Apex Legends Season 29 Split 2 dropped today, and it's a meaningful mid-season refresh rather than the usual minor tune-up. Ballistic gets the most dramatic overhaul, but Pathfinder, Seer, Axle, and several weapons all see changes worth understanding before you queue up. The hop-up pool also gets reshuffled, with a brand-new option hitting floor loot. Here's everything that changed.
What changed for legends in Split 2?
Ballistic
Ballistic received the biggest single-legend rework in this patch, and most of it is a straight upgrade. His Whistler tactical now applies overheat to only one weapon instead of both, but that's a trade-off worth taking: the overheat damage jumps from 15 to 50, the debuff duration extends from 12 to 15 seconds, and he now carries two tactical charges instead of one. The debuff also no longer reapplies to a weapon already overheating, so you can't stack it, but you can now fire Whistler faster after launch.
His passive gets a small quality-of-life fix too: Ballistic now respawns with his Sling weapon in all game modes, which was a frustrating oversight before.
The ultimate now shares its sprint boost with nearby teammates instead of only Ballistic himself, which makes him considerably more useful in coordinated squads.
Upgrades got restructured as well. At level 2, Trap Mode lets you place his tactical in the world for 15 seconds, dealing 35 damage to enemies who walk into it. At level 3, Quiet Time swaps the overheat effect entirely for silence and slow on hit, with a longer cooldown as the cost. Killing Time moves to level 3 and still extends the ultimate by 15 seconds.
Ballistic Whistler overheat rework
Pathfinder
Pathfinder gets a clean buff package. His grapple now has two charges and a flat 20-second cooldown, replacing the progressive cooldown system that punished aggressive play. The zipline ultimate drops from a 3-minute cooldown to 2 minutes, and the projectile launches faster. There's also a subtle hitbox improvement: Pathfinder now tucks his legs while riding horizontal ziplines, making him harder to track mid-travel.
At level 2, Field Research now grants all Recon perks rather than just survey beacon scans, and Ringmaster grants all Controller perks instead of just ring console access. At level 3, Landing Gear replaces the old double-charge upgrade, giving better air control and faster recovery from hard landings.
The flat cooldown change is the one to pay attention to. Previously, spamming the grapple early in a fight meant waiting much longer for the next one. Now it's predictable, which makes Pathfinder far more reliable in ranked play where timing your repositions matters.
Seer
Seer's heartbeat sensor activates faster and pulses at shorter intervals, meaning you get enemy information more quickly and more often. The delay between aiming and sensor activation is now consistent across all weapons, which removes a frustrating inconsistency that made the passive feel unreliable depending on what you were holding.
His tactical now hits faster after launch and applies a stronger slow, specifically designed to stop high-velocity legends like Pathfinder mid-movement.
The big upgrade is to his ultimate: on deployment, it now triggers an immediate two-second scan that highlights any enemy inside the zone. Enemies entering after deployment also get scanned for two seconds. Cloaked legends moving through the ultimate zone will now leave visible footsteps.
Axle
Axle gets tightened up in a few areas. Knocked players can no longer slide across zip codes as Axle or while boosted by a Nitro Gate, which closes an unintended movement exploit. The Super Slider upgrade no longer grants a second tactical charge; instead it gives Nitro Gate a five-second cooldown reduction and adds one to the max in-world count.
His Kickstart ultimate now launches victims on a parabolic arc based on their velocity at impact rather than straight up, which changes how it interacts with moving targets. The enemy highlight duration is also slightly reduced to better match the actual stun window.
Mad Maggie, Valkyrie, and Conduit
Mad Maggie's tactical cooldown increases from 22 to 28 seconds, and her wrecking ball speed boost now only applies while sprinting rather than affecting all movement types. Valkyrie loses the recent improvement that let her land faster from skydiving. Conduit's tactical cooldown rises from 27 to 30 seconds, and her level 3 Enduring Barrier upgrade no longer provides regen through ring damage.
None of these are major reworks, but they're consistent nerfs to legends that were overperforming in specific situations. If you've been running Conduit for ring-damage sustain, that specific use case is now gone.
What weapon and hop-up changes came with Split 2?
The Hemlok Breach AR loses a bullet from every magazine tier: white drops from 21 to 20, blue from 24 to 22, and purple/gold from 27 to 25. Not a massive change, but it does slightly reduce the Hemlok's sustained pressure in longer fights.
The EVA-8 and Mozambique both receive small handling speed increases, making them feel snappier to swap and ready.
Executioner hop-up on Peacekeeper
New and rotated hop-ups
The most interesting addition is the Executioner, a new hop-up available on the Peacekeeper and Mastiff. Knocking an enemy with either weapon grants 50 shield regeneration over 5 seconds. At 375 points to unlock, it rewards aggressive shotgun play with immediate defensive value.
The Graffiti Mod migration from Longbow/Wingman/Mozambique to the Flatline and Volt is worth tracking for loot priority. If you're running either of those new carriers, the mod is now in the pool for them.
How does Split 2 shift the meta?
Ballistic goes from a niche pick to a genuine team-fight threat. Two tactical charges, 50 overheat damage, and a team-wide sprint boost on ultimate means he can actually pressure enemies and support his squad simultaneously. Expect his pick rate to climb.
Pathfinder's flat 20-second grapple cooldown removes the main reason players avoided him in ranked. Predictable cooldowns are better for consistent play, and the 2-minute zipline ultimate means more frequent repositions at a squad level.
Seer's immediate ultimate scan closes the gap between deployment and information. Before this patch, there was a brief window where enemies could enter the zone undetected. That's gone now.
Pathfinder double grapple in action
For weapons, the Executioner hop-up makes close-range shotgun builds more self-sustaining. Getting a knock and recovering 50 shield while your squad cleans up is a meaningful advantage in multi-squad fights.
If you want context on how these changes fit into the broader Season 29 picture, the Season 29 Overclocked major changes breakdown covers everything from Axle's launch kit to the Deathbox Respawn system. For a deeper look at how the new mechanics work in practice, the Deathbox Respawns and Chain Healing guide is worth reading before you rank up.
For a full breakdown of where every legend sits competitively, the Apex Legends guides collection has tier lists and strategy content updated through the current season.