Season 2 of Apex Legends is less than two weeks away, and the folks at Respawn are gearing up for a big weapons update to launch at the same time. There’s plenty to talk about from the brand new L-Star weapon to new Hop-Ups, but I want to shine a light on the shotgun changes.
Nothing is changing as far as damage stats go, but the devs are making a huge change to how shotgun ammo stacks work. From the blog post:
– Shotgun max stack reduced from 64 to 16. Players now need multiple stacks of ammo to run a shotty.
Respawn explains why they made the change. “Apex players need to strike a fine balance between loading their backpacks with ammo, and holding other items for emergency or utility purposes.”
No doubt it’s a big change, but it also makes sense when compared to other weapons. Right now, you can get away with having just one ammo stack for one of your weapons. That leaves plenty of room for shield cells, med kits, grenades, or more ammo for another weapon.
One stack of 16 should still be enough for one major team fight (maybe two), but you’ll probably want at least two or three stacks if you’re running a shotgun. It’ll be interesting to see how this change affects the overall weapon meta as well. Another ammo stack change increases Energy ammo stacks from 60 to 80. Maybe players start opting for a Light/Energy or Heavy/Energy weapon combo versus having a shotgun fill one of those slots.
Changes to Energy ammo stacks and the introduction of Energy Mags makes the Devotion an even more compelling secondary for a Heavy/Light gun. I don’t see myself ditching the shotgun all the time, but if there’s a Devotion lying around with enough Energy ammo, it would be hard to pass up. Three stacks of Energy ammo will soon equal 240 versus three stacks of shotgun ammo at 48.
We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out once next month’s patch goes live, but it’s clear Respawn are trying to balance weapon classes to where there isn’t one must-have weapon. Each ammo class should have a top-tier weapon, but there shouldn’t be one top-tier weapon that’s much better than the rest.
Respawn also dropped a trailer for the new L-Star weapon yesterday. It’ll be an airdrop weapon with a set amount of ammo that can’t be refilled.
Season 2 kicks off on July 2. Look out for full patch notes on all the changes then.