Apex Legends Mobile Season 3 is right around the corner, set to launch on October 18 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET. The announcement was made earlier this week via a cinematic trailer that confirmed Ash will be joining the mobile squad in Season 3. But Ash isn’t the only new addition to the game–today, Respawn posted the Season 3 patch notes, giving players a much clearer picture of what kind of changes they can expect to see when Apex Legends Mobile Season 3: Champions goes live next week.

The patch notes come on the heels of an earlier blog post, which mainly focused on upcoming changes to ranked play. In addition to the introduction of Ash and the release of Fade’s Signature Weapon, the patch notes also confirm something many mobile players have been hoping to hear all season: World’s Edge is finally returning to Apex Legends Mobile. Despite being a well-loved map on console and PC, Kings Canyon is decidedly less favored by mobile players, so the game’s playerbase is likely quite pleased with the news that there will be more than one map in rotation this season.

Not only that, but Ranked Mode is also getting a rotating map schedule, with the mode switching from Kings Canyon to World’s Edge every hour. The developer blog states that more maps could potentially join the Ranked Mode rotation in the future. Storm Point, perhaps?

Another unique Season 3 feature are Titanfall-esque Faction Missions, which task players with choosing one of the three commissioners of the Apex Games, joining their faction, and completing challenges in return for cosmetics, currency, and other loot. Additionally, players can look forward to some spooky tricks and treats in the form of an unnamed Halloween event that appears to feature redesigned Loot Bins and Supply Drops.

Second Shot Blitz, a new limited-time mode, is also mentioned briefly in the patch notes. It’s a standard battle royale mode, with one twist: Players need not hunt down Respawn Beacons, as players instantly Respawn in Second Shot Blitz.

As Halloween nears, spooky loot will begin appearing in Apex Mobile matches.

Players can also find a new POI hovering above the Shattered Forest: The Coliseum. The Coliseum, which was featured in the gameplay trailer, is a floating boxing ring of sorts, somewhat similar to Pathfinder’s Town Takeover in Apex for console and PC. Assuming you survive your battles against enemy squads, you’ll make it out of this levitating bloodsport arena with loads of sweet loot.

But there’s plenty more to discover in Apex Legends Mobile Season 3. You can read the full patch notes from the game’s developers below:

NEW LEGEND: ASH

Born in the unforgiving Frontier, Dr. Ashleigh Reid – still very much a human – learned early that the only person who was going to look out for her was herself. One day, she was hired by a mercenary group for a delicate job: steal an experimental fuel source being researched in the Outlands city of Olympus. It was the perfect job for Reid, who infiltrated and psychologically manipulated the researchers for years. When the lab self-destructed, she died.

And didn’t.

Her brain was put in a simulacrum shell, but in the process, she lost years of memories, and the trauma of her “death” caused her personality to fracture. Ash is the embodiment of the cold, perfectionistic, power-hungry side of Dr. Reid. But behind that confident facade, something sinister is simmering. After an encounter with Horizon that overrides Ash’s simulacrum programming, the framework that kept the vulnerable–yet intelligent–Leigh personality dormant has begun to crack. Ash joins the Games to prove she has transcended all humanity. Leigh’s determined to prove her wrong.

Passive: ​​Marked For Death

Ash’s map shows the location of recent deathboxes and marks surviving attackers.

Tactical: Arc Snare

Throw a spinning snare that damages and tethers the first enemy that gets too close.

Ultimate: Phase Breach

Tear open a one-way portal to a targeted location.

Legend Perks:

Spoils of War – Death box icons appear on the map and as the color of the highest tier loot inside.

Enhanced Hunting – After 3 death box extractions, your Data Knife reveals more information. After 6, periodically see the killer’s team on your map.

Red-Handed Reveal – The first time an enemy uses a scanned death box, their location will be pinged.

Instigator’s Precision – You can adjust the throw trajectory of Arc Snare, but the throw speed is reduced.

Enduring Trap – Arc Snare persists after being thrown but can be destroyed.

Shadow Step – Phase Breach can be reactivated within 7 seconds of its first use, but the ability’s distance is halved.

Battle Adaptation – Using your Finisher adds 100 points to your EVO Shield.

Deadly Momentum – Using your Finisher reduces your Ultimate’s cooldown by 30%.

Mag Subscription – Using your Finisher refills the ammo of your active weapon and increases reloading speed for 8s.

SIGNATURE WEAPON: CONSTELLATION

Introducing the Mobile-first upgradeable melee weapon for Fade!

