• Opening a Care Package now grants EVO to the entire team instead of just the opener

Gold Weapon Rotation

• Charge Rifle, Prowler PDW, Nemesis Burst AR, G7 Scout, CAR SMG

Ring Lethality

• Support Perk benefits will be disabled once a player reaches the Ring Lethality Warning time limit
  • Revive Expert benefits will still maintain a long cooldown before re-use after being used inside the ring

ATTACHMENTS & ORDNANCE

Accelerated Weapons

NEW Accelerator: stock on the Nemesis Burst AR, G7 Scout, and CAR SMG 

• Increases EVO gained from damage
• Increases Ultimate charge from damage
• Knocks grant 30% ult charge as long as an Accelerator weapon is equipped

Dev Note: We are trying something fresh with this new Hop-Up and adding it to the base of these weapons by default. An ability like increased EVO and Ult charge gains makes the biggest impact when acquired early in a match, so we wanted to try and provide that exciting gameplay without the need to hunt for a rare item.

Arc Star

• Players will now be notified with a “STUCK” message when they have been stuck with an Arc Star

Dev Note: It can sometimes be difficult to know if you’ve been stuck by an Arc Star in the heat of combat. This messaging should help take the guess work out of making the right play.

Hop Ups

• Added Select Fire 
  • Equippable on Prowler PDW and Charge Rifle
  • Adds a togglable automatic firing mode

WEAPONS

Charge Rifle

• Increased ammo capacity
  • Base Ammo: 6
  • White Mag:7
  • Blue Mag: 8
  • Purple Mag: 9
• Increased projectile size at closer ranges
• Increased projectile speed
• Improved recoil
• Maximum damage for range scaling now achieved at 200m (was 300m)
• Reduced projectile gravity
• Now takes Select Fire Hop-Up
  • Alternate fire: automatic firing mode
  • Damage reduced by 25%
  • Increased fire rate
  • Recoil improvements when in auto

Dev Note: The Charge Rifle is an absolute monsoon of a gun in the right hands, but it can be a bit tricky to get the hang of. We are taking a pass at making the Charge Rifle more approachable by increasing magazine capacity, adjusting recoil, lowering the range to get max damage, and adding the Select Fire Hop-Up into the mix. 

Mastiff

• Aim down sights blast pattern tightening reduced
• Blast Pattern size increased
• Increased the time before the Mastiff is ready to fire when raising
• Raise and lower times slightly increased

Dev Note: The Mastiff has proven particularly strong this season and its consistency at range is a big part of that. We are smoothing out some timing issues which allowed niche double Mastiff builds to deal higher than average DPS and pulling some power out of its range by widening the blast pattern and ADS tightening. 

Peacekeeper

• Choke speed significantly increased
• Increased projectile speed

Dev Note: When it comes to good range shotguns we want the Peacekeeper’s choked shot to be the main talking point so we’re speeding it up and making the projectiles fly faster. This should drastically improve its performance at range, particularly around hitting moving targets.

RE-45

• Damage increased to 13 (was 12)

Dev Note: The RE-45 has taken a backseat since Akimbo took the stage. This damage bump should help it feel a bit more viable within the current meta.

LEGENDS

Alter

• Void Nexus
  • Cooldown reduced to 120s (was 180s)
  • No longer times out by default
  • Range increased to 300m (was 200m)
• Upgrades: Level 3
  • Eternal Nexus: removed, moved into base kit
  • NEW Multidimensional: grants a second Void Nexus and both can exist at the same time

Dev Note: We have made a small change to allow more flexibility with Alter’s Ult. We have more plans for her in the near future, but wanted to release a small change to see if players find more use with her updated Ult.

