Apex Legends Season 5 Shuffles Care Package Weapons

Apex Legends Season 5 will shuffle weapon balance not through the addition of a new gun, but instead by reworking the weapons pre-existing in the game.

"If we continue to add new weapons, the weapon pool will become saturated," Respawn Entertainment wrote in the patch notes. "We believe there is a 'right' amount of weapons in the loot pool, and we think we are currently in that sweet spot."

Unable to vault weapons because Apex Legends players have purchased skins for individual weapons, the development team is forced to come up with new solutions to the problem. The first such change will shake up which weapons are gold and wield the corresponding level of power.

The Peacekeeper, with an attendant buff, replaces the Mastiff in care packages. The Mastiff's power level has dropped accordingly.

See the full list of weapon changes below.

Apex Legends Season 5 Weapon Balance Changes

Season 5 Fully-kitted Gold Weapons

• Longbow DMR
• Hemlok
• Spitfire
• EVA-8
• RE-45

Mastiff

• The Mastiff is being rotated out of the care package to a regular weapon with its power reduced accordingly.
• Reduced damage per pellet from 18 to 13.
• Reduced headshot multiplier from 2.0 to 1.25.
• Increased blast pattern distances for the outer pairs of pellets.
• Increased blast pattern scale ADS multiplier from 0.5 to 0.55.
• Reduced fire rate from 1.3 to 1.0.
• Reduced projectile size to be more in line with other regular shotguns.
• Increased shell count from 4 to 6.
• Increased projectile speed to standard shotgun speed.

Peacekeeper

• Peacekeeper is being rotated out of a regular weapon and into the care package weapon with its power being increased accordingly.
• Tightened pellet spread pattern.
• Reduced rechamber time from 1.2 to 0.9.
• Reduced reload times from 2.65 to 2.45 base and 3.6 to 3.35 empty.
• Increased projectile size to improve consistency at close range.

Alternator

• Increased Mag size from 16 to 19. Level 1 Extended mag is now 22, Level 2 is now 25, and Level 3 is now 27.

RE-45

• Increased damage from 11 to 12.
• Reduced reload time from 1.74 to 1.5 base and 2.12 to 1.95 empty.

Havoc

• Vertical recoil increased.
• Horizontal recoil slightly increased.
• Recoil on the first 2 shots increased.

Longbow DMR

• Headshot scale reduced from 2.15 to 2.1.

Wingman

• Headshot scale reduced from 2.1 to 2.0.

Hop Ups

• Adding Skullpiercer Hopup for DMR and Wingman.
• DMR with Skullpiercer – Headshot scale 2.1 -> 2.5
• Wingman w/ Skullpiercer – Headshot scale 2.0 -> 2.25
• Vaulted Anvil Receiver.

Gold Armor

• Added Perk: Shield Cells & Syringes give double the amount per use.
• Removed Perk: Removed 50% heal speed.