The Constellation was once taken from the Huamaní family. Now back in Fade’s hands, he’s bringing these four deadly blades to the battlefield.

Fade’s Signature Weapon has 6 levels with 2 deadly forms. The base weapon can be unlocked by playing select missions to earn Signature Merits or by buying Signature Tributes during special events. Stay on the lookout for these opportunities!

In addition, you can customize the Constellation with visual effects, textures, and more!

Get ready to slice through the competition in style, Legends.

NEW EVENTS:

Second Shot Blitz:

Second Shot Blitz is a new limited Battle Royale mode that will be active during the season. While Second Shot Blitz is active, everyone will gain the chance to respawn automatically. We hope you enjoy this fast paced and thrilling BR experience!

Halloween Event:

Our Spooky October Halloween event is coming! Be on the lookout for spooky additions to the Kings Canyon and World’s Edge maps as well as frighteningly cool cosmetic rewards for your favorite legends and weapons!

Faction Missions:

The three commissioners of the Apex Games were once leaders of mercenary groups. While these mercenary groups have technically been disbanded and merged into the Syndicate, these former leaders still hold influence with their former followers.

Pledge your allegiance to one of the big three factions vying for power in the Apex Games. Completing missions on behalf of these factions will provide seasonal currency for you to redeem in the seasonal shop!

MAP UPDATES:

Map Rotation:

World’s Edge and Kings Canyon will now actively rotate for Normal and Ranked Battle Royale. The maps will rotate every hour.

Kings Canyon

New Town Takeover: Coliseum

Prepare to Rumble, friends! – The Coliseum has appeared in Kings Canyon.

Coliseum can be found floating above the Shattered Forest. You can enter the Coliseum by skydiving or by zipline.

While in the Coliseum, activate the control panel to initiate a duel, notifying the whole lobby that you are accepting all challengers. The more kills you accrue while in the Coliseum, the better the loot!

TDM & Gun Game Map Rotation:

Thermal Station, Artillery, Pythas Block 0

NEW BATTLE PASS

The Champions Battle Pass is coming with some amazing cosmetics! Unlock this battle pass to show your enemies your warrior spirit inside and out!

RANKED UPDATES:

Perks in Ranked:

The diversity that Legends bring to the Apex Games is a core ethos of what Apex Legends Mobile is built on. To enhance that experience and create a deeper, more distinct competitive environment; we are excited to announce that we will be enabling perks in Ranked for Season 3 and beyond.

Rest assured that we will be carefully watching for any balancing needs, what metas are forming and their impact on the game, and – as always – we will be listening intently to player feedback over the course of the season and future seasons.

Ranked Entry Costs:

V

IV

III

II

I

Iron

0

0

0

0

0

Bronze

0

3

6

9

12

Silver

15

18

21

24

27

Gold

30

33

36

39

42

Platinum

45

48

52

56

60

Diamond

64

68

72

76

80

Master

85

Predator

90

Ranked Rewards:

Rewards for Ranked are now accessible directly from the Rank page. Additionally, prestigious rewards for Predator, Masters, and Diamond players – specifically the Dive Trail, Profile Frame, and Badge – will now be rewarded based on Ranking at the end of the Ranked Season.

WEAPON POOL CHANGES:

Airdrop Weapon Pool changes:

Added: Prowler, L-STAR

Removed: EVA-8, Devotion LMG.

Fully Kitted Weapons:

Added: Rampage, R-301, VOLT SMG, Sentinel, RE-45

Removed: Havoc, Prowler, Charge Rifle, Mastiff

Weapon Balancing:

Devotion LMG basic damage reduced from 17 to 16. Mag size adjusted to 40/44/48/52.EVA-8 single pellet damage reduced from 7 to 6.L-STAR LMG basic damage increased from 18 to 19. Overheat ammo adjusted to 34, reserve ammo capacity adjusted to 320.Prowler SMG reserve ammo adjusted to 300.RE-45 can now equip the Hammerpoint Rounds Hop up. Damage to non shielded targets increased from 12 to 16.Selectfire hop up removed from Battle Royal ground loot pool. Selectfire has been moved to Airdrop prowler SMG.Equipping a level 4 shield will cause the Sentinel to only need one shield battery to recharge.

TDM Weapon Pool Changes:

Added: Rampage, EVA-8, Devotion LMG

Removed: Prowler, L-STAR

LEGEND BALANCING

Bloodhound

Tactical Ability:

Cast animation time reduced from 2s to 1.5s.Cast animation while Bloodhound’s ultimate is active reduced from 1s to 0.75s.

