Season 14 of Apex Legends has finally gone live and I’ve already discovered the most overpowered, frustrating addition. No, it’s not the newest legend Vantage or the fact that every team on the map is using marksman rifles or even the significant rebalances to weapons — it’s the goddamn ring. Buried in the latest patch notes was a small section detailing the alterations made to the damaging ring that slowly closes throughout a match.
If you played Apex Legends yesterday it probably felt like the ring was not only closing sooner but doing more damage than normal. This is true on both counts. The first ring timer went from 180 seconds to 60 seconds. Meaning once that ring countdown begins you have a single minute to loot, fight, or begin rotations before that ring starts closing in completely. On the other hand, the actual time it takes for the first ring to close has been slightly increased across all maps. Finally, the first ring now does 3 damage-per-second instead of 2, which is the same amount of damage Ring 2 normally does.
Individually, each of these changes isn’t that bad, but the combination of a faster countdown and the ring dealing more damage right away makes the opening portion of Apex Legends oppressive as hell. Given most players end up fighting very quickly, this shortened countdown gives almost no room to both battle and loot an entire POI. This is especially true for players who decide to land at a location not near the center of the map or a Jump Tower, as they will find themselves running for their lives.
Add in the upped damage and players may find themselves burning through Syringes and Medkits faster than normal.
I’m very torn on these changes since individually they aren’t that bad. If Respawn wants the first ring to close sooner, I don’t believe it should be doing more damage. It doesn’t give teams the time they need to craft, loot, rotate, and fight — especially in Ranked when teams are far more conservative about committing to battles. It will certainly be interesting to see how these ring changes factor into how folks play Apex Legends this season.
If you’re looking for more Apex Legends, we have a guide on how to unlock the latest legend Vantage, 4K Badge Tips, our tier list for all the characters, and the best weapons in-game. You can also read up on the Season 14 patch notes which include a big nerf to Valkyrie, a wacky bug that’s swapping character abilities, and what weapons have been swapped out in the Care Package for the G7 Scout and Volt. Also for the five other Crypto mains out there, here are some tips for playing my favorite legend.
