Apex Legends Season 27 Buffs Horizon, Valkyrie, and Rampart

Season 27 Bets on Smarter Tweaks, Not Flashy Additions – And That Could Be the Right Call

Season 27 of Apex Legends caught my attention for one simple reason: Respawn finally looks comfortable saying “we’re fixing the game you already love” instead of chasing the new-toy high. No new Legend, but Olympus gets a revamp, the community-born movement tech of supergliding becomes officially supported, and weapon tuning is on deck. Most importantly, Horizon, Valkyrie, and Rampart are getting real kit reworks after sinking to low pick rates. Meanwhile, Octane mains can unclench a little – the devs say he’s not being ignored, just not up this season.

Key Takeaways

• Horizon, Valkyrie, and Rampart are getting substantial buffs/reworks because of sustained low pick rates and aging kits.
• Supergliding goes legit – Respawn is embracing a skill-based movement technique instead of patching it out.
• Olympus is getting a map revamp, which could reshape rotations and third-party frequency.
• Octane isn’t forgotten despite a pick-rate drop, but changes won’t land this season.

Breaking Down the Big Buffs

Respawn’s own explanation is refreshingly straightforward: these three Legends just aren’t popular right now. As legend designer Ian Holstead puts it, “Ultimately, all of them share relatively low pick rates… they needed some love.” Valkyrie, in particular, “had kind of been left in the past” as the game evolved. That’s the right read — all three launched with strong identities that dulled as the meta moved on.

Valkyrie’s revamp trims cooldowns and takeoff times, speeds up her flight so she’s not a clay pigeon midair, and adds a Super Sonic option to her ultimate. Translation: less floaty downtime, more decisive macro plays. If Olympus sightlines remain punishing, this could bring Valk back into competitive rotations without recreating her old “free rotate” dominance.

Horizon’s updates focus on making her movement feel rewarding again. Faster vertical launch and a reduced Gravity Lift cooldown mean less awkward “waiting to engage” moments, while her Black Hole gains more health so it doesn’t get deleted by a sneeze. She should reclaim some of that launch-and-dump utility without turning every fight into a zero-G blender.

Rampart is the wild card. Early internal tweaks to Sheila reportedly broke the balance, so Respawn pivoted to team utility: Amped Walls now include a roof for grenade and high-ground protection, their health scales with your Evo level and regenerates out of combat, and teammates behind them get a movement boost, faster reloads, and infinite ammo. That last bit is… spicy. If Olympus’ rework still features long lanes and exposed chokes, bunker comps will be very real — think LMG lanes and poke metas becoming oppressive if not checked by counterplay.

Supergliding Goes Legit — Here’s Why That Matters

Supergliding has lived in that awkward space between “high-skill tech” and “is this an exploit?” for years. By officially supporting it, Respawn is doing two important things: preserving movement skill expression that defines Apex’s identity and bringing parity across inputs. Expect cleaner timing windows, controller reliability improvements, and fewer gray areas around macros. The flip side is the skill gap widens — players who master glide chains will farm rotations and re-peeks. But frankly, that’s Apex at its best: fast, expressive, and rewarding to learn.

Olympus Revamp: Can It Fix Third-Party City?

Olympus has always looked gorgeous and played chaotic, with punishing sightlines and rotations that invite third parties. Respawn hasn’t detailed every change, but if the revamp improves cover density and clarifies power positions, it could elevate fights beyond “who got jumped next.” It also synergizes with the Legend tweaks: Valk’s stronger macro movement makes more sense on a map built for repositioning, Horizon benefits from vertical play around POIs, and Rampart’s new walls could anchor pushes or holds in ways that don’t feel miserable to fight if the map is tuned for counter-angles.

What About Octane?

Octane’s drop to around 3% is shocking for a fan-favorite who once dominated solo queue. The arrival of Sparrow — a newer, more flexible mobility option — hasn’t helped. Holstead acknowledges pick rate matters but isn’t the only metric, adding “Octane has not been forgotten,” just not slated for Season 27. That’s fair. Octane’s history is a pendulum of “too easy, too popular” and “undertuned team value.” If he’s coming back, he needs utility that helps squads without reverting to Pad-as-free-rotate gameplay.

Weapon Tuning Will Decide How Big These Buffs Feel

Respawn is teasing “spicy” weapon changes, and this is where the whole update could tip. If poke weapons or LMGs get even a modest bump, Rampart’s bunker incentives skyrocket. If midair accuracy penalties shift, Valk may either soar or stall. The best-case scenario is subtle fire-rate, recoil, and ammo economy tuning that supports varied comps rather than crowning a single meta. Keep an eye on care package rotations and craftables — they tend to quietly define ranked loadouts more than any single stat tweak.

The Transparency Pledge

Lead legend designer Josh Mohan says Respawn wants to share more about how it chooses rework targets beyond raw pick rate. Good. Apex players are data literate and brutally honest — explain the goals, show the metrics, and you’ll get better feedback than any sentiment scