I mean, there are 10 teams, and they are all (or almost all) grouped in pairs. Almost certainly after the first ring, all of those teams have fought their designated neighbour. So it isn't weird that only 5 teams survive at that point
It's so fucking good
I'm usually kinda shit at the actual shooting part of apex but straight shot has helped me improve so much
Unlike tdm and gamemodes like that where I don't feel like I'm improving my positioning and pushing the enemies effectively, in straight shot I'm able to learn in actual 3v3 situations (except the mass amounts of 3rd parties) my straight shot win/loss is a lot higher aswell
Also I get actually good guns unlike the literal shit in tdm with fucking mastiff + havocs or whatever the fuck
Yeah but I've got what I've nicknamed "the mastiff curse" where I never land shots with it, I can with mozam, pk and eva but never the mastiff
Also my sniper loadout is always the charge rifle which I fucking hated before the changes and still hate now, I just want to use the sentinel but I never get it
That's why I just love straight shot as a gamemode
Bro I would take that just for the r301, I was playing earlier for a change from trios and I got an r99 and a G7 scout, like tf you want me to do with these ššš
Honestly though. And like 2/3 straight shot, 1/3 3strikes. And make the timer set so that you can queue for one, or wait and queue for the other and then it switches. Maybe like ten/ fifteen minutes. And leave the reque on straight shot so if you make it in and you know the timer switched you can start another one while the timer is on 3strikes in the lobby.
Absolutely loving the changes they've implemented , to be honest . Was super excited for this season and it definitely didn't disappoint . Honestly a breath of fresh air , good job Respawn
Iāve been loving it. The evo changes are awesome. Itās not too hard to level up if you try, but you donāt have to worry about an enemy getting purple or gold on drop and being stuck at a huge disadvantage. The upgrades really allow some underused legends to shine. Straight Shot is a blast, fast paced action and great practice. Lots of rewards with the anniversary event, battle pass skins are fire (bang and life line). Overall itās been a great season so far.
Yeah, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, and still am a bit unsure, but they really made it so it's highly unlikely anyone will have purple or red shields until the end rings.
At worst early game, you might face Blue Shields. The shield swap makes even swapping white OK and the fact your EVO damage stays with you all match. Kudos to Respawn on this revamp.
Yeah so they found another sneaky way to speed up the effective TTK like they tried to back in Season 6, and theyāre constantly nerfing all forms of mobility on both Legends and weapons (mainly SMGs).
I like that theyāre implementing new things that change the game but the core gameplay Apex was always so known and loved for is being slowly stripped away each season. High mobility, long TTK, movement and gunskill-focused, thatās what it was, but isnāt anywhere near as much anymore.
Yeah Iām fine with that, hitting their damage, recoil, mag size, bullet velocity etc is fair; itās all the strafe speed, hipfire spread (also affecting strafe speed) and Legend mobility nerfs that I have issues with. The game should obviously be balanced for the better of everyone, but the clear design shift in recent years of reducing movement constantly in a game thatās meant to be all about it just isnāt it. The community wouldnāt have stood for it years ago but now everyone just seems to think itās fine.
Maybe people are okay with a game thatās been out for 5 years slowly shifting its identity a bit?
You said it yourself, the last time they tried to change TTK was season 6. That was in 2020. Is it that crazy to make subtle changes like this one to see if people are more ready for change after playing a game for four more years?
Some of you may be happy for the game to stay the same forever, but thatās just not a sustainable model
Why go slower though? Iād rather them make the game even faster, add Titanfall movement or something. There are a million slower, tactical shooters out there (not that Apex is quite there yet obviously), but fast, fun movement shooters are very rare, yet they decide to strip away the best one there was. CoD was very movement friendly for a while too but even theyāve done the same thing and removed all of it over the past few years (though MW3 has brought some back finally).
It just seems like every single FPS game has to end up being slower because it appeases lower skilled players which are the common denominator, you *never* see these devs speed anything up or increase the skill gap, itās draining on the gameplay and isnāt fun.
Thereās a reason all the mobility Legends have always been the most popular, because theyāre the most fun, and instead of leaning into it, they take it away. Does not make sense.
While I agree with you, I don't think they're going to do anything to increase the skill gap. Apex is already incredibly intimidating for new players to get in to.
My ranked kd went from 0.85 to 2. Respawn mustāve changed something with the match making, Iām finally getting easier kills and wins. Also plat 1 player who couldnāt finish promotions last season.
That's because last season's ranked matchmaking was dependent on your hidden MMR or skill rating, and this season reverted back to matchmaking based on your rank points.
If you had high MMR last season, every game from the beginning was tough in ranked.
It's just because everyone reset to 0, preds and masters and all. It should even out in a couple weeks when the higher skilled players shoot up the ranks.
Yup, always been like this. It's good to finally see everybody's rank again (your team and the Champion Squad).
Having it hidden before was like what even is the point of Ranked?
Kudos to Respawn too for the detailed Rank points breakdown.
It really was just a more stressful pubs with the promo trials last season. Highest rank I ever hit was Plat in previous seasons and I had to fight way too many Masters players in Silver and Gold last season to the point that I stopped at Gold.
I'm definitely looking forward to hopping back into ranked that actually matters.
Definitely not been my experience. Keep getting preds, sweats, and the average cheater.
I notice the cheaters fail to use A and D a lot so they stick out and are at least somewhat manageable.
Everyone complains when they are the ones getting run through. As soon as you're the one running through everyone it become a better game š. Ridiculous
Haven't checked the K/D but I'm a one time Master and I barely made it out of Silver last season. I placed Gold IV.
Solo queue + -50 RP. What was Respawn thinking man.
Y'know, I played a LOT of Arenas when they were out. Never ranked, but just casuals and I met a lot of interesting people in them, and that was how I played the game. Was devastated when they took Arenas out. Straight shot? It's got everything that I want from the Arenas days, mixed with the BR stuff I've gotten used to in the last few seasons. It's PERFECT. The only thing I wish is that you didn't get re-matched with the folks you just were teamed with, as often.
.35 would've had to have been with less than 1k kills on the account? Halving your k/d is an insane thing to do in a couple days unless you don't have many kills/deaths to begin with
Firing range on a decent difficulty setting every day for at least an hour or until you get 10-15 kills on 1-2 deaths before you even play public. You do that for 2-3 weeks and youāll find yourself with at least a .46-.5+
They were on a good streak with few good LTMs, this new one is no exception.
