Deep into their first season of play, Apex Legends developers Respawn finally rolled out patch 1.1.1 at 10 PM on April 16th, 2019 to shake things up a bit in the arena. While many of these adjustments have been called for by players since the game’s release, the developer introduces some new features that will surely change the game’s meta and make for some very unique battle royal matches.

Most notably in the patch are the buffs for the big boys on the character selection screen: Gibraltar and Caustic. To address complaints about their oversized hit-boxes, Respawn gives them the “Fortified” perk, which reduces damage by 10%. In addition, Gibraltar’s shield gets a slight boost in health and Caustic’s gas deals a bit more damage. Devs have promised to revisit these two characters in future buffs if these changes don’t create more wins with each character.

Respawn also set their sights on adjusting the gun meta for the game, granting massive boosts to sniper rifles while nerfing the fan-favorite Spitfire and Wingman. All snipers, Longbow, Scout, and Triples Take, gain a reduced weapon sway and a greater body damage to compensate for the the difficulty of hitting smaller characters. The Longbow also gains the added bonus of an increased ammo capacity and a slightly increased fire rate. The Spitfire and Wingman will both see a slightly decreased clip size while the Spitfire also gets a slight damage reduction.

Respawn has also set its sights on making the Havok, particularly in its single fire mode, a more viable choice in the arena. The energy weapon will gain a massive boost with a larger clip and increased charge shot damage and range. Developers hope that this will create a better balance between ammo consumption and gun effectiveness.

Finally, Respawn took this Apex patch opportunity to roll out an XP bonus event as part of the patch celebration. During this event, which takes place from 4/16 to 4/18, a top 5 placement will grant players a bonus full Battle Pass level.

Love it or hate it, these adjustments will definitely mix things up in Apex Legends and keep things interesting. What do you think about these changes?

For more information on the Patch, check out the full developer update on Reddit