Apex Legends devs are planning L-STAR changes in future update
Respawn Entertainment Both the Spitfire and Devotion LMGs were changed in the Aftermarket Event update, but, missing from the patch notes was the L-Star. However, Respawn have confirmed changes are planned for the unique weapon.
The Devotion has been tearing up lobbies in Season 6 of Apex Legends, so although everyone might not be happy about it, a nerf was probably needed. Both it and the Spitfire have had their hipfire spread increased, to keep it consistent across the LMG class.
For a full breakdown of the changes to the Devotion and Spitfire, check out the Aftermarket patch notes.
However, the L-Star was conspicuously missing from this hipfire adjustment, despite also being classed as an LMG. Although, it doesn’t necessarily fit into the category all that well. Despite this, Respawn do have some adjustments in the works.
Aftermarket LMG updates
Respawn Entertainment The exact same hipfire spread nerf applied to the Devotion has also been applied to the Spitfire. However, to compensate for this, the Spitfire’s horizontal recoil has been reduced.
While you can still reliably hipfire in close-quarters scenarios with these weapons, you’ll need to ADS if you wish to avoid missing your shots in mid-range firefights. Those of you who have used the Devotion and Spitfire will know just how potent the hipfire can be, so it was only a matter of time before they received a nerf to their hipfire accuracy.
What does the LMG hipfire nerf mean for the L-STAR?
Respawn Entertainment Many fans have been wondering whether the added hipfire spread will be added to the L-STAR as the current patch notes have mysteriously left this out. “We try to keep hipfire numbers consistent with similar weapons of the same class,” states Respawn. “So, the hipfire spread increase on the Devotion is also being applied to the Spitfire.”
However, when asked whether this hipfire update would be coming to the L-STAR Respawn Designer, David Bocek stated “The L-Star is sorta a weird gun. It’s in the LMG category but it isn’t really a full LMG in terms of the stats, it’s kinda “LMG-lite”. We have future plans for the LSTAR, just nothing this patch.”
The L-STAR performs very differently to the majority of weapons in Apex Legends due to its overheat mechanic, which allows players to continuously fire until the gun overheats. This means you can maintain pressure if you simply fire in short bursts and have the necessary ammo.
To compensate for this, the L-STAR has very high recoil and slow projectile speed which can make hitting targets at range fairly difficult. Because of this, Respawn have yet to apply the same hipfire nerf to the L-STAR.
“The issue with the L-STAR’s recoil pattern is that it’s this squiggly S shape. That means it has constant horizontal recoil one way or another. If you are close enough, that doesn’t matter, but if you’re farther away it feels like you can’t hit anything,” says David. “Just tuning the multipliers on the recoil won’t solve this, so it probably needs a new pattern.”
When is the L-STAR update?
Respawn have yet to make a statement on the upcoming L-STAR changes, but we will likely hear more from the dev team in the coming months. For now, it looks like energy-based LMG is safe from the current hipfire nerfs.
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