Apex Legends update time: Release date for Season 9 Legacy, Valkyrie patch notes

Developers Respawn Entertainment has revealed its update time plans for Apex Legends Season 9: Legacy.

This is set to go live complete with Arenas Mode, a new 3vs3 experience that breaks the usual Battle Royale formula.

There will also be new map changes made to Olympus, with the lost fleet dropping into orbit, bringing with it an otherworldly, parasitic plant that has begun to take root along the surface.

The lead ship, The Icarus, has docked with the city and changed the landscape for good, with Respawn telling fans this week:

“A rogue fleet of ships from outer space has breached the atmosphere of Psamathe. Its lead vessel, The Icarus, has docked with Olympus, bringing with it a viscous, parasitic plant of unknown origin. The resulting outbreak begins to take root along the surface of Olympus and the accompanying vessels can be seen from as far away as the Docks.

“This new drop location can be found between Bonsai Plaza, Solar Array, and Orbital Cannon. The decrepit ship hosts four large rooms and contains tons of loot. Many squads should feel comfortable landing here, spreading out along the spine of the ship and pushing across its claustrophobic spaces.”

WHEN IS THE APEX LEGENDS UPDATE TIME?

Developers Respawn Entertainment has revealed that the Apex Legends update time has been set for Tuesday, May 4, at 6pm GMT.

For gamers in North America, Season 9 Legacy of Apex Legends will begin at 10am PST on PS4, Xbox and PC on the same day.

A message from Respawn adds: “The Games are going underground with the introduction of a new permanent mode: Arenas.

“Fully reassembled and unimpressed with the glitz and glamour of the Apex Games, former Apex Predator Ash is taking the competition back to its roots. A purer form of combat.

“The rules are simple: 3-versus-3. Eliminate your enemies to win the round. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. You win, or you die. See you legends tomorrow at 10am PT.”

Early patch notes have been shared confirming everything that’s being changed today behind the scenes.

This includes characters being rebalanced, with the Low profile trait being removed from Wraith, Lifeline, and Wattson due to an improvement being made to kits and hitboxes.

Other character changes can be found below as part of the official Apex Legends patch notes:

VALKYRIE

Kairi Imahara, the daughter of Apex Predator Viper, salvaged the remains of her father’s Northstar Titan years after his death. With Rampart’s help, she fashioned it into a sleek new jetpack that honors her family’s legacy. Now, she’s entered the Games under the name VALKYRIE.

Passive: VTOL Jets: Use your jetpack to reposition or reach high places. You have limited fuel and cannot use weapons while flying.

Tactical: Missile Swarm: Fire a swarm of mini-rockets which damage and disorient the enemy.

Ultimate: Skyward dive: Take to the skies to reposition a long distance across the map. Your squadmates can join in.

Class: Recon: Scanning Survey Beacons reveals the next circle’s location.

LIFELINE

Lifeline’s kit was not in a particularly healthy place. The Passive shield was extremely strong to the point of frustration, while her Tactical and Ultimate seemed like they were becoming more and more obsolete. These changes are aimed to redistribute this big power differential between all of her abilities, making D.O.C. and Care Package more powerful and effective, while tamping down on the highly binary and situational Combat Revive.

OCTANE

Octane continues to perform really well after the latest changes. Too well? We still love the frequency of the Jump Pad, but we’d like to make using Stim something Octane thinks about doing at the right time, instead of always slamming it by default.

LOBA

• Burglar’s Best Friend: Can now run and slide at full speed while aiming the bracelet and while the bracelet is in the air. Loba will no longer be slowed after translocating.
• Fixed a lot of bugs that caused bracelet tosses to fail.
• Black Market Boutique: Increased cooldown from 90s to 120s.