Apex Legends’ first balance patch sets its sights on the Wingman and the Peacekeeper

Apex Legends has been out for just over a month now and developer Respawn Entertainment has released the game’s first real balance patch. While the patch didn’t change much about the game it did nerf two of the most popular weapons, the Wingman and the Peacekeeper.

The Wingman, which was the go-to weapon for most Apex Legends players, now shoots slower, is less accurate when fired from the hip, and does less damage with the Skullpiecer mod equipped:

Rate of fire reduced from 3.1 -> 2.6 shots per second.

Skullpiercer Headshot damage multiplier reduced from 2.5 -> 2.25

Increased base hip fire spread and decreased the rate at which hip fire spread decays (shrinks back down).

The Peacekeeper, Apex Legends’ pump shotgun, also received a nerf, though it isn’t too significant. When the shotgun bolt attachment is used on the Peacekeeper it doesn’t reload quite as quickly as it used to.

Shotgun Bolt rechamber rate has been reduced for the Peacekeeper only.

Level 1 mitigation 10% -> 7.5%

Level 2 mitigation 20% -> 13%

Level 3 mitigation 25% -> 16%

The two guns also got some larger nerfs in the form of reduced availability. Now both the Wingman and the Peacekeeper will spawn less in loot zones of all tiers. But, this patch’s changes weren’t all nerfs, as Respawn also elected to include more energy weapon spawns and ammo throughout Kings Canyon.

Respawn also mentioned how it plans to deal with Apex Legends patches going forward as well. Rather than frequent updates, Respawn will update Apex Legends less often with rigorously tested balance changes. The patch notes also mention a few changes that Respawn says it is still testing, but are likely to release when Apex Legends’ first season starts. The largest of these changes are a few nerfs to the best performing Legends in the game — like Bangalore and Wraith — and buffs to the game’s bigger Legends to help counteract their over-sized hitboxes.

The Peacekeeper and Wingman changes are already live in Apex Legends, but there’s no word on when season 1 will begin. It’s expected sometime later this month.