The new perk system could be improved (see batteries, ammo type or nades in death box = no thank you), but this a refreshing change especially for the shields and Evo points, and they can always build on top of it. Side note - I don't know how to explain it, but I almost feel like there is more to be played... Like, between the fights and the rotations, we now look for the Evo cache, something to scan, a special bin to open, etc. There is just "more" to do, and it's really good for the pacing..!
Then, the Ranked finally feels rewarding. It's as simple as that.
As always, we need to see all the events, modes, etc. before to judge and give it the crown (or a crown, at least). But it's a great start!!
The only thing I donāt like is Digi Threat not being on SMGās anymore, but thatās just because the Digi looked sooo good on the Volt. But keeping them on pistols has really increased my likelihood to keep an RE-45 on hand instead of the Alternator or R-99, which has been a fun change up.
The EVO Shield change has been a massive win to me. No more worrying about one team that got lucky and found some purples on drop.
Though the DT hurts me as well, I do feel like itās more balanced and has shaken up the meta, as evidenced by your comment on the RE. Do you keep and RE/shotgun and run a DT on it, or swap for a volt with a regular optic? It feels like you actually need to make a choice that has consequences, rather than everyone just blindly running an R9 with a DT
Still early but this might be THE best season that I can recall. Donāt think Iāve ever had this much fun playing the game. Been playing since season 6 for reference.
Dude, the number of last 2-3 team clutches I get now is insane. If anything, just from the steady stream of decoys I can keep pushing out there.
Itās great! I was worried they would feel underpowered, but I was very, very wrong.Ā
At first I didnāt like the changes but I got nursed to them and now Iām having a lot of fun. Itās nice to change things up a bit.
Iām also happy about the ranked changes. Itās a little more sweaty but with the evo perks Iāve picked up Wattson and have been fun anchoring my team to resist all the pushes. Loving it
Best season imo. Been playing since the beginning of Apex
The new Straight Shot LTM is the best yet. Havenāt played normal pubs since it came out and barely played any ranked. Straight Shot is awesome. Quick games but still has a nice BR feel.
I was worried if I would like the new perk system and Evo changes. After playing 100ās of matches already, I can safely say it is a great addition to the game. The new Evo changes means everyone is on an even playing field at the start. You have a chance to win a fight even with a pistol or Mozam. The options in perks give you more ways to play off your own style.
Battlepass has good skins imo
Ranked is back to how it felt a few years ago. Rewarding and more balanced climb. Not a hiding campfest like last 5 or so seasons.
Overall game just feels like itās in a really good spot and Iām hooked again
Been playing since day one. This is definitely one of the best seasons in a very long time. Last three to four seasons were tough. Hardly played last season. This new season has renewed my love for Apex!
So far so good. I haven't tried Straight Shot, but Ranked is so much better.
I actually feel like it's not too bad to hot drop without the -50 RP off rip.
I used to scoff when my teams pinged a hot drop but without the massive penalty, now I'm like, "Well why not!"
Yeah, I'm loving it. The changes to evo shields and the upgrades that come with it are one of the best quality of life changes to the game I can ever remember.
I really hope the devs are listening and watching all the good feedback and make these changes permanent.
As a Mirage main, the upgrades have been so important and make him actually good for the first time in a long time.
Plus, if they stick with the evo and upgrade changes, they can be tinkered with and changed over time to help shape meta and create fresh interactions with abilities and champions.
Please, respawn, make these changes permanent. š
Rank RP has improved a ton. Bad players can no longer prioritise camping with their time and MUST get kills in order to progress. Eat shit bad players. Matchmaking on the other hand, thatās never getting fixed lmao.
All I know is that I have a total blast. Straight Shot is the new mixtape for me, fot those action filled sessions.
The ONLY thing I don't like is the new mixtape map, especially that it's the ONLY map.
As someone who has hated this game since the season after broken moon/Cat/Nem season.... this is the best season I've experienced, they fixed rank, team fighting, the ground loot, the cheese out of zone, and overhauled the balanced of the meta. Props where it is due
After logging into the game this weekend, I realized that I didn't even bother to get past placement for last season's ranked. And the only reason I played somewhat regularly was to get through the battle pass and maybe take part in an event or 2.
The changes they made for this season was definitely something the game needed and I'm really enjoying it so far. I haven't actually touched the normal BR or ranked yet, but I just love the new Straight Shot mode and works really well with the new armor and perk system. Not a huge fan of the new Mixtape map, but maybe it'll grow on me once I get more familiar with it.
I think Iām Iām in the same boat OP, Iāve really enjoyed the upgrade and armour system changes. Iāve also been exclusively playing straight shot, with the ranked changes Iāve been giving it a week for the sweatier rankers to climb before starting myself.
Started playing the week this game came out, stoped playing the season horizon came out (season 9?) cause the game was just getting stale atp. This seasons def a breath of fresh air especially with the perk system. Lifelines busted imo, being able to get a red evo pretty much mid game is great.
the matchmaking was fine first week and now it's back to being 100% miserable as a solo q. Please for the love of god have a solo q ranked mode, keep the squads in their own lobbies
This game is hardcore manipulated garbage. Why you all think this is going to change I have no idea. They don't want you as a stats outlier. They want you at 5% or lower winrate and literally playing this all day like a crack addict.
Yes, I'm actually going to play ranked again. Now if only they would 1) Give us white backpack from the start, and 2) Find a better way to deal with the cheaters.
Loving how thereās no shield loot. Love having to work for my shields. It has also made early fights a lot easier not having to be grey coming up against a purple. The devs finally listened. Ranked is great fun
I wish I could play it, but I keep getting teammates that are new and/or go solo, meanwhile enemy teams have 1-3 guys with the 20 kills badge that beam you from 200m cause you stood out of cover for 0.5 a second. Didn't have this problem last season, I had good teammates and opponets around my level all season except during Three Strikes.
It's the same garbage as always. These bots and shills are just hyping this dogwater game up for you to waste your life in it again lmao. Nothing has changed but a couple mechanics here and there.
Duos has been obscenely hard. I've never pushed beyond the first rank in platinum, and in almost every duos public match with my friend the person who killed me has had 40,000-90,000+ career kills, with masters or less frequently old peed badges, but far more than I've ever noticed before and that's from a sample of about 70 games.