Ultimate Ability:

Cast animation is reduced from 1.5s to 1.05s.

Dev Note: In order to better identify Bloodhound as a faster paced fight initiator, we shortened the cast times of Bloodhound’s tactical and ultimate ability to allow players to feel more proactive and reactive when playing Bloodhound.

Caustic

Nox Gas Damage:

Gas base damage increased from 5 to 8.

Tactical Ability:

Gas Trap deployment time reduced from 2s to 1s.Gas Traps can now be destroyed after they have been triggered. Traps have 150 health and the gas effect will remain for 2s after the trap is destroyed.

Ultimate Ability:

Cooldown reduced from 180s to 120s.

Dev Note: Currently, Caustic is underperforming. His kit excels through fortifying positions and disrupting enemy teams but is struggling to be successful in accomplishing that during the game’s current meta. With these changes we hope to make Caustic more flexible in an intense combat environment. We will continue to monitor Caustic’s performance to make sure we keep him in line with other Legends.

Fade

Tactical Ability:

Cooldown increased from 20s to 25s.

Dev Note: Fade is both very strong and very popular at the moment. Upon further review of player data, it was determined that with the current cooldown of his Tactical Ability, Fade players face little to no consequences for bad engagements. The goal of increasing the cooldown time is to not only make players think more critically about using this part of Fade’s kit but also allow for enemy teams to better capitalize on a bad engagement.

Legend Perk Balancing:

Gibraltar:

Quick Decision: ADS and gun shield open speed increase has been reduced from 50% to 33%

Parasite: Health Regeneration effect reduced from 50 to 30.

Lifeline:

Recovery Room: Shield Bonus duration has been reduced from 3s to 1.5s.

Wraith

Phase Haste: Boost Effect has been reduced by 10%. Max speed boost has been reduced from 75% to 65%.

Caustic

Airborne Contaminant: Deployment time reduced from 5s to 2.5s

Mirage

Deadly Momentum: Finisher recharging ult by 50% has been reduced to 30%.

Octane

¡Vámonos!: Duration reduced from 3s to 2s, speed boost effect reduced from 40% to 30%.

Fade

Lingering Shadow & Phase Echo: Slipstream duration increased from 8s to 12s.

Loba

Secret Compartment: Randomly dropped attachment will now be at least Purple quality.

REPLICATOR CHANGES:

New: All crafting materials claimed by players are now shared across the squad.The Selectfire hop up has been replaced by Dual Shell.Added 2 new ways to check the crafting rotation info: Tap and maximize the minimap to view the crafting list.Tap “Mark all replication locations” while in the drop ship to view the crafting list.

BUG FIXES AND OPTIMIZATION

Club Store:

Optimized the in game chat system experience for clubs. Direct message history will now be kept and the translating feature is now more reliable.

In Game Support:

Players will now be able to contact support directly in game via the new Helpshift integration!

Gameplay:

Reduced the overall mobility for jump firing, reduced continuous jump height which will cause players to be unable to slide after consecutively jumping.Fixed an issue that was affecting the projectile spread of select weapons while crouching or strafingFixed an issue that caused the Chrome Equalizer Spitfire skin ironsights to persist while ADS.

Controller:

Full optimization pass to controllers. Increased button customization options and controller steering axis.Fixed several issues that affected the responsiveness of controllers.Fixed an issue where icons were not localized correctly.Optimized the feel of skydiving on controller.Fixed an issue where switching between deathboxes would cause your cursor to not be visible.Fixed an issue where Lifeline’s revive could not be canceled once initiated.Optimized controller use on Android devices.

Legends:

Fixed an issue that would cause lag when using Gibraltar’s Dome Shield.Fixed an issue where Arc Stars would occasionally go through Gibraltar’s Dome Shield.Fixed an issue where Loba could enter terrain with her Tactical Ability.Fixed an issue where heat shields could be placed on Crypto’s surveillance drone.Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause Caustic’s Gas Traps to become temporarily invisible.Fixed an issue that allowed Caustic to hide his barrels.Fixed an issue where Caustic’s Ult VFX would remain on the screen of affected players after the duration ended.Fixed an issue that would cause Bloodhound’s tactical cast time to be extended while in Ultimate form.Fixed an issue that caused Crypto to sometimes clip through geo while piloting his drone near its max range.Rhapsody’s ultimate ability release method can now be correctly toggled between classic and quick.Optimized Caustic Gas Trap deployment screen swipe sensitivity.

Misc.

