Silent Apex Legends nerf will drastically change the weapon meta

Apex Legends Season 18 is set to be the catalyst for Respawn Entertainment's surgery to the battle royale as we know it, opting to halt the usual roadmap of bi-seasonal Legends in favour of fixing pre-existing issues and other balancing issues.

Their first port of call is Revenant, whose complete transformation will come into play thanks to Hammond Robotics. He becomes the first legend to be completely overhauled - not just tinkered with but changed completely in terms of his appearance and ability pool.

But one rather silent nerf to an Apex Legends stalwart is being deployed, and it could actually have drastic ramifications on the weapon meta pool and the shaping of games altogether.

• ImperialHal reveals which gun will be ‘busted’ in Apex Legends Season 18

Apex Legends Evo Shields get nerfed in Season 18

Click to enlarge

Apex Legends players will be familiar with how Evo Shields work, given that they have eclipsed the standard shields of old (except that fast-healing Gold variant), forcing players to take on engagements and gunfights to have better protection from enemies down the line.

However, Season 18 will now up the rate at which your Evo Shields grow stronger, and decrease their popularity on a map.

As confirmed in the Season 18 patch notes, players will now need to accrue 200 damage before their armour upgrades from white to blue, while the spawn rate of blue and purple shields will now be reduced by 30%.

• Charge Rifle is being completely reworked in Apex Legends Season 18

How will the new Apex Legends Evo Shield nerfs change the game?

Usually, players dropping in will be hot on the hunt for high-tier shields, hoping that they can get an instant advantage over their enemies in engagements. Now, the potluck chance you land near a good armour has been heavily reduced, forcing you to take more gunfights at lower health. 

This could see more long-range guns come back as a popular fixture in Apex Legends Season 18, such as the G7 Scout, as players will be keen to try and cheap out on free damage and earn their blue Evo upgrade quicker. 

Alternatively, teams might be more inclined to act aggressively straight off the rip, earning their upgrades quicker while other teams sit on white armour. Although it's only a 50-damage increase, this change could work in two ways.

Either players will be more cagey with long-distance weapons, or players will be much more aggressive to earn upgrades sooner. Respawn will be hoping for the former, which should translate to better middle-games and end-games, rather than seeing everyone die in the first circle.