Aftershock Event + Midseason Patch Notes

[COSMIN]

Get amped up for high-voltage combat in the Aftershock Event, running from Mar 31 to Apr 21.

Wildcard gets a power surge with the Vortex Shield and 9 new Wild Cards, fresh Legend Updates for Gibby, Wraith, and Wattson, plus a new Elite Hemlok, Fuse Prestige Skin, and more. Nice.

Get all the details and latest changes below in the Patch Notes.

Ready? Let’s charge in.

WILDCARD: CHARGED UP

This new Wildcard is all about POWER. (And the anxiety of realizing your battery’s about to die.)

Every Legend is now equipped with a Vortex Shield: raise the Vortex Shield to catch incoming bullets, then release to fire them back at enemies. But keep an eye on your shield’s energy! Recharge your shield by collecting EVO.

Getting rushed? Unleash the power of the EMP Blast to stun enemies and damage placeable objects. Then recharge your EMP Battery by blocking damage with the Vortex Shield, collecting EVO, or with new Wild Cards.

Supercharge your arsenal with nine electric new Wild Cards:

• Bigger and Better: Greatly increases the size of the Vortex Shield, speeds up deploy and stow time

• Duck and Cover: Increases the Vortex Shield’s protective area but disables return fire

• Energy Efficient: EMP Blast costs 50% energy (two uses per charge)

• Sonic Boom: Upgrades the EMP Blast damage and adds knockback

• Static Charge: EMP Battery remains fully charged even when used

• Extra Juice: Revives grant EMP Battery charge

• Background Process: Adds passive EMP Battery charging that increases while sprinting

• Kinetic Converter: Increases movement speed based on EMP Battery charge percentage

• Heat Signature: Spend EMP Battery charge to highlight enemies through walls

ELITE HEMLOK

Full-auto Hemlok go brrrr. 

Tear through enemy defenses with the new Hemlok Breach AR: it’s packing full-auto fire, a Silencer and a Breach Launcher with new Breach Shot mode. It’s a lot. In the best way. 

Get all the details on this new breaching tool in the Patch Notes below.

EVENT ITEMS

Light up the Outlands with new Event cosmetics, check out the new Legend Skins for Wattson, Ash, Pathfinder, Horizon, Crypto, and Gibraltar.

Fresh new Weapon Skins are dropping too, including the EVA-8 “Hard Core”, the Havoc “Technoforged”, the CAR “Static Discharge” and more.

The future is Fuse, mate! The king of showboating gets a new Prestige Skin, complete with a custom Finisher and Dive Trail. He’s earned it.

REWARD SHOP

Head to the Reward Shop and exchange your Cells for two rotating sets of rewards, each available for a limited time. 

• Mar 31 to Apr 10: Grab an Aftershock Pack, an Epic Lifeline Legend Skin, a Tracker Set, and more.

• April 10 to Apr 21: Score an Aftershock Pack, an Epic Lifeline Banner Frame, and more.

STORE TAB

Explore limited-time offers in the Aftershock Milestone Collection, available in the Store or as possible drops from Aftershock Packs from Mar 31 to May 5.

PATCH NOTES

AUDIO SYSTEMS CHANGES

We are making a couple adjustments to in-match audio to align with our continued commitment to provide the most informative audio experience possible. 

• In response to community feedback, we have lowered the volume of Hardlight mesh shattering. 

• As footstep audio acts as a primary means of tracking enemies who aren’t in front of you, we are increasing the volume of footsteps from enemies outside your POV - enemy footstep volume further increases as the source of the footsteps gets further behind you (ie. loud when beside you, louder when over your shoulder, even louder when directly behind you). We will continue to listen to player feedback and make impactful changes to polish the in-game experience for our community!

LEGENDS

GIBRALTAR

Dev Note: Your big bruddah has been sitting at the bottom of pick rate charts for a while now, so it was time to give him some love. With a new passive that will allow him to traverse and rotate quicker, some quality of life updates to his base kit and some meaningful upgrades to let you choose your playstyle. The Dome of Protection has become easier and easier to push these days so we wanted to give Gibraltar some better defenses and faster resets. We also wanted players to be able to upgrade into more versatility with his ultimate.

Passive

• New Passive - Momentum Boost

  • If Gibraltar maintains sprint speed for a couple of seconds he will get a speed boost. 

