As is the drill for every significant update, Respawn Entertainment made several buffs and nerfs in Apex Legends Season 25 to shake up the battle royale’s meta. The star of the show in Apex Legends Season 25 is Sparrow. The new character has a compelling set of abilities, as he can double jump and shoot arrows to track enemies, and the Ultimate damages and slows enemies within a specific radius. In Season 24, Ash, Alter, Lifeline, and Wraith were the most popular characters. As for weapons, the L-Star and Eva-8 were among the favorite choices. Respawn didn’t go scorched earth and make any drastic changes, but there are a few notable buffs and nerfs to look at. Pathfinder Buff & EVA-8 Nerf Explained Respawn Entertainment admitted, “The EVA-8 has been a particularly strong secondary weapon recently, but instead of just nerfing its damage, we wanted to take this opportunity to realign with its identity as the fast auto-shotty.” This is an interesting nerf because the fire rate has been dramatically increased, but the damage per pellet is now only six instead of eight. As a result, I still expect the shotgun to be a meta option, but don’t expect it to be as dominant in Season 25 because that damage difference will be noticeable. Pathfinder has always been popular, but he will be picked even more after this latest update. Zipline Zen has been improved, and the character can now use a second Zipline Gun Charge. I expect Pathfinder to be a great counter to Sparrow, as his ability to reposition teammates will help escape the annoying Sparrow flanks. All Season 25 Buffs & Nerfs Here are all of the balancing changes in Season 25. Legends Balancing Changes Assault Class Battle Surge changes: Removed scan on shield crack Healthbar now lingers for 3s (was 4s) Move speed boost now only applies while sprinting during the active window Skirmisher Class Charged Knock: removed Tac charge gained on knock Predator’s Pursuit: removed Death Box minimap locations/pings Previous hotfix Increased Ult max distance travel time to 2.5s (was 1.4s) Increased Ult min distance travel time to 0.5s (was 0.3s) Conduit (Previous Hotfix) Increased Tac health regen per tick to 4 (was 3) Mirage (Previous Hotfix) Increased the number of decoys created during Ult to 6 (was 5) Grappling Hook: cooldown now variable, ranging from 10-30s depending on distance traveled (was flat 30s) Zipline Gun Integrated Zipline Zen upgrade into base Damage mitigation increased to 50% (was 25%) Upgrades: Level 3 Feeling Zippy: gain a second Zipline Gun charge (replaces Zipline Zen) Grapple God: gain a second Grappling Hook charge (replaces Grapple Cooldown+) Seer (Previous Hotfix) Decreased the time for Tac to hit targets to 0.8s (was 1.4s) Decreased the time for Tac to finish to 0.9s (was 1.0s) Ammo & Attachments GOLD SNIPER STOCKS New stock tier added: usable with all Sniper and Marksman weapons No movement penalty while a weapon with a Gold Sniper Stock is drawn SNIPER STOCKS Marksmans Only Improved ADS in and out speed bonus for all levels Improved raise and lower speed bonus for all levels Boosted Loader removed from floor loot Skull Piercer added to floor loot Can be equipped by 30-30 Repeater, Longbow, Wingman Gun Shield Generator No longer usable with Devotion and L-Star Can now be used with Hemlok Accelerator Removed from P2020, Volt, and Wingman Added to Bocek Compound Bow, Devotion, Mastiff, and Sentinel Previous Hotfix: Ult charge from knocks and assists reduced from to 20% (was 30%) Havoc Rifle [Floor Loot] Damage decreased to 19 (was 21) Increase hipfire spread Recoil increased Selectfire removed Hemlok Burst AR (Previous Hotfix) Increased headshot damage by 2 Increased mag sizes Base increased to 21 (was 18) White increased to 23 (was 21) Blue increased to 27 (was 24) Devotion LMG New perk: equipping a purple tier barrel, stock, and mag will turbocharge the Devotion, reducing its spin-up time Improved the scaling with high tier barrels Blue: improved stability and recoil control (equivalent to old Purple) Purple: advanced stability and recoil control Improved the scaling with high tier stocks Blue: improved handling and reload speeds (equivalent to old Purple) Purple: advanced handling and reload speeds Increased purple mag capacity to 52 (was 48) L-STAR EMG (Previous Hotfix) Increased vertical and horizontal movement in the recoil pattern Significantly reduced projectile size Bocek Compound Bow [Floor Loot] Can also be found on Sniper Arsenals Added Sniper stocks as an accepted attachment Uses its own reserve of 40 arrows, similar to a Care Package weapon Arrows shot into the world can be retrieved to replenish supply Arrows shot into players can be retrieved from top of Death Box (4 max) Arrows cannot be found in floor looting Max charge damage decreased to 55 (was 75) Decreased rate of fire Shattercaps removed Frag Grenades can be used to energize the Bocek with explosive arrows Must fully draw in order to fire an explosive arrow Explosive arrows will stick into the world or a player on hit Explosive arrow on hit damage reduced to 40 (headshot: 64) Explosive arrows will explode in a 5m radius, dealing 25 extra damage after a 2s delay Triple Take [Care Package] Damage per bullet increased to 23 (was 22) Increased rate of fire Choke speed significantly increased Gun Shield Generator added Previous Hotfix: Decreased damage to 24 (was 25) Magazine size reduced at all tiers: Base: decreased to 8 (was 10) White: decreased to 9 (was 11) Blue: decreased to 10 (was 12) Purple/Gold: decreased to 11 (was 14) Slightly increased rate of fire Added laser sights as an accepted attachment Greatly increased rate of fire at base and all bolt tiers Damage per pellet reduced to 6 (was 8) All SMGs (Previous Hotfix) Increased headshot damage by 1 Volt SMG (Previous Hotfix) Improved hipfire values by normalizing it to the other SMGs Charge Rifle Increased limb damage to 0.9 (was 0.7) Increased limb damage to 0.8 (was 0.7) Increased limb damage to 0.9 (was 0.7) For more on the latest gaming news, Gears of War: Reloaded was officially announced, FaZe confirmed the signing of S1mple in Counter-Strike, and Mindseye gameplay leaked online. 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