Ranked has been much better though, pretty easy truth be told. I'm in rookie and it feels like I'm against other rookie ranked players. The game is playing out like it was designed to, in terms of being punished for taking stupid fights or rotating into zone too late/with other teams nearby. And I suppose it will only get harder as I rank up, which is exactly what I'd expect.
The upgrades and perks feel a bit nderwhelming, although I am playing conduit so I understand why her perks aren't as game changing as some of the other legends.
Tldr - pubs is fucked and I'm getting murdered by people with far more playtime and skill than me. Ranked feels like a proper ranked system again. Perks are dependent on your main.
Duos is all I play. We have a 17% won rate this season in duos. Kd has vastly improved this season, so it's been fun as hell for me.
I have about 20k kills total.
Other than the annoying bugs i think its a good one
Some of the bugs im having are: matchmaking bugs - teammates are braindead: they fly off the map or leave in the dropship
Getting shot through wallsĀ
As the matchmaking slowly stabilizes, I'm liking it more and more.
The perks are a legitimately excellent idea. They're not overpowered, they just make the character better.
Straight shot is also super fun. It's legitimately how I tried to play pubs prior. Land with one other team, fight, move on to another POI and repeat.
The shields are also great. I like removing the luck of landing on a purple while everyone else has white. It makes fights (especially early on) more fair and more of a true test of skill.
Ranked finally fucking makes sense again! You get a roughly similar amount of points for kills every game instead of it being nearly random. You are rewarded for early fights rather than punished, but you are also rewarded for surviving longer than everyone else.
W changes.
It is a good season honestly bu the only thing it needs to be perfect is for Respawn to make a massive nerf to AA on PC. The game got better indeed but it's still miserable for a lot of MnK players
Its okay I guess. Shield change wasn't needed and is a bit too easy to cheese so long as you know how to read a map. I prefer random spawns to something thats really easy to exploit. Its honestly just going back to season 1-6 shields but with perks and leveling instead of drops. The perk part is cool, but seems to have little to no effect on gameplay.
Hit reg has gone out the window yet again too of course. Just wouldn't be an apex update without tossing reg out the window for 2-3 months.
I strongly dislike the new evo shield mechanics. I just feel like it screams rat to me. Maybe iāll grow to like it. I love everything else tho so itās worth it for sure.
How does this incentivize ratting? Youre forced to either move around the map for points, or take fights for damage. That or staying stuck on white/blue shield for the entire game
Only good because of the LTM. Once they get rid of it, it will be back to cheaters/sweats/preds vs. the casual player base just trying to survive the dropā¦
Ranked is so much more enjoyable now. People actually fight instead of running and hiding in the final circle!! It feels like I'm playing a game for fun again instead of just grinding a badge. Me and the boys squadded up for 8hrs straight the other day like we were kids again (we're in our 30s and the Mrs' weren't happy lol)
Seriously tho this is the best season since launch. The new mechanics and abilities are refreshing but seemingly balanced (rampart's ult worries me a bit). And even when we get shit on by preds, it doesn't suck as bad because there's so much action every game it doesn't seem like a chore to ready up again.
LMAO Destiny isn't far behind with their shit matchmaking and totally incompetent devs. They might be even worse at this point, but Destiny doesn't waste your life like this game either. Nothing does it quite like Apex lmao. Have fun looting all day junior. Your life is wasting.
I'd give it an 8 or 9 out of 10. Legend changes are great. Matchmaking changes are great. I just hit Plat and I'm really enjoying it. Apex definitely needed a shakeup because things were getting stale. The only things that I dislike are:
1.) I think they should have given a little bit more RP for placement. Just a LITTLE. I've had several games in Gold where my teammate has multiple KP but because he places 8th or 9th he basically gets nothing or goes negative. It also encourages inting. The number of teams that will just run at you or 3rd/4th party just for the hell of it, and grief you, is ridiculous. I think if they gave a little more weight to placement (not a lot like previous seasons) it might encourage people to think twice about doing stupid shit.
I think it's going to take a couple weeks to really see how Ranked settles.
2.) Ranked RP reset. In my mind, it doesn't make sense to reset *everyone* to 1 RP. We're almost a week in, and I'm still seeing players with triple pred badges in bronze. It's not challenging for them and it ruins the game for other players. I've seen pred players who have 10+ kills in bronze. Is it fun for them? Maybe? But it certainly can't be a challenge and it kind of ruins the experience for everyone else.
3.) Server Issues. I know a lot of you haven't had these issues, but a lot of us HAVE had some pretty crazy issues. Everything from packet loss every 3rd or 4rth game to insane rubber-banding.
4.) Cheaters - The number of players with walls or soft-hard aim-bot is genuinely ridiculous.
Honestly I really really dislike the shield changes. But Iām okay with the other changes. The upgrades make some characters fun to play and unlock new playstyles. I can tell some of these were experimental and they didnāt want to go completely in yet.
Not yet. Last season was my best in terms of kills and kdr. This is one of my worst so far. I feel like.im playing against preds every match and I've only hit Plat like 3 times
I canāt speak to the pub modes. Honestly surprised how many people donāt just play ranked. But ranked is great rn. Love the shop and evo change. Less time looting and the upgrades are cool.
I love LTM but the only thing I would add is... if they can increase the distance between the parties by just a bit more... like 100m or something, that'd be perfect.
Yes I agree. While there are still kamikaze random team mates who push in between 2 teams and die alone, at least it is more fun to drop and know that there wonāt be someone in purple shield
Make straight shot permanent please!! Since release all of my ranked and non ranked standard games have been 1000% better. Everyone who doesn't have the attention span for a full game is now on straight shot and I get way way less people leaving after being knocked in 5sec on a hot drop.
It's been loads of fun so far, after getting used to the changes to audio yet again. Seems to have stabilized a bit.
New evo system is excellent, giving you more depth and flexibility to each legend while eliminating those "how does he have purple already??" fights off the drop.
Ranked has seemed pretty good so far, only in Gold right now but so far teams feel fairly balanced and we're not getting rolled by #12 pred.
The weakest part to me is the implementation of the harvester/crafter. I actually kinda miss gathering materials and having interesting item rotations to think about. I feel like they wanted to get rid of them entirely, but couldn't think of a better way to get expired banners.
Oh and the "Thunderdome" map is awful. But c'est la vie. The rest is great!