  • This will only trigger while unarmed or if the weapon doesn’t have a sprint speed restriction (ex. The Fast Shotties Upgrade)

• Gibraltar punch will deal double damage to Hardlight

Tactical

• Cooldown on Dome of Protection reduced (was 17s, now 13s)

Ultimate

• Integrated the size increase upgrade into his base kit, increasing radius by 20%

• Call in time for the missiles has been sped up

• Can now throw your ultimate before the ultimate equip animation finishes

Upgrades

• Level 2

  • Thunder Dome: The dome becomes electrified when placed, and will deal 50 damage and slow the first enemy to enter 

  • Healing Dome: Dome duration increases 4s and any player within the healing dome will get double small meds healing

• Level 3

  • Triple Bombardment: Splits the ultimate into 3 charges, reducing the radius and number of missiles for each

• Removed Big Bruddah, Bubble Bunker, Baby Bubble

WRAITH

Dev Note: Wraith's pick rate popularity has been on a slow decline over the years; she’s starting to get overshadowed by other popular skirmishers. We wanted to address this by giving her some meaningful buffs to her base kit and by giving her some more interesting upgrade options that will provide more utility for her team.

Tactical

• Integrated the tactical cooldown reduction upgrade into her base kit (was 20s, now 15s)

Ultimate

• Integrated the ultimate cooldown reduction upgrade into her base kit (was 2.5 minutes, now 1.5 minutes)

• Increased casting speed animation for quicker activation

Upgrades

• Level 2

  • Phase Dome: When Wraith starts channeling her ultimate she will create a Phase Dome. This dome will last for 30s or until Wraith places her portal. Anyone who enters the Phase Dome will go into the void. 

• Level 3

  • Phase Jumper: Wraith will stay in the void for longer when using her tactical (was 4s, now 6s) and will gain double jump while in the void

WATTSON

Dev Note: We wanted to give Wattson some unique ways to interact with Hardlight meshes and provide some quality of life updates to her kit.

Tactical

• Placing a fence in front of a Hardlight mesh will reinforce it; if the mesh is broken the fence will rebuild and reinforce it

• Increased fence damage (was 20, now 35)

• Reduced fence deployment time (was 1s, now 0.5s)

Ultimate

• When Wattson’s ultimate is placed it will reinforce Hardlight meshes in the zone of the pylon; if the mesh is broken it will rebuild and reinforce the mesh. 

WEAPONS

AR

Dev Note: Breach and Clear! The Hemlok is our latest entry of Elite Weapons. This powerhouse has a custom built barrel pre-attached that provides excellent recoil stabilization, a fully integrated silencer, and a brand new recharging Breach Charge that lets you tear down enemy structures or break into their reinforced bunkers.

Hemlok Breach AR \[Elite Weapon]

• Removed Burst & Single firing modes

• New Firing Mode: Automatic

  • Slow fire rate

  • Body Damage: 23

  • Headshot Damage: 32

  • Integrated Silencer

• New Firing Mode: Breach Charge

  • Single shot explosive

  • Cooldown: 15 seconds

  • Damage to players: 38 with radial falloff

  • Significant damage multiplier to Hardlight and structures

MARKSMAN

Dev Note: With our latest pass on Marksmans we were successful in bringing down the overall oppressiveness of our long ranged weapons but in the 30-30’s case we’ve dulled its fangs just a bit too much. So we’re giving back some of its base damage so it’s still a consistent and viable option without the incredible spikes those charged headshots can create.

30-30 Repeater

• Increased base damage to 43 (was 41)

PISTOL

Dev Note: The RE-45 Burst was our first foray into the Elite Weapon system and we had always intended to swap back to the OG automatic light version of the weapon. However, in this case, we feel the energy burst version of the RE-45 is a compelling iteration that carves out a more ownable place in the weapon roster. Moving back to its light version only muddies the design space around the R-99, Alternator, and the rest of the light weapons. Moving forward the RE-45 will be a permanent energy weapon.

RE-45 Burst

• Elite version is now the default version of the RE-45

• Removed Elite weapon visual treatment

P2020

• Decreased points required to unlock Hammerpoints to 425 (was 500)

• Base magazine size increased to 9 (was 8)

SHOTGUN

EVA-8

• Improved base reload speed

SMG

Dev Note: When we added the automatic trigger to the Prowler we also increased the delay between bursts to keep its overall power in check since we were increasing its ease of use substantially. However, we didn’t see as big a draw to it as we expected so we’re giving it back some of its snappyness so it feels competitive in CQC.

Prowler PDW

• Burst fire delay reduced

• Recoil improvements

MAPS

Olympus

Moved Elysium to a new location on the northeast corner of the map near Rift. The purpose of this change is to eliminate the forced contest between Somers University and Elysium in Ranked and Competitive. We have modified the terrain in this area to support the change, which includes the removal of a minor POI previously in this location.

