Apex Legends dev explains reason behind removing Hammerpoint in Season 9

An Apex Legends developer has explained why Respawn made the decision to vault the Hammerpoint hop up in Season 9.

The Apex Legends Season 9 patch is on the cusp of releasing and players are gearing up for what looks like the game’s biggest update yet. From the brand new Legend Valkyrie to a fresh permanent mode in the form of Arenas, it’s fair to say the upcoming Legacy Season has got the whole community incredibly excited.

With the Bocek bow also being added on May 4, two new hop-ups in the form of Shatter Caps and Deadeye’s Tempo are being added to the loot pool. In order to make room for these brand new attachments, the Hammerpoint and Skullpeircer hop-ups are being vaulted.

This has spurred a lot of questions from the Apex community, who are particularly fond of the Hammerpoint for the Mozambique. In response, an Apex dev has come out and gave some clarity over why they decided to vault the hop-up.

Why is Hammerpoint being removed in Apex Legends Season 9?

Usable with the Mozambique and P2020, the Hammerpoint Rounds hop-up greatly increases damage to unshielded enemies. While certainly not the most popular attachment, it has made the Mozambique a viable secondary option to finish off low targets in close-range gunfights.

However, the Hammerpoint hop-up is being removed in Season 9 and an Apex developer has shed some light on why it’s being vaulted. According to the dev, it all comes down to the fact that they’re buffing both the Mozambique and the P2020 at the launch of Season 9.

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Therefore, keeping the Hammerpoint in-game as it is with these additional buffs would most likely make these weapons overpowered. On top of this, they were attempting to make room for the new Bocek Bow hop-ups.

“Long story short, because of buffing the base weapons, we would have to nerf the hop-up’s power so it wasn’t OP… the hop-up only really works as a high-risk high reward item, so it just didn’t work well anymore,” they said.

It’s obvious Respawn has a solid reason for removing the Hammerpoint in the Season 9 update. Although it’ll certainly be difficult to two-tap low health targets with the Mozambique in the new season, hopefully, the buffs make the gun more effective overall.

Either way, the devs have also revealed they’re exploring what they can do with the Hammerpoint in the future, so there’s always a chance it’ll make a return.