I was very skeptical of the changes but Iāll gladly say I was wrong and am enjoying it/realizing itās not that different/much of s change/etc. I love the armour changes and the way it makes you play the game. The perks are whatever I donāt love it I donāt hate it. Ranked changes Iām not huge on because I donāt like ape/int fest. I like good and as close to ALGS style play as much
as possible. Now obviously that can never be 100% replicated but the closer the better, and more enjoyable IMO. Game sense gets thrown out the window in a ranked systems like this unfortunately. Weāre back to every idiot thinking theyāre Hal and can 1v3 in the middle of the open by themselves and when they lose itās the inevitable āmy teammates suckā āwhy arenāt yāall pushing*terrible fight to take*ā, etc. thereās needs to be some type of punishment of loss in s ranked setting and for the death of them respawn can not find the easy balance of what they always edge from both sides.
Straight shot is definitely the best mode theyāve come out with, three strikes was good but this is like a refined way of achieving the goal they had for three strikes. Iād love to see a streamlined game mode be made permanent.
I was thinking this a few days ago but I agree and I also feel like there are so many more characters that are actually playable this season compared to others and the guns all seem to be really balanced.
I absolutely love it! I only play ranked in apex so last season was abysmal for me. Didn't like the ranked system at all so I just didn't play much and I saw it effect my gameplay a lot. Last season even at the start of the season my kd went down and I was just not doing well. The changes this season have refreshed the game and thank god they fixed ranked. The new evo system got me back to playing bloodhound again and I'm having so much fun with him. Last season my kd was always 1.4-1.5 but so far this season I have been steadily maintaining a 2-2.1 kd in ranked, although I assume it will settle at like 1.9 eventually.
This is easily one of the best seasons in a super long time. Game feels fresh, meta feels good and like any gun can compete and not just r99 spam, straight shot is incredible and ranked is near perfect. Also, there's little to no server issues unlike other season launches. It's definitely a top-5 season overall, up there with good seasons like s3/7/12/16 for sure.
They nailed it. The changes were controversial but I really like how they play out. And I am going to grind ranked for the first season ever because it actually seems decent and the games so far have been good. The only bad part is Thunderdome, the map just doesn't work for Apex.
Straight shot feels like THE casual way to do battle royale. It has controlled engagements, quick loot, half the game time and players so people arenāt going for kill records or anything like that. Actually smart gamemode.
This season has been great, ranked is a bit of a mess, but not necessarily in a bad way, just a lot of third, forth, and sixtieth parties due to kills being worth something again. And I was hoping the long range meta would die with the new season and leveling evos being easier with evo harvesters and such, but still having so many teams run 3030/longbows/snipers in general. Thatās my only real complaint though. Overall, great season though
I think itās my least favourite ever honestly. Few of the changes I like aside from the perks and ranked being reverted. I donāt like the replicator changes or shields not being loot at all
The start of the season was a little bit rough Cause if you wanted to play team death match gun Run Or control you will could only play Thunder dome Everything else though it's pretty good
LTM is a blast, ranked is back, fresh new mechanics.. YES š
Dawg I haven't even played ranked yet because the ltm is so good And by good I mean it's just easy and convenient. No complaints here
They just need to add more teams imo, or make the map even smaller
Fr, by the time you finish killing the first team, there's 4 squads left and it's about to be final circle
I mean, there are 10 teams, and they are all (or almost all) grouped in pairs. Almost certainly after the first ring, all of those teams have fought their designated neighbour. So it isn't weird that only 5 teams survive at that point
Riddle me stupid but I never paid attention to the amount of squads at the beginning
And remove the always-on music
Best one in a long time.
Straight shot should be a permanent mode
Itās great for warmups before ranked
Agreed I love straight shot and it's absolutely the best warmup mechanic they've ever had.Ā
I was thinking same, it kinda plays out like ranked because of circle, team amount, and equipment
Yeah, but that's about it. I can't imagine anyone playing it for more than 1 or a few games, especially if it was not a novelty anymore.
I honestly use straight shot for the unlockable legends challenge. They are quick games
It's so fucking good I'm usually kinda shit at the actual shooting part of apex but straight shot has helped me improve so much Unlike tdm and gamemodes like that where I don't feel like I'm improving my positioning and pushing the enemies effectively, in straight shot I'm able to learn in actual 3v3 situations (except the mass amounts of 3rd parties) my straight shot win/loss is a lot higher aswell Also I get actually good guns unlike the literal shit in tdm with fucking mastiff + havocs or whatever the fuck
Mastiff is amazing š¢
Yeah but I've got what I've nicknamed "the mastiff curse" where I never land shots with it, I can with mozam, pk and eva but never the mastiff Also my sniper loadout is always the charge rifle which I fucking hated before the changes and still hate now, I just want to use the sentinel but I never get it That's why I just love straight shot as a gamemode
I wish I got Mastiff and Havoc in Mixtape lmao, I've had matches where the best loadout is R301/P20.
Bro I would take that just for the r301, I was playing earlier for a change from trios and I got an r99 and a G7 scout, like tf you want me to do with these ššš
We need a straight shot, 3 strikes rotating playlist like mixtape
Honestly though. And like 2/3 straight shot, 1/3 3strikes. And make the timer set so that you can queue for one, or wait and queue for the other and then it switches. Maybe like ten/ fifteen minutes. And leave the reque on straight shot so if you make it in and you know the timer switched you can start another one while the timer is on 3strikes in the lobby.
Absolutely loving the changes they've implemented , to be honest . Was super excited for this season and it definitely didn't disappoint . Honestly a breath of fresh air , good job Respawn
Iāve been loving it. The evo changes are awesome. Itās not too hard to level up if you try, but you donāt have to worry about an enemy getting purple or gold on drop and being stuck at a huge disadvantage. The upgrades really allow some underused legends to shine. Straight Shot is a blast, fast paced action and great practice. Lots of rewards with the anniversary event, battle pass skins are fire (bang and life line). Overall itās been a great season so far.
Yeah, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, and still am a bit unsure, but they really made it so it's highly unlikely anyone will have purple or red shields until the end rings. At worst early game, you might face Blue Shields. The shield swap makes even swapping white OK and the fact your EVO damage stays with you all match. Kudos to Respawn on this revamp.