Optimized the charm loadout display.Added adjustment options for ping icon size and transparency.Optimized VFX while under fire.Optimized ADS lag for long range scopes.Optimized the look of muzzle flash while ADSing with long range scopes.Optimized the Skydiving experience to improve smoothness.The break off button is now adjustable in the settings menu.Fixed an issue that was causing Mirages “Bamboozles” tracker to be inaccurate.

Apex Legends Mobile is available for download on Android and iOS devices.

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Overwatch 2’s launch has been successful but shaky, marked by strange bugs and early server woes. Now, a number of console players have noticed a small but significant change in cross-play matches between PC and console gamers–it turns out that PC lobbies remove the game’s aim assist, making it difficult for controller players to keep up.

It seems that Overwatch has featured this design decision since it introduced crossplay in June 2021. However, a number of viral posts on the game’s subreddit have raised attention to this design choice in recent days, especially one posted on October 10. “For some, it’s just an obstacle, but others just find less enjoyment out of the game being disadvantaged this way,” the poster writes in part. “It’s a total bummer because PC players already perform better on average, so it hits like a double whammy.”

Some players argue that Blizzard should reverse this decision and enable aim assist, noting that PC/console crossplay matches are only allowed in the game’s casual mode, not its competitive mode. As such, the stakes are lower. Other players argue that players should be able to matchmake according to their preferred input device, since consoles allow you to use mouse and keyboard too these days.

They also argue that notable games like Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Halo all feature aim assist for controller players. However, it’s worth mentioning that Apex Legends players often complain that aim assist makes playing with a controller simply better than mouse and keyboard in competitive modes.

As a whole, though there are good arguments on both sides of the debate, the bottom line is that aim assist in crossplay matches is a de facto industry standard for popular shooter games these days. If Blizzard chooses to go against that paradigm, that’s the company’s decision, but it’s ultimately one that goes against the grain. Meanwhile, Overwatch 2 is giving out goodies to players who are dealing with its raft of release issues.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

It might be the middle of week, but there’s still no slowing down this Wordle train. We’ve returned to offer more help to people in need when it comes to getting the Wordle correct. This time, we’re helping out with the answer on October 12, and players are going to need all the help they can get with this one. Though this word is mostly known throughout the English language, it’s fairly obscure. Players will undoubtedly struggle to get this Wordle given the answer’s spelling and letter usage. If you haven’t started the Wordle just yet, then you can check out our list of recommended starting words. However, if you’re already past the starting point, then you’re likely looking for some hints.

Luckily, we provide just that further down in this article. We also spell out the full answer even further down, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read below the hints.

Today’s Wordle Answer – October 12, 2022

We’ll begin with two hints that directly relate to today’s Wordle answer, but don’t give it away immediately.

Hint 1: If you put a “b” at the front of this word, you’d get a word that was part of the title for a hit superhero show in the 1970s.Hint 2: This word has two vowels, one of which is repeating (three in total). One of the repeating vowels comes at the start of the word. The word ends in “c.”

If those hints weren’t enough to get the ball rolling for you, then you can keep reading for the full answer to the October 12 Wordle. The full answer to today’s Wordle is “ionic.” This is likely one of the harder answers we’ve ever seen in Wordle. Many people might know the word “bionic,” but ionic is a whole other story. We hope every player was able to continue their Wordle streak today. Check back tomorrow for another edition of our Wordle guides.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

A few months after launch, Saints Row developer Volition has begun prioritizing fixes over new content for the immediate future. Saints Row had a rough launch back in August, one which was marred by a number of bugs that had crept into the final game and which likely contributed to the mixed reception that it received from critics and fans.

“We are supporting Saints Row for the long-term, and while we’d have preferred to be talking about roadmaps and expansions, right now we feel the focus must be on telling you how we’re going to improve the Saints Row experience for all players in 2022 and beyond,” Volition wrote in a statement. “There’s a lot more we want to do, and right now our development priority is delivering improvements over new features.”

Volition expects its next major update to land in November, and it will include more than 200 bug fixes and quality-of-life upgrades. The developer added that there’ll be a “particular focus on challenges, overall stability and co-op” in this update while it works on implementing “bigger and better improvement” based on fan feedback.

Saints Row will receive some new content in 2022 in the form of a free cosmetic pack that’ll turn your character into a walking fashion crime. More cosmetic packs will be released throughout the year, with several of these drops being exclusive to members of the Saints Row season pass.

“For as much as Saints Row differentiates itself from the bombast of its past few entries, it still closely resembles a game from the same era, leading to an experience that often feels stale and dated,” Richard Wakeling wrote in GameSpot’s Saints Row review.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News