Apex Legends Iron Crown event brings solo mode, balance changes

It’s time to fly solo.

The Iron Crown event has arrived in Apex Legends, bringing a load of new content and a variety of gameplay changes. The event will run from August 13 through August 27.

The centerpiece of the update is the arrival of the long-awaited solo mode. The new mode doesn’t seem to add anything particularly surprising, but gives players the opportunity to jump into a game alone rather than worrying about the quality of their teammates.

Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment noted that solo mode may not stick around depending on how it is received during the event.

“We are finally dipping our toes into the Solo waters. We’re going to put it out there and see what happens,” Respawn said. “Too early to say if this will become permanent or not. Healthy matchmaking across all modes is priority.”

In addition to solo mode, the event features a bonus experience weekend for teams that place top-five, new opportunities for loot, and some eye-catching new skins. There is also Octane Town Takeover, a feature that adds a new town to Kings Canyon.

Apex Legends weapon balance tweaks in latest update

While the Iron Crown Event is going to be done after two weeks, some more permanent additions are being made to Apex Legends. This includes a number of changes to character and weapon balance.

The biggest note is that the Alternator has received another nerf when it has the Disruptor Rounds attachment. The attachment does bonus damage to units with shields, and has been regarded as overpowered by players in recent weeks. In response to that, the damage multiplier has been reduced from 1.7 to 1.55 to bring it more in line with other weapons.

The R-301 has also been nerfed with increased recoil. This is designed to make its spray pattern more random, making it less effective in long-range fights.

Finally, the RE-45 had its ammo capacity increased. The base capacity now starts at 16, with each attachment tier adding three more shots up to a maximum of 25.

Apex Legends hero changes in Iron Crown event

Some legends also received some big changes.

Bloodhound can now spot enemy movement markers from a greater distance and the AOE of his tactical ability was increased. Pathfinder’s hitbox was changed to now take torso damage when shot in the hip, instead of leg damage.

Octane, Wraith, and Mirage all had various bugs and exploits remedied.

The full patch notes can be found on the Apex Legends subreddit.