Respawn dropped the S28 mid-season notes and they packed a lot in. The big points: Gibraltar, Wraith, and Wattson get targeted buffs to make them more useful, footsteps audio gets an overhaul so you can probably blame your ears instead of your aim, and several weapons see tuning—most notably the Hemlok turning into a very different Elite weapon. Also, Olympus gets a tiny real estate move to calm one heated hotspot.

Legend updates

Gibraltar

Gibraltar has been languishing near the bottom of pick rates, so Respawn gave him mobility and faster, stronger tools. Highlights include:

  • Passive - Momentum Boost: If Gibby keeps sprinting for a couple seconds he gets a speed boost. This only triggers while unarmed or when using weapons that do not limit sprint speed.
  • Punch vs Hardlight: His punch now deals double damage to Hardlight Mesh.
  • Tactical - Dome cooldown: Reduced from 17s to 13s.
  • Ultimate: The size increase upgrade is now part of his base kit, giving the ultimate a 20% larger radius. Missile call-in time is faster and you can throw the ultimate before the equip animation completes.
  • Upgrades:
    • Level 2 - Thunder Dome: The dome electrifies on placement. First enemy to enter takes 50 damage and is slowed. Also a Healing Dome option increases dome duration by 4s and doubles small-med healing for anyone inside.
    • Level 3 - Triple Bombardment: Ultimate splits into 3 charges. Each charge has reduced radius and fewer missiles.
    • Removed a few legacy upgrades: Big Bruddah, Bubble Bunker, Baby Bubble.

Wraith

Wraith keeps her skirmisher identity but gets cooldowns and new upgrade options to help her stand out more.

  • Tactical: Tactical cooldown reduction was integrated into her base kit. Cooldown reduced from 20s to 15s.
  • Ultimate: Ultimate cooldown reduction also integrated. Cooldown lowered from 2.5 minutes to 1.5 minutes. Casting animation is faster for quicker activation.
  • Upgrades:
    • Level 2 - Phase Dome: While Wraith channels her ultimate she creates a Phase Dome that lasts up to 30s or until she places a portal. Anyone who enters the dome goes into the void.
    • Level 3 - Phase Jumper: Tactical void time increased from 4s to 6s and Wraith gains a double jump while in the void.

Wattson

Wattson's changes focus on making her Hardlight Mesh interactions less fiddly and her fences more impactful.

  • Tactical - Fences: Placing a fence in front of a Hardlight Mesh will reinforce the mesh. If the mesh is broken the fence will rebuild and reinforce it.
  • Fence damage increased from 20 to 35.
  • Fence deployment time reduced from 1s to 0.5s.
  • Ultimate: Wattson's ultimate now reinforces Hardlight Meshes in the pylon zone. If a mesh is broken, the ultimate will rebuild and reinforce it.

Footstep audio and other changes

Footstep audio got a directional volume tweak. When an enemy is outside your field of view their footsteps will change volume based on position. The game will make footsteps louder as the source moves from beside you to over your shoulder to directly behind you. The intent is clearer audio cues for enemy position relative to your view.

Weapon changes

The Hemlok gets the most dramatic rework, becoming an Elite weapon with new firing modes and explosive options. Other weapons receive fairly standard tuning.

  • Hemlok Breach AR:
    • Removed burst and single fire modes.
    • New automatic mode: slow fire rate, body damage 23, headshot 32, integrated silencer.
    • New Breach Charge mode: single shot explosive, 15s cooldown, 38 damage to players with radial falloff, and strong damage multiplier to Hardlight and structures.
  • 30-30 Repeater: Base damage increased to 43 from 41.
  • RE-45 Burst: Elite version is now the default RE-45. Elite visual treatment removed.
  • P2020: Hammerpoints unlock cost reduced to 425 from 500. Base magazine increased to 9 from 8.
  • EVA-8: Improved base reload speed.
  • Prowler PDW: Burst fire delay reduced and recoil improved.

Map tweak

On Olympus, the Elysium point of interest is moving to the northeast corner near Rift. The goal is to reduce forced fights that used to happen around Somers University.

Other notes

The mid-season update also arrives alongside a new Wildcard event and a prestige skin for Fuse. Expect these changes to roll out with the mid-season patch and to show up in play as players adapt to faster Gibby movement, a punchier Hemlok, and louder footsteps from behind.

Patch details are from the official mid-season notes.