The Apex Legends Season 18 update is bringing a number of changes and adjustments in response to notable issues that have been affecting the FPS game throughout Season 17, and a few of those changes seem to have been revealed earlier than intended. Private playlists have recently gone live with new ring values that could have a notable effect on Apex Legends Ranked play.
Season 17 Ranked reached a wild milestone earlier this month as over one million players managed to reach Master Rank – an unprecedented number given that player distribution in other ranks was far lower.
The Season 17 Ranked system allows players to reach high ranks by ‘ratting’ – playing matches without engaging in combat and hiding whenever possible. These potential ring changes could push the rats out of their hiding spots more often, forcing engagements to happen more frequently.
Apex Legends content creator ‘KralRindo‘ found the unintentional reveal through newly-released private match playlists. When looking at their numbers and calculations, we can see that the ring closes much quicker during each round and does slightly more damage early on.
For instance, the updated round one ring closes after 75 seconds instead of 90 seconds, and the round two ring closes after 120 seconds instead of 165 seconds. Essentially, it’ll be tougher for teams to play the edge of the ring without regularly adjusting their positions.
All pre-patch note changes coming in Season 18 are subject to change, of course, but you can try out the new Neon Network event while waiting for the official ring numbers to be released.
Be sure to have a look at our Apex Legends tier list if you’re wondering who the best characters are in Season 17 before new Legend balance adjustments get made. And if you’d rather wait for the new season while playing another title in the same genre, we’ve got a list of battle royale games you can jump into on PC right now.