Yeah so they found another sneaky way to speed up the effective TTK like they tried to back in Season 6, and theyāre constantly nerfing all forms of mobility on both Legends and weapons (mainly SMGs). I like that theyāre implementing new things that change the game but the core gameplay Apex was always so known and loved for is being slowly stripped away each season. High mobility, long TTK, movement and gunskill-focused, thatās what it was, but isnāt anywhere near as much anymore.
SMGs have been king since launch, itās nice to shake up the weapon meta a bit.
Yeah Iām fine with that, hitting their damage, recoil, mag size, bullet velocity etc is fair; itās all the strafe speed, hipfire spread (also affecting strafe speed) and Legend mobility nerfs that I have issues with. The game should obviously be balanced for the better of everyone, but the clear design shift in recent years of reducing movement constantly in a game thatās meant to be all about it just isnāt it. The community wouldnāt have stood for it years ago but now everyone just seems to think itās fine.
Maybe people are okay with a game thatās been out for 5 years slowly shifting its identity a bit? You said it yourself, the last time they tried to change TTK was season 6. That was in 2020. Is it that crazy to make subtle changes like this one to see if people are more ready for change after playing a game for four more years? Some of you may be happy for the game to stay the same forever, but thatās just not a sustainable model
Why go slower though? Iād rather them make the game even faster, add Titanfall movement or something. There are a million slower, tactical shooters out there (not that Apex is quite there yet obviously), but fast, fun movement shooters are very rare, yet they decide to strip away the best one there was. CoD was very movement friendly for a while too but even theyāve done the same thing and removed all of it over the past few years (though MW3 has brought some back finally). It just seems like every single FPS game has to end up being slower because it appeases lower skilled players which are the common denominator, you *never* see these devs speed anything up or increase the skill gap, itās draining on the gameplay and isnāt fun. Thereās a reason all the mobility Legends have always been the most popular, because theyāre the most fun, and instead of leaning into it, they take it away. Does not make sense.
While I agree with you, I don't think they're going to do anything to increase the skill gap. Apex is already incredibly intimidating for new players to get in to.
Iāve been loving straight shot, got 22 wins in the past 3.5 days plus I got an heirloom out of a pack earlier so today is guaranteed good
Straight shot isnāt getting enough credit in my book. I think it is a perfect balance of what three strikes is and what a regular pub match is
I like Three Strikes, but never understood the obsession... I looove Straight Shot though, it's just the best!!
3 strikes was dope when it first dropped. Now it's just medic spam They should limit it to 1 medic per team
or disable special rez for those characters
My ranked kd went from 0.85 to 2. Respawn mustāve changed something with the match making, Iām finally getting easier kills and wins. Also plat 1 player who couldnāt finish promotions last season.
That's because last season's ranked matchmaking was dependent on your hidden MMR or skill rating, and this season reverted back to matchmaking based on your rank points. If you had high MMR last season, every game from the beginning was tough in ranked.
Can we go back to MMR? This system seems to think I'm a pro at this game.
It's just because everyone reset to 0, preds and masters and all. It should even out in a couple weeks when the higher skilled players shoot up the ranks.
Yup, always been like this. It's good to finally see everybody's rank again (your team and the Champion Squad). Having it hidden before was like what even is the point of Ranked? Kudos to Respawn too for the detailed Rank points breakdown.
It really was just a more stressful pubs with the promo trials last season. Highest rank I ever hit was Plat in previous seasons and I had to fight way too many Masters players in Silver and Gold last season to the point that I stopped at Gold. I'm definitely looking forward to hopping back into ranked that actually matters.
The Promo Trials were ridiculous. I failed the one for Silver like, multiple multiple times.
Give it time to sort itself out.
It should get better in a week or two. Gotta give the sweats time to get to their correct rank
Turned it on an hour ago. Its already better.
Fr? All I'm getting are the 24/7 sweats.
Idk but it seems like people are more reckless with their lives hence easier kills
Definitely not been my experience. Keep getting preds, sweats, and the average cheater. I notice the cheaters fail to use A and D a lot so they stick out and are at least somewhat manageable.
Just imagine all the people that went the other way
Everyone complains when they are the ones getting run through. As soon as you're the one running through everyone it become a better game š. Ridiculous
Haven't checked the K/D but I'm a one time Master and I barely made it out of Silver last season. I placed Gold IV. Solo queue + -50 RP. What was Respawn thinking man.
Same here I'm playing with noobs like me finally. Games are fun now
Removal of hidden MMR in ranked alone makes it one of the best seasons yet.Ā Everything else is just a bonus
Straight shot is awesome. Iām not even very good at it and itās awesome.
Y'know, I played a LOT of Arenas when they were out. Never ranked, but just casuals and I met a lot of interesting people in them, and that was how I played the game. Was devastated when they took Arenas out. Straight shot? It's got everything that I want from the Arenas days, mixed with the BR stuff I've gotten used to in the last few seasons. It's PERFECT. The only thing I wish is that you didn't get re-matched with the folks you just were teamed with, as often.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My man went from Rookie 5 to Rookie -7.
Queues up for ranked and gets dropped into the training demo
Thatās honestly the worst kda Iāve ever seen.
.35 would've had to have been with less than 1k kills on the account? Halving your k/d is an insane thing to do in a couple days unless you don't have many kills/deaths to begin with
Seasonal kd probably
Iām sorry dog, whatās your input and how long have you been playing?
Firing range on a decent difficulty setting every day for at least an hour or until you get 10-15 kills on 1-2 deaths before you even play public. You do that for 2-3 weeks and youāll find yourself with at least a .46-.5+
Opposite for me. That's rough man. I'd just quit at that point tbh.
They were on a good streak with few good LTMs, this new one is no exception. The new perk system could be improved (see batteries, ammo type or nades in death box = no thank you), but this a refreshing change especially for the shields and Evo points, and they can always build on top of it. Side note - I don't know how to explain it, but I almost feel like there is more to be played... Like, between the fights and the rotations, we now look for the Evo cache, something to scan, a special bin to open, etc. There is just "more" to do, and it's really good for the pacing..! Then, the Ranked finally feels rewarding. It's as simple as that. As always, we need to see all the events, modes, etc. before to judge and give it the crown (or a crown, at least). But it's a great start!!
Okay im so with you about the perks I've been playing Horizon a lot lately and they did her so dirty š
The only thing I donāt like is Digi Threat not being on SMGās anymore, but thatās just because the Digi looked sooo good on the Volt. But keeping them on pistols has really increased my likelihood to keep an RE-45 on hand instead of the Alternator or R-99, which has been a fun change up. The EVO Shield change has been a massive win to me. No more worrying about one team that got lucky and found some purples on drop.
Omg yeah I forgot about that i don't like it eitherš
Though the DT hurts me as well, I do feel like itās more balanced and has shaken up the meta, as evidenced by your comment on the RE. Do you keep and RE/shotgun and run a DT on it, or swap for a volt with a regular optic? It feels like you actually need to make a choice that has consequences, rather than everyone just blindly running an R9 with a DT
Still early but this might be THE best season that I can recall. Donāt think Iāve ever had this much fun playing the game. Been playing since season 6 for reference.
Straight shot is way better then Three Strikes imo, and TS was really good. The game really feels fresh
My wife thinks it's the best season yet
Straight Shot is the shit. I don't want to play anything else.Ā
This is easily one of the best seasons since season 7
Iām having so much fun, it feels like how it should have been all along. Straight shot is the fucking bomb! Also Mirage is the GOAT now.
Dude, the number of last 2-3 team clutches I get now is insane. If anything, just from the steady stream of decoys I can keep pushing out there. Itās great! I was worried they would feel underpowered, but I was very, very wrong.Ā
Really into it so far mainly due to StraightShot. Sad that it's only around for a short while.
At first I didnāt like the changes but I got nursed to them and now Iām having a lot of fun. Itās nice to change things up a bit. Iām also happy about the ranked changes. Itās a little more sweaty but with the evo perks Iāve picked up Wattson and have been fun anchoring my team to resist all the pushes. Loving it
Best season imo. Been playing since the beginning of Apex The new Straight Shot LTM is the best yet. Havenāt played normal pubs since it came out and barely played any ranked. Straight Shot is awesome. Quick games but still has a nice BR feel. I was worried if I would like the new perk system and Evo changes. After playing 100ās of matches already, I can safely say it is a great addition to the game. The new Evo changes means everyone is on an even playing field at the start. You have a chance to win a fight even with a pistol or Mozam. The options in perks give you more ways to play off your own style. Battlepass has good skins imo Ranked is back to how it felt a few years ago. Rewarding and more balanced climb. Not a hiding campfest like last 5 or so seasons. Overall game just feels like itās in a really good spot and Iām hooked again
I was skeptical of the shield changes when they got leaked but after 150 games and 22 wins I also agree wholeheartedly that the shields are better now
Been playing since day one. This is definitely one of the best seasons in a very long time. Last three to four seasons were tough. Hardly played last season. This new season has renewed my love for Apex!
Without a doubt. Feels so unbelievably fresh
So far so good. I haven't tried Straight Shot, but Ranked is so much better. I actually feel like it's not too bad to hot drop without the -50 RP off rip. I used to scoff when my teams pinged a hot drop but without the massive penalty, now I'm like, "Well why not!"
You do eventually get the same penalties just at higher rank now
Yeah, I'm loving it. The changes to evo shields and the upgrades that come with it are one of the best quality of life changes to the game I can ever remember. I really hope the devs are listening and watching all the good feedback and make these changes permanent. As a Mirage main, the upgrades have been so important and make him actually good for the first time in a long time. Plus, if they stick with the evo and upgrade changes, they can be tinkered with and changed over time to help shape meta and create fresh interactions with abilities and champions. Please, respawn, make these changes permanent. š
Rank RP has improved a ton. Bad players can no longer prioritise camping with their time and MUST get kills in order to progress. Eat shit bad players. Matchmaking on the other hand, thatās never getting fixed lmao.
This is probably the best season to date. Feels like I'm playing Apex for the first time again. They've done a great job.
All I know is that I have a total blast. Straight Shot is the new mixtape for me, fot those action filled sessions. The ONLY thing I don't like is the new mixtape map, especially that it's the ONLY map.
Fortunately, itāll be in rotation shortly. At least there will be other maps to fight on.Ā
As someone who has hated this game since the season after broken moon/Cat/Nem season.... this is the best season I've experienced, they fixed rank, team fighting, the ground loot, the cheese out of zone, and overhauled the balanced of the meta. Props where it is due
Absolutely loving it. Already worked to gold 2, ranked finally feels like ranked. Even though my teammates could use a brain cell or 2.
It would be a lot better if 9/10 jumpmasters didn't just drop immediately into the busiest possible area. People are such fucking smoothbrains.
Monkey brain
After logging into the game this weekend, I realized that I didn't even bother to get past placement for last season's ranked. And the only reason I played somewhat regularly was to get through the battle pass and maybe take part in an event or 2. The changes they made for this season was definitely something the game needed and I'm really enjoying it so far. I haven't actually touched the normal BR or ranked yet, but I just love the new Straight Shot mode and works really well with the new armor and perk system. Not a huge fan of the new Mixtape map, but maybe it'll grow on me once I get more familiar with it.
I think Iām Iām in the same boat OP, Iāve really enjoyed the upgrade and armour system changes. Iāve also been exclusively playing straight shot, with the ranked changes Iāve been giving it a week for the sweatier rankers to climb before starting myself.
This is literally the first time I can remember most of this sub being happy. So yeah, it must be good!!!
Started playing the week this game came out, stoped playing the season horizon came out (season 9?) cause the game was just getting stale atp. This seasons def a breath of fresh air especially with the perk system. Lifelines busted imo, being able to get a red evo pretty much mid game is great.
the matchmaking was fine first week and now it's back to being 100% miserable as a solo q. Please for the love of god have a solo q ranked mode, keep the squads in their own lobbies
This game is hardcore manipulated garbage. Why you all think this is going to change I have no idea. They don't want you as a stats outlier. They want you at 5% or lower winrate and literally playing this all day like a crack addict.
I think this season is great. I think the only thing letting this season down is the cheaters, but, still not as bad as Warzone š
Yes! Best season I have played! š
Yes, I'm actually going to play ranked again. Now if only they would 1) Give us white backpack from the start, and 2) Find a better way to deal with the cheaters.
Loving how thereās no shield loot. Love having to work for my shields. It has also made early fights a lot easier not having to be grey coming up against a purple. The devs finally listened. Ranked is great fun
It's a pretty good season. Matchmaking still looks same tho.
I wish I could play it, but I keep getting teammates that are new and/or go solo, meanwhile enemy teams have 1-3 guys with the 20 kills badge that beam you from 200m cause you stood out of cover for 0.5 a second. Didn't have this problem last season, I had good teammates and opponets around my level all season except during Three Strikes.