Horizon

• Gravity Lift
  • Adjusted visual effects of the lift to reduce visual load on the battlefield
  • Adjusted audio of players in the lift to be more noticeable

Loba

• Black Market
  • Ultimate starts with 99% charge (was 50%)
  • Added griefing protection
  • Can now be remotely picked-up
  • Can now grab banners (does not consume a Black Market usage)
  • Can now open vaults without a key, but no EVO is awarded
    • Stealing vault loot no longer breaks Black Market, but can only be done by Loba and will still set off the alarm
  • Can once again take loot from Explosive holds
  • Removed delay after placing Black Market before it becomes useable
  • Small meds (shield cells and syringes) no longer consume a Black Market usage
  • Trials, Big Maude, and Caustic Labs loot no longer appears in Black Market
• Burglar’s Best Friend
  • Now has two charges
  • Reduced Tac toss time slightly and recovery time significantly
  • Reduced sound FX and VFX on thrown bracelet
• Eye for Quality: Loba can ADS when unarmed to see the loot UI for items highlighted by her passive
• Upgrades: Level 2
  • High Value: removed
  • Market Expansion: removed
  • Shopping Spree: moved to Level 2, reworked to allow entire squad to take 3 items from a friendly Black Market
  • NEW Wolf’s Claws: gain speed boost and significantly faster weapon draw after a teleport
• Upgrades: Level 3
  • Tactical Upgrade: removed
  • NEW Brand New Bag: entire squad receives gold backpacks when selected
  • NEW Escape Artist: Loba can regenerate 50 shield HP after teleporting with her Tac, damage stops the regen

Dev Note: Many of Loba's changes aim to improve some of the cumbersome qualities around her kit and make her abilities more responsive. Her Ult being faster and granting free small meds gives her potency in her support style, while her two Tac charges and faster recovery make her more slippery and evasive. Just as a master thief should be. However, her upgrades are where we believe players can really lean into these two angles depending on their play preference or squad makeup. A more support-focused Loba can keep her team stocked with her improved Shopping Spree and Brand New Bag or she can flex into a more skirmishing style with Wolf's Claws and Escape Artist. It’s a pretty substantial makeover for Loba and we’re eager to see players strut her onto the podium.

Mirage

• Now You See Me…
  • Now also cloaks when using a healing consumable item
    • Cloak is removed by damage, ability use, or dropping the heal action
    • Cloak has a 5 sec cooldown that begins after exiting the cloaked state
  • Entering cloak now only takes 1s (was 1.5s) 
  • After a revive, Mirage now has increased speed while cloaked

• Upgrades: Level 2
  • Battpack: removed
  • More Me: removed
  • NEW Boozle-Eye: Bamboozles now also scan the target who shot the clone
  • NEW Renaissance Man: gain access to all other Classes’ world interactions: Assault Bins, Care Package scans, Survey Beacons, and Ring Consoles
    • Mirage and his team will ONLY gain EVO for these interactions if the squad also has a member of that class

Dev Note: Mirage is a much loved Legend who is seen as having too little team utility and too easy to detect amidst his clones. We are aiming to challenge those notions in the sunset of this support season by giving him a "jack-of-all-trades" access to bins and beacons, and more ways to escape with his cloaking abilities. We expect players to find him more useful as squad support and utility flex, and are eager to see some of the really creative ways you can now escape and re-engage. Is the world prepared for this Mirage-a-flage?

Pathfinder

• Grappling Hook: cooldown increased to 30s (was variable)
• Insider Knowledge
  • Reduced Max Cooldown earned from Scanning Care Packages
  • Reduced zipline change gained by Scanning Care Packages
• Upgrade - Zipline Zen: damage reduction reduced to 25% (was 50%)

Dev Note: Despite a heavy support season, Pathfinder has remained as a highly picked Legend and often the main flex pick of a squad looking for rotations. We’ve pulled back the immediate Ult gains from scanning Care Packages which, alongside his Zipline Zen upgrade, gave him and his team frequent and safer rotations. We have also adjusted his grapple cooldown to encourage players to make more tactical choices with his abilities and seed the way for other Legends to step into his role in different comps.

