Season 27 for Apex Legends arrives on Tuesday, November 4, and Respawn has put a hard focus on reworking three underused legends rather than shipping a brand new face to the roster. Valkyrie, Horizon and Rampart are getting heavyweight changes intended to lift their pick rates and make the trio more relevant in the current meta.
The thinking here is simple: these three legends haven’t aged well in the current game, so Respawn rewired parts of how they move and fight. Valkyrie’s update trims cooldowns and takeoff times, boosts her flight speed so she’s harder to hit in the air, and adds a Super Sonic option for her ultimate to make it feel more rewarding to play aggressively from the sky. Horizon’s Gravity Lift cooldown is reduced and it now launches faster and higher, while her Black Hole ultimate gets extra health to make it tougher for teams to break it.
Rampart’s revision took a few swings at power before Respawn settled on a direction. Rather than simply supercharging Sheila, the team added utility and defensive upgrades to her kit. Rampart’s walls now include a roof to block grenades and high-ground threats. Wall health scales with Evo levels and can regenerate outside combat. Teammates behind a Rampart wall receive a speed boost, faster reloads and infinite ammo while sheltered.
Developers admit the first Sheila-focused changes made Rampart feel too strong, so the redesign leans into protection and team utility over raw, permanent damage spikes. The goal is to create clearer reasons to pick Rampart in fights that suit defensive play without making her an auto-include.
Players worried that Octane was being skipped entirely can relax a little. Octane’s pick rate has dropped sharply recently, now down to roughly 3%, and the debut of Sparrow contributed to that slump. Respawn’s designers say Octane is still on the radar, and that he will be considered for changes outside the Season 27 slate. The exact timing and scope aren’t part of this season’s work, but the studio plans to be more transparent about how it chooses which legends to change.
Pick rate is an important part of what we look at when changing characters, a legend designer said, but it isn’t the only metric the team considers. Respawn aims to share more of that decision-making so players can see why certain legends get attention in a given season.
Season 27 also brings wider changes beyond legends. Olympus gets a revamp, the supergliding advanced movement mechanic is officially supported, and there are weapon tweaks coming that shake up metas. For a closer look at one of the new additions, we previously covered the Season 27 care package CAR that swaps between Disruptor rounds and Hammer Points.
If Season 27’s reworks land as promised, Valkyrie and Horizon should feel more mobile and rewarding to play, while Rampart becomes a stronger choice when teams want to hold and contest ground. The full mix of changes will be available when the season goes live on November 4.
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