Apex Legends Dev Responds to Unintentional Bangalore Nerfs

Apex Legends launched the Chaos Theory event with the arrival of Update 1.60. One of the changes brought to the game in the update was a widescale alteration to the visual effects particles. This had unintended consequences for the smoke used by the offensive Legend Bangalore.

Update 1.60 sees a reduction in the visual effects particles used throughout the game. This is mostly intended to improve the game's background images and smoothen performance. Although it sharpened the game's aesthetic, the update brought a converse effect to Bangalore's smoke.

One of Bangalore's signature abilities is her Smoke Launcher. This fires a smoke canister that explodes in a smoke wall that is meant to obstruct enemy vision. Due to the recent reduction in FX particles, Bangalore's smoke has become almost useless as silhouettes of enemies and objects can be seen through the smoke.

Apex Legends Dev Responds to Unintentionally Nerfing Bangalore

Apex Legends players quickly noticed this issue not only with Bangalore's smoke but also with Caustic's toxic gas and Gibraltar's Ultimate. They reported these nerfs to developer Respawn Entertainment, with many asking them to reset the game to how it was before Update 1.60.

Fortunately for players, a developer at Respawn has provided insight into the situation. Daniel Klein, the lead game designer at Respawn Entertainment, replied to a Reddit comment asking him about Bangalore's nerfs.

"We're investigating what happened here. There was a change to the underlying VFX that we made with optimization in mind. The goal was to have it look identical to what was there before, but apparently, that's not what happened. We'll let you know when we know more."

The nerfs to Bangalore's smoke as well as Gibraltar's Ultimate and Caustic's toxic gas appear to be honest mistakes. Since the update has essentially taken away important tools for several Legends, the unintentional nerfs are likely the first task at hand for developers. Expect things to be back to normal with these Legends in the next update.