Vantage

• Sniper’s Mark: reloading with an Ult Accelerant uses new animations and keeps the weapon active

MODES

Launch Royale

• Replicator spawns are enabled
  • Each Legend can craft teammate banners at a Replicator
  • Craft Level 1 Armor at a Replicator
• Opening a bin will guarantee you a weapon if you have no weapons
• Ring Timings Adjusted
  • Wait time between rounds will better match current values
  • The closing speed of the ring will be faster
• Map Rotation: Kings Canyon, World’s Edge, Olympus, Storm Point, Broken Moon, & E-District

Rift Relics Continue

The items available in Rift Relics will be updated regularly, adding an additional weapon to the lineup as well as rotating the available Boost Kits.

• Boost Kits
  • Newly added
    • Upgraded: unlocks and activates all Legend Upgrades while equipped
    • Emergency Smoke: release a vision obscuring smoke cloud at your location when you receive damage
    • Map Hack: occasionally pings enemies within range on your minimap for you and your allies
    • Phase Rewind: activating this sends you back to a previous location
  • Returning
    • Hover: ADS in the air will allow the player to hover, keeping them afloat and steadying aim
    • Void Reflex: damage that would knock a player instead sends them into the Void for several seconds, returning at critical health
    • Reactive Regen: Health/Shield bars regen over time
    • Squad Heal: using a health/shield consumable also applies it to nearby teammates
    • Nessies: summon Nessie companions to fight on your behalf
• Relic Weapons
  • Newly added
    • Relic Pulse Blade: an enhanced version of the throwing knife that incorporates a small scan at the impact location and increased damage
    • Relic Charged Sentinel: keep your Shield Cells, this Sentinel is always charged
    • Relic Charged Rampage: Thermite Grenades are for throwing, this Rampage is always fired up
    • Relic EVA-8 + Double Tap
    • Relic Devotion + EMP: do additional damage to surrounding enemies when you break an enemy’s shield (the more damage done, the more powerful the EMP)
    • Relic Charge Rifle: the original Charge Rifle on release
  • Returning
    • Relic Alternator: Launch Royale variant modified with Disruptor Rounds
    • Relic Mastiff: Launch Royale variant
    • Relic L-Star: Launch Royale variant with high fire rate and limited mag capacity
    • Relic Spitfire: Launch Royale variant with fast reload, improved hipfire, and heavy ammo
    • Relic Wingman: Launch Royale variant with Skull Piercer
    • Relic Prowler: Launch Royale Select Fire (automatic) variant with high power scope
    • Relic G7 Scout: Launch Royale variant with sniper scope
    • Relic 30-30 Repeater: players heal for a percentage of the damage dealt to enemies and monsters 
      • If the player succeeds in landing a headshot, health and armor are immediately highly refilled
      • Embedded Dual Loader
      • Mag size of 12
      • Skullpiercer Hop-Up
    • EPG-1: single fire, direct energy propelled launcher

MAP ROTATIONS

Pubs & Ranked

• E-District
• Olympus
• World’s Edge

Mixtape

• January 7-January 20, 2025
  • TDM: Skull Town, Monument, Zeus Station
  • Control: Production Yard, Thunderdome, Lava Siphon
  • Gun Run: Wattson, Fragment, The Core
• January 21-February 10, 2025
  • Big TDM: Thunderdome, Skull Town
  • Control: Production Yard, Lava Siphon
  • Gun Run: Skull Town, Fragment
  • Lockdown: Zeus Station, The Core

RANKED

RP Value Tuning

We identified an issue where RP buckets and matchmaking were not fully aligned which led to some unexpected overlaps in ranks during matches. For example, players of similar skill levels could appear in different tiers, creating confusion when higher-tier players showed up in lower-tier matches. We've adjusted the system to better align RP buckets with matchmaking to fix this. As part of this adjustment, players will lose less RP and maintain progression closer to what was originally intended. Thank you for your understanding as we continue improving the Ranked experience!