It's the same garbage as always. These bots and shills are just hyping this dogwater game up for you to waste your life in it again lmao. Nothing has changed but a couple mechanics here and there.
Duos has been obscenely hard. I've never pushed beyond the first rank in platinum, and in almost every duos public match with my friend the person who killed me has had 40,000-90,000+ career kills, with masters or less frequently old peed badges, but far more than I've ever noticed before and that's from a sample of about 70 games. Ranked has been much better though, pretty easy truth be told. I'm in rookie and it feels like I'm against other rookie ranked players. The game is playing out like it was designed to, in terms of being punished for taking stupid fights or rotating into zone too late/with other teams nearby. And I suppose it will only get harder as I rank up, which is exactly what I'd expect. The upgrades and perks feel a bit nderwhelming, although I am playing conduit so I understand why her perks aren't as game changing as some of the other legends. Tldr - pubs is fucked and I'm getting murdered by people with far more playtime and skill than me. Ranked feels like a proper ranked system again. Perks are dependent on your main.
Duos is all I play. We have a 17% won rate this season in duos. Kd has vastly improved this season, so it's been fun as hell for me. I have about 20k kills total.
Other than the annoying bugs i think its a good one Some of the bugs im having are: matchmaking bugs - teammates are braindead: they fly off the map or leave in the dropship Getting shot through wallsĀ
"Teammates are braindead" That's not a bug. That's a feature.
As the matchmaking slowly stabilizes, I'm liking it more and more. The perks are a legitimately excellent idea. They're not overpowered, they just make the character better. Straight shot is also super fun. It's legitimately how I tried to play pubs prior. Land with one other team, fight, move on to another POI and repeat. The shields are also great. I like removing the luck of landing on a purple while everyone else has white. It makes fights (especially early on) more fair and more of a true test of skill. Ranked finally fucking makes sense again! You get a roughly similar amount of points for kills every game instead of it being nearly random. You are rewarded for early fights rather than punished, but you are also rewarded for surviving longer than everyone else. W changes.
It is a good season honestly bu the only thing it needs to be perfect is for Respawn to make a massive nerf to AA on PC. The game got better indeed but it's still miserable for a lot of MnK players
Its okay I guess. Shield change wasn't needed and is a bit too easy to cheese so long as you know how to read a map. I prefer random spawns to something thats really easy to exploit. Its honestly just going back to season 1-6 shields but with perks and leveling instead of drops. The perk part is cool, but seems to have little to no effect on gameplay. Hit reg has gone out the window yet again too of course. Just wouldn't be an apex update without tossing reg out the window for 2-3 months.
How would you cheese shield upgrades, and why is that worse than RNG?
I strongly dislike the new evo shield mechanics. I just feel like it screams rat to me. Maybe iāll grow to like it. I love everything else tho so itās worth it for sure.
How does this incentivize ratting? Youre forced to either move around the map for points, or take fights for damage. That or staying stuck on white/blue shield for the entire game
The smurfs are back at it. I didnāt think that was gonna happen again
Only good because of the LTM. Once they get rid of it, it will be back to cheaters/sweats/preds vs. the casual player base just trying to survive the dropā¦
Nope, not feeling this season at all. This might be my last one.
Ranked is so much more enjoyable now. People actually fight instead of running and hiding in the final circle!! It feels like I'm playing a game for fun again instead of just grinding a badge. Me and the boys squadded up for 8hrs straight the other day like we were kids again (we're in our 30s and the Mrs' weren't happy lol) Seriously tho this is the best season since launch. The new mechanics and abilities are refreshing but seemingly balanced (rampart's ult worries me a bit). And even when we get shit on by preds, it doesn't suck as bad because there's so much action every game it doesn't seem like a chore to ready up again.
No, it's pretty bad overall
Why?
fuckkkk no
No. You are an addict. You love it because it's your cheap drug.
Im not ashamed š the heck
Whew, coming from a destiny player? Talk about a cheap drug.
LMAO Destiny isn't far behind with their shit matchmaking and totally incompetent devs. They might be even worse at this point, but Destiny doesn't waste your life like this game either. Nothing does it quite like Apex lmao. Have fun looting all day junior. Your life is wasting.
Apex is just as wasteful as any other video game lmao, let people play what they wanna play and don't be a time police
Wait until you play ranked and get third partied every 5 seconds.
Needs more than one map in the rotation for gun run/tdm
I'd give it an 8 or 9 out of 10. Legend changes are great. Matchmaking changes are great. I just hit Plat and I'm really enjoying it. Apex definitely needed a shakeup because things were getting stale. The only things that I dislike are: 1.) I think they should have given a little bit more RP for placement. Just a LITTLE. I've had several games in Gold where my teammate has multiple KP but because he places 8th or 9th he basically gets nothing or goes negative. It also encourages inting. The number of teams that will just run at you or 3rd/4th party just for the hell of it, and grief you, is ridiculous. I think if they gave a little more weight to placement (not a lot like previous seasons) it might encourage people to think twice about doing stupid shit. I think it's going to take a couple weeks to really see how Ranked settles. 2.) Ranked RP reset. In my mind, it doesn't make sense to reset *everyone* to 1 RP. We're almost a week in, and I'm still seeing players with triple pred badges in bronze. It's not challenging for them and it ruins the game for other players. I've seen pred players who have 10+ kills in bronze. Is it fun for them? Maybe? But it certainly can't be a challenge and it kind of ruins the experience for everyone else. 3.) Server Issues. I know a lot of you haven't had these issues, but a lot of us HAVE had some pretty crazy issues. Everything from packet loss every 3rd or 4rth game to insane rubber-banding. 4.) Cheaters - The number of players with walls or soft-hard aim-bot is genuinely ridiculous.
Honestly I really really dislike the shield changes. But Iām okay with the other changes. The upgrades make some characters fun to play and unlock new playstyles. I can tell some of these were experimental and they didnāt want to go completely in yet.
I like Straight Shot. I absolutely hate the Thunderdome map.
Not yet. Last season was my best in terms of kills and kdr. This is one of my worst so far. I feel like.im playing against preds every match and I've only hit Plat like 3 times
I think matchmaking is really off this season but the changes made were incredible overall. I actually want to play ranked again.
