In perhaps the quickest after-season update in Apex Legends’ history, the Bocek Bow and the Spitfire have been nerfed by developers Respawn Entertainment. This comes just a week after Season 9 launched, after the community complained about the bow negatively affecting both battle royale and Arenas.
It was clear from a gameplay perspective that the Bocek Bow was outperforming its intended power. Players could find arrows with ease and deal incredible damage to enemies within the blink of an eye. With the recent update, players need not worry about these problems any longer.
Additionally, Respawn Entertainment applied a weapon nerf to the Spitfire.
Bocek Bow and Spitfire nerfs
The Bocek Bow was one of the strongest weapons that Apex Legends had ever seen when it launched. However, this was more or less by design, as Respawn designer John Larson stated in a tweet.
“Before Legacy launched, we knew the Bow would be strong, and we debated whether or not to even ship it with 70 dmg,” said Larson. “We erred on the strong side because it’s a really freakin’ cool weapon and we wanted to make sure y’all gave it a chance.”
We're shipping two separate updates to @playapex today to address bugs and balance some weapons.
Later today these changes will be added to the Legacy update patch notes at this link: https://t.co/X7ihMfTuHF
See the full list of changes early in the image below: pic.twitter.com/681FJLyB1o
— Respawn (@Respawn) May 11, 2021
Although the bow is an extremely enjoyable weapon, it was also, admittedly, too strong. As such, the nerfs that Respawn applied can be seen below or on EA’s website.
- Max body shot damage: 70 > 6
- Charge time increase: 0.54 > 0.56
- Deadeye’s Tempo charge increase: 0.32 > 0.38
- Stack size: 16 > 14
- Ammo slot: 48 > 28
In regard to the Spitfire, Respawn reduced its overall effectiveness.
- Bullet Damage reduced: 19 > 18
- Purple/Gold mag size: 55 > 50
- Reduced recoil controllability early in the pattern
These nerfs for the Bocek Bow and Spitfire will go live on May 11 in a separate patch that will also address other bugs.