• Rookie IV to Silver IV: no RP value changes
• Silver IV to Silver III: decreased to 500 RP (was 600RP)
• Silver III to Silver II: decreased to 500 RP (was 600RP)
• Silver II to Silver I: decreased to 500 RP (was 600RP)
• Silver I to Gold IV: increased to 750 RP (was 600RP)
• Gold IV to Gold III: increased to 750 RP (was 700RP)
• Gold III to Gold II: increased to 750 RP (was 700RP)
• Gold II to Gold I: increased to 750 RP (was 700RP)
• Gold I to Platinum IV: increased to 750 RP (was 700)
• Platinum IV to Platinum III: 750 RP (was 800)
• Platinum III to Platinum II: 750 RP (was 800)
• Platinum II to Platinum I: increased to 1000 RP (was 800)
• Platinum I to Diamond IV: increased to 1000 RP (was 800)
• Diamond IV to Diamond III: increased to 1000 RP (was 900)
• Diamond III to Diamond II: increased to 1000 RP (was 900)
• Diamond II to Diamond I: increased to 1000 RP (was 900)
• Diamond I to Master: increased to 1000 RP (was 900)

BUG FIXES

• Added a buffer to tap strafes to combat automated movement tech at high frame rates
• Charge Rifle weapon UI no longer occasionally displays when in ADS with a high power optic
• First draw animation no longer plays with Akimbos after every death in Mixtape
• Fixed a rock wall on Broken Moon that players could hide inside of
• Low shield voicelines no longer plays when no Shield Core is equipped
• Out of bound timers will once again trigger while using Rampart’s Sheila while mounted
• UI icons should no longer sway off center on ultrawide
• Weapon mastery XP will now count correctly when Akimbo weapons are being held

LEGENDS

• Alter
  • Loot in Death Boxes can now be pinged while using Alter’s passive
  • Passive prompt should no longer show up without looking at a Death Box occasionally, including after respawning
• Caustic
  • Fixed an issue with barrels not deploying on top of one another
• Lifeline 
  • D.O.C. Halo will no longer be destroyed by various large doors
  • D.O.C. VFX and SFX will not linger longer than expected after expiring
  • First person audio will no longer play on squadmates when D.O.C. is deployed to herself
• Newcastle
  • Now properly breaks free of Ash’s snare when using Ult and doesn’t hover awkwardly in the air

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Adjustments to EVO points gained from consecutive revives
• Dropped loot on the rising walls on World’s Edge will now pop off the wall after it finishes raising rather than stick to it
• Healing option now defaults to cells instead of syringes
• “Incoming Voice Chat Volume" menu option is now available on consoles and the maximum value has been raised from 100% to 200% (values above 100% will attempt to boost quiet players)

GRAPHICS

• DirectX 12 is now the default version on PC. Data from the last couple of seasons has shown that the typical player will have better performance and stability in DX12, as discussed in our Reddit post. 
  • Players on Steam can still select DX11 as a startup option, and players on the EA App or Epic Game Store can use DX11 with the commandline argument --anticheat_settings=SettingsDX11.json. 
  • Note: compiling shaders for the very first time can take a while for both DX11 and DX12, but players newly switching to DX12 may take a while to connect to the lobby for the first time.
• This patch also includes improvements and fixes for DX12:
  • Added support for AMD Anti-Lag 2: this option will be enabled by default in the Video Settings for players with compatible AMD GPUs. Internal testing found that in situations where the game is bottlenecked by GPU performance, Anti-Lag 2 improved in-engine input latency by roughly 25%.
  • Black borders should no longer continue to show the Steam Overlay or visual artifacts when using aspect ratios different from your monitor.
  • Game cursor should now be centered when opening a menu while using a game resolution different from your monitor's native resolution.
  • Inventory menu should no longer jump around when using a controller (sorry, House of Pain).
  • Removed the "Dynamic Streaming Budget" toggle from Video Settings since it should be left on for virtually all players. This option generally has no effect unless your GPU runs out of VRAM, and in these situations it can save performance degradation. It can still be disabled in the videoconfig.txt file.
  • Significantly improved performance of streaming geometry data to the GPU, especially on low-end systems, reducing stuttering and missing in-game models.

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