Pubs & Ranked

• Olympus

• Storm Point

• World’s Edge

Mixtape

• March 24th, 2026 - May 5th, 2026

  • TDM: Skull Town, Fragment, Estates

  • Control: Labs, Thunderdome, Lava Siphon

  • Gun Run: Monument, Skull Town, Thunderdome

WILDCARD

Wildcard

• March 31st, 2026 - May 5th, 2026

• Broken Moon Wildcard

Charged Up (March 31 - Apr 21, 2026)

• Broken Moon Wildcard

April Friends Day (Apr 1, 2026)

• We’re flipping this year’s celebration, zip in and make some new friends!

RANKED

Ranked Ladders (coming later this split)

Ranked Event 6

4/‌2/‌2026

4/‌5/‌2026

Ranked Event 7

4/‌9/‌2026

4/‌12/‌2026

Ranked Event 8

4/‌16/‌2026

4/‌19/‌2026

Ranked Event 9

4/‌23/‌2026

4/‌26/‌2026

Ranked Event 10

4/‌30/‌2026

5/‌3/‌2026

BUG FIXES

LEGENDS

• Bloodhound - Killing dummies in the firing range will now trigger all appropriate “on knock” behavior

• Catalyst - Removed a dead spot for Piercing Spikes where enemies could sometimes stand near the center of it without taking damage

• Catalyst - In the firing range with friendly fire on, Piercing Spikes will no longer activate because the owner got within range

• Octane - Fixed issue where Stim Surge would remain in alt hand while using Akimbo

• Fuse - Level 3 upgrade Reignition now works properly against dummies in the firing range

• Fixed Sparrow’s SWAT scout skin appearing bright red at long distances

• Fixed Newcastle wall destroying Mad Maggie's wrecking ball if deployed too closely

• Fixed parts of Catalyst as well as Conduit's Heart Machine skin having visible portions while being revived by Mirage

• Fixed an issue where decals on Crypto's Destiny Gundam Spec II skin would remain visible while he was cloaked

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Cleaned up the iron sight on the 30-30’s “Long-Distance Agony” skin to align with its others

• Can now use the double jump off Octane’s jump pad while healing

Alternator SMG

• Removed the extra hit markers (usually reserved for blast patterns on shotguns) when in Double Tap mode

Dev Note: These extra hit markers were making it a little more difficult to track enemies than intended so we’ve removed them to declutter the reticle space and improve combat visibility when landing shots.

Vault Keys

• Vault keys will no longer affect the colour of a deathbox

Dev Notes: Vault Keys can be an important piece of loot, but getting baited by a red box with the hopes of a Kraber to be dashed by a Vault Key can feel terrible. This change will retain their rarity but no longer let them drive a deathboxes rarity tier.

APEX BOTS

New In-Combat Healing System

• Apex Bots will attempt to find cover and heal when damaged during combat Use these moments to push!

New Target Acquisition and Awareness System

• Apex Bots will make more intelligent decisions around which target to focus on. They'll be harder to sneak up on.

Improved Strafing

• Apex Bots can move toward their target while strafing, letting them close distance in a more aggressive way.

New Weapon Switching System

• Apex Bots will switch weapons based on the distance from the target. Get too close, and if Apex Bots have a shotgun - watch out!

Improved Bot Traversal

• Apex Bots will utilize the various movement mechanics around the map like ziplines, ziprails, jump towers and more, to traverse and pursue.

AUDIO

• Fixed the audio mix setting not saving properly on consoles

• Lowered volume of Hardlight mesh breaking, as per community feedback

• Increased volume of footsteps from enemies outside your field of view

  • Volume further increases as the source of the footsteps gets further behind you (ie. loud when beside you, louder when over your shoulder, loudest when directly behind you)

ENGINE

• PC: Apex now uses the Windows Audio Session API (WASAPI) for microphone input.

  • This enables support in Windows 11 for the "Voice Clarity" audio enhancement, which you can enable to help remove unwanted background audio.

    • The option can be found in Window settings. Go to "System > Sound > Mic Properties" and look for "Audio Enhancements" in "Input settings".

  • Note: if you have multiple microphones connected to your PC & the game is using the wrong one you can either... 

    • Select a specific microphone in Apex's Audio settings in the Voice Chat settings, see "Voice Chat Input Device" option.

    • Or set your mic "as default for communications" in Windows settings and then use the System Default option in Apex's Voice Chat settings.

• Graphics:

  • Static objects now use bindless resources and batching to significantly reduce draw calls, improving baseline CPU performance for map rendering

  • Olympus uses improved algorithms to generate occlusion culling data structures, slightly improving CPU performance on the map.

  • PC: Uses ReBAR for faster uploads of data to the GPU, on systems that support it. This can reduce pop-in of models and textures and also use less time on the CPU, which can help performance stability.

• Visual improvements:

  • More accurate reflection intensity in dark areas

  • Improvements to the clarity of ambient occlusion and specular occlusion

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