Apex Legends Season 17 Arsenal weapon changes: Massive L-Star and Triple Take buff, Charge Rifle nerf, and more

Apex Legends Season 17 commences on May 9th, 2023, and is set to introduce a new batch of weapon balancing and adjustments. The seventeenth season, called Arsenal, will feature significant buffs and nerfs to some of Apex Legends' prominent firearms across different weapon categories and aim to bring some significant shifts to the meta.

Season 17 of Apex Legends will also introduce tons of exciting new in-game content, including a brand new Legend called Ballistic, who will showcase his refined gunslinging in every game. There's also an all-new revamped Ranked System, a complete overhaul to the Firing Range, an updated World's Edge with new P.O.I.s, and plenty more to come as the season progresses.

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Season 17 of Apex Legends shakes up the weapon meta with significant buffs to Triple Take and L-Star and nerfs to the Charge Rifle and R-99

Apex Legends houses an extensive collection of futuristic fictional firearms from the Titanfall universe that are classified based on their functionality and ammunition type. The latest addition is the Nemesis AR in Season 16, the armory of weapons is ever-expanding.

With the release of the season 17 patch notes, Apex Legends has hyped their fans for the newest season, called Arsenal, which will bring in some sizeable buffs and nerfs to shake up the ongoing weapon meta.

Without further ado, let us take an in-depth look at all the upcoming weapon balancing in Apex Legends Season 17 Arsenal that goes live on May 9th, 2023:

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L-Star E.M.G. (Care Package)

The L-Star E.M.G. in Apex Legends Season 17 Arsenal (Image via E.A.)

Upcoming Changes:

• Added Disruptor Rounds: 60% damage increase against shields
• Base Damage Reduced to 16 (was 17)
• Projectiles now have passthrough: 60% of damage retained
• Projectile growth increased
• Improved recoil pattern
• Removed barrel
• Ammo Stockpile: 324
• Reduced VFX brightness when hitting unarmored targets

Following Apex Legends Arsenal, the L-Star will be moved into Care Package, replacing the RE-45 machine pistol, and witness some crucial buffs to its performance to elevate it.

These buffs will include the addition of Disruptor Rounds that deal significant damage against shields and would massively increase the damage per second (D.P.S.) and reduce the time-to-kill (T.T.K.). Additionally, the projectile could pass through structures and grow in size after shooting. To balance this weapon, the barrel will be removed to add some recoil, and its base damage will also be reduced.

With the introduction of Ballistic, whose ultimate provides infinite ammo, the L-Star will be a force to be reckoned with, and in the hands of Rampart, who provides a passive effect on L.M.G.s, this weapon will make an ideal combo.

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Triple Take

The Triple Take every marksman rifle in Apex Legends (Image via E.A.)

Upcoming changes:

• Projectile size increased
• Improved hip-fire spread
• Tightened bullet pattern when fully choked
• Ammo per shot reduced to 1 (was 3)
• Magazines sizes adjusted to match the new ammo costs
• Purple Mag: Increased to 10 shots (was 9)

The Triple Take energy marksman rifle will experience a sizeable buff with Season 17 Arsenal. The update will increase the projectile size of the pellets and create a more concentrated bullet pattern when fully choked, allowing players to land a heavy 63 damage per shot if all three pellets hit.

The increased projectile size and improved hip-fire pellet spread would allow the Triple Take to be used even as a close-range shotgun. Another major buff is that the ammo per shot is now counted as one instead of three (since triple take fires three pellets), providing a significant increase to magazine capacity and will, without a doubt, increase the weapon's pick rate tremendously in the meta.

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R-99 SMG

The R-99 SMG in Apex Legends Season 17 Arsenal (Image via E.A.)

Upcoming changes:

• Removed one bullet from the base and all magazines
• No Magazine reduced to 19 (was 20)
• White Magazine reduced to 21 (was 22)
• Blue Magazine reduced to 24 (was 25)
• Purple & Gold magazine reduced to 27 (was 28)

The R-99 will be subjected to a reduction in its magazine capacity by removing one bullet from its base form and when equipped with a light ammo magazine attachment of any rarity.

These nerf will significantly affect the weapon's T.T.K. and damage per magazine, making other S.M.G.s such as the Volt, C.A.R., and even the Prowler rise in the meta.

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Charge Rifle

The Charge Rifle energy sniper in Apex Legends (Image via E.A.)

Upcoming changes:

• Reduced shots per magazine to 3 (was 4)
• Reduced spawn rate

The Charge Rifle experiences a nerf with Season 17 Arsenal by reducing the number of shots per magazine from four shots to three, as well as an overall reduction in spawn rate.

Charge Rifle is infamous amongst players for its hit-scan laser beam, which is unaffected by projectile drop or damage drop-off, making it impossible to escape its range and requiring little to no skill. With the new nerfs, the weapon meta will be much more challenging.

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30-30 Repeater

The 30-30 Repeater marksman rifle in Apex Legends (Image via E.A.)

Upcoming change:

• Projectile size increased when fully charged

Similar to the Triple Take, the 30-30 Repeater Marksman Rifle will experience an increase in projectile size when the weapon is fully charged. This will allow players to hit their targets more often and deal devastating damage if they take their time to charge their shots.

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Apex Legends Season 17 Arsenal goes live on P.C. (via Steam and the E.A. App), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch.