Pathfinder rework: Apex Legends grapple & hitbox changes explained Respawn EntertainmentRespawn has finally handed Pathfinder long-awaited buffs and changes in the Apex Legends Season 7 update, targeting the Forward Scout\u2019s grappling hook and hitbox \u2014 here\u2019s what it all means for the popular Legend. [jwplayer QJBhIFLZ] Pathfinder has been in an interesting place over the last few seasons, flipping between the leading Legend in the game, to a mid-tier pick at best. After taking control on top of the Apex Legends meta, Respawn bumped the Forward Scout\u2019s power down slightly in patch 6.0 by dramatically hiking up his grappling hook cooldown. The Season 6 nerf \u2014 which boosted the grapple cooldown all the way up to 35 seconds per use \u2014 saw Pathfinder dip drastically in both win and play rates across Apex\u2019s last season. In response, Respawn has dropped two new Pathfinder changes. Here\u2019s what the Apex Legends Season 7 update means for Pathfinder, how it may bring the Forward Scout back into the meta, and what plans Respawn has for the loveable robot just in case he still struggles heading into \u2018Ascension.\u2019 Pathfinder grapple buff: what it means Pathfinder has been handed a number of small buffs for his iconic Grappling Hook ability in the Season 7 update. These include a five-second drop in the cooldown \u2014 now 30 seconds, down from 35 seconds \u2014 as well as an earlier \u201cendpoint.\u201d Apex Legends players using the grapple will no longer need to hit the ground in order to have the hook \u201cfinish\u201d. The hook\u2019s end range has also been increased to 500 units\/second. \u201cIn 6.1, we shipped a very conservative version of this Pathfinder change,\u201d the Respawn devs said in the \u2018Ascension\u2019 patch notes. \u201cThis didn\u2019t meaningfully affect his win rate\u2026 we will now ship a much more aggressive version of the changelist.\u201d This time around, this grappling hook buff should help Pathfinder a lot. The \u201caggressive\u201d tweaks to both cooldown numbers, and ability end range will give all Forward Scouts one huge bump in combat power, and overall maneuverability. Respawn also wanted to make sure Pathfinder players \u201cweren\u2019t punished for chaining grappling hooks perfectly into other movement mechanics,\u201d which should be the end result of these Nov. 4 balance changes for the happy simulacrum. Pathfinder hitbox rework: what it means The grappling hook changes are a straight buff, but Pathfinder is also getting what could be considered a nerf too; his hitbox will be bulked up slightly in the Season 7 update coming on Nov. 3. The reason this is a nerf for the Forward Scout is because Respawn has decided to keep the \u201cLow Profile\u201d status on him too. That means he\u2019ll get hit more often \u2014 because of the bigger hitbox \u2014 but still take 20% more damage for his size. Respawn may \u2018inject more power\u2019 soon Respawn\u2019s aim, they explained, is to manage Pathfinder\u2019s overall power. If he can be killed quicker, they can begin to inject more power back into his already strong ability kit. \u201cAs you can see, there\u2019s a lot of negative space around his arms and legs. We\u2019re hoping that by making it easier to hit Pathfinder we can bring his winrate under control [and can then] put meaningful power into his kit,\u201d the devs wrote. \u201cEven with these increased hitboxes, Pathfinder will still be considerably harder to hit than most other characters in the game. \u201cIf this change does make a difference in terms of his win rate we will drop Low Profile; but we really didn\u2019t want to take it off him this patch only to have to put it back next patch when it turns out his win rate spiked.\u201d Last time Respawn handed out small buffs for Pathfinder, his win rate ticked up by just a single percent. This time, it looks like they\u2019ve gone a little harder on the boosts; expect the loveable Apex Legends robot to return to the meta in Season 7. Read more: Apex Legends Season 7 full patch notes – Pathfinder is far from the only Legend buffed or nerfed this patch too. Loba, Rampart, Wattson, Mirage, Caustic, and Bangalore all got tweaks, while Apex speedster Octane was handed a monster boost to his \u2018Swift Mend\u2019 healing passive. Season 7 is also adding a new Legend, gravity-controlling Horizon, and taking the battle royale to its third map, Olympus. Read all the \u2018Ascension\u2019 patch notes here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pathfinder rework: Apex Legends grapple & hitbox changes explained Respawn EntertainmentRespawn has finally handed Pathfinder long-awaited buffs and changes in the Apex Legends Season 7 update, targeting the Forward Scout\u2019s grappling hook and hitbox \u2014 here\u2019s what it all means for the popular Legend. [jwplayer QJBhIFLZ] Pathfinder has been in an interesting place over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18436\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}