Apex Legends' powerful new bow has already been nerfed
No need to quiver in fear
It's been just over a week since Apex Legends' ninth season started, and Respawn have already had to tone down one of its new additions, the Bocek Bow. Unfortunately, it just did a bit too much damage, so its numbers are being brought down, and its charge time increased. It's not a huge surprise. Most people I've played Apex with over the last week or so have all had a moment where they've stopped to say: "Huh, this feels a bit too strong".
Respawn updated the game last night with the new tweaks, and you can see the full list of patch notes in their tweet here. They've also added these changes to the regular Legacy patch notes.
The Bocek Bow was the newly introduced weapon for the Legacy update. As with most video game bows, drawing it then firing at its max power will do the most damage. Until last night, though, the Bocek would hit enemy players for 70 damage to the body, which was the same as the Sentinel sniper (a weapon that takes a lot more time to fire a shot with, so yeah, not great). The Bocek's body shot damage has now been reduced to 60, and it takes a little bit more time to charge it up, too. The amount of ammo (arrows) you can carry for it is slightly less as well.
Respawn have also personally victimised me with this recent update by nerfing the Spitfire LMG. Its individual bullet damage has been reduced from 19 to 18, and they've made its purple/gold magazine size smaller as well. The Spitfire was my go to weapon for the new Arenas mode. I can't believe I'm being bullied like this.
The devs have also fixed a few bugs left over from Legacy's launch. Players should no longer see low detail "derpy blob Legends" in the lobby, and Valkyrie's passive ability (that highlights enemy players when she's skydiving) should stop highlighting players that are already dead, or just spectating.
Everything in Apex Legends seems a lot more stable now after the new season's rocky launch, though I still get the occasional "there are no servers" message when trying to login. This has been an ongoing problem for the game since before Legacy, however, and it always lets me in eventually.
If you're heading in to try out the new stuff from the Legacy update, make sure to check out Ollie's detailed Apex Legends Bocek Bow guide, as well as his extensive list of tips and tricks for the new character Valkyrie, and some pointers on how to win the new 3v3 Arenas mode.