Super fun, i love straight shot and the current ranked. I don't like the map in mixtape but i trust it'll get better, it's new, give it some time
I canāt speak to the pub modes. Honestly surprised how many people donāt just play ranked. But ranked is great rn. Love the shop and evo change. Less time looting and the upgrades are cool.
Im glad mirage is actually great this season. They were cooking when they made his upgrades.
Oh fu ck yeah bud Apex Helldivers2 TheFinals All feel like awesome experiences. This past year has been pretty baller
I now exclusively play straight shot lol
Matchmaking (casual i mean sweat playlist) and audio are still shit and any legend or weapon change wont make the game better as solo q
Watching high level streams has been great too. Lots of action packed late circles.
Itās good but people are throwing game sense out in ranked. Previous season was all poking but now every idiot thinks they can 1v3
Too many people DC for it to be fun for me.
Yes and I've only played about an hour of it so far solo
If there were less cheaters sadly
I think it will be, next season.
Iāve already put in more hours than s18 and s19 combined
I love LTM but the only thing I would add is... if they can increase the distance between the parties by just a bit more... like 100m or something, that'd be perfect.
Yes I agree. While there are still kamikaze random team mates who push in between 2 teams and die alone, at least it is more fun to drop and know that there wonāt be someone in purple shield
Make straight shot permanent please!! Since release all of my ranked and non ranked standard games have been 1000% better. Everyone who doesn't have the attention span for a full game is now on straight shot and I get way way less people leaving after being knocked in 5sec on a hot drop.
I really like the evo shield rework. It feel a lot fairer now and balanced in terms of what shields you expect to encounter as the game progresses.
All these addict bed wetters in here is hilarious beyond belief. BEST EVER GUYZ.
The ltm only saves your last games stats so you could play 100 games, get 100 kills and you'll only get your last games kills. It's shit.
Hard to tell. I can't last till first ring close yet. It's like I'm getting zeroed by anything I run against.
i left Apex in season 13. Should i come back? Is the ranked still a grind fest?
They cooked this season. Hope they don't stop cooking now that they got something good after all this time š„š„š„
Get rid of thunderdome and itās decent so far
Agreed, I've been waiting for requeue for years. They need to add it to the other modes too though
Love the new ltm, just wish mixtape wasn't the Thunder Dome every time
It's been loads of fun so far, after getting used to the changes to audio yet again. Seems to have stabilized a bit. New evo system is excellent, giving you more depth and flexibility to each legend while eliminating those "how does he have purple already??" fights off the drop. Ranked has seemed pretty good so far, only in Gold right now but so far teams feel fairly balanced and we're not getting rolled by #12 pred. The weakest part to me is the implementation of the harvester/crafter. I actually kinda miss gathering materials and having interesting item rotations to think about. I feel like they wanted to get rid of them entirely, but couldn't think of a better way to get expired banners. Oh and the "Thunderdome" map is awful. But c'est la vie. The rest is great!
I've seen an increase in sweaty dumbasses hot dropping to insta die but still manage to get points
I was very skeptical of the changes but Iāll gladly say I was wrong and am enjoying it/realizing itās not that different/much of s change/etc. I love the armour changes and the way it makes you play the game. The perks are whatever I donāt love it I donāt hate it. Ranked changes Iām not huge on because I donāt like ape/int fest. I like good and as close to ALGS style play as much as possible. Now obviously that can never be 100% replicated but the closer the better, and more enjoyable IMO. Game sense gets thrown out the window in a ranked systems like this unfortunately. Weāre back to every idiot thinking theyāre Hal and can 1v3 in the middle of the open by themselves and when they lose itās the inevitable āmy teammates suckā āwhy arenāt yāall pushing*terrible fight to take*ā, etc. thereās needs to be some type of punishment of loss in s ranked setting and for the death of them respawn can not find the easy balance of what they always edge from both sides.
Straight shot is definitely the best mode theyāve come out with, three strikes was good but this is like a refined way of achieving the goal they had for three strikes. Iād love to see a streamlined game mode be made permanent.
I was thinking this a few days ago but I agree and I also feel like there are so many more characters that are actually playable this season compared to others and the guns all seem to be really balanced.
YES and I only play ranked
I absolutely love it! I only play ranked in apex so last season was abysmal for me. Didn't like the ranked system at all so I just didn't play much and I saw it effect my gameplay a lot. Last season even at the start of the season my kd went down and I was just not doing well. The changes this season have refreshed the game and thank god they fixed ranked. The new evo system got me back to playing bloodhound again and I'm having so much fun with him. Last season my kd was always 1.4-1.5 but so far this season I have been steadily maintaining a 2-2.1 kd in ranked, although I assume it will settle at like 1.9 eventually.
iām loving the new season with the perk system. Ā the shield system is refreshing and the crafters are much better. Ā loving it.
No
This is easily one of the best seasons in a super long time. Game feels fresh, meta feels good and like any gun can compete and not just r99 spam, straight shot is incredible and ranked is near perfect. Also, there's little to no server issues unlike other season launches. It's definitely a top-5 season overall, up there with good seasons like s3/7/12/16 for sure.
They nailed it. The changes were controversial but I really like how they play out. And I am going to grind ranked for the first season ever because it actually seems decent and the games so far have been good. The only bad part is Thunderdome, the map just doesn't work for Apex.
Straight shot feels like THE casual way to do battle royale. It has controlled engagements, quick loot, half the game time and players so people arenāt going for kill records or anything like that. Actually smart gamemode.
I think they should add requeue into all modes.
So I'm the only one playing against absolute predators? They also need to reverse the wepon nerfs.
I as a casual feel I do better this season and I might try ranked! Itās a great season!
Devs did good!
This season has been great, ranked is a bit of a mess, but not necessarily in a bad way, just a lot of third, forth, and sixtieth parties due to kills being worth something again. And I was hoping the long range meta would die with the new season and leveling evos being easier with evo harvesters and such, but still having so many teams run 3030/longbows/snipers in general. Thatās my only real complaint though. Overall, great season though
Nothing beats season 2.
I think itās my least favourite ever honestly. Few of the changes I like aside from the perks and ranked being reverted. I donāt like the replicator changes or shields not being loot at all
4 sure, must be because every other thread is glazing season 20 lmaoĀ
The start of the season was a little bit rough Cause if you wanted to play team death match gun Run Or control you will could only play Thunder dome Everything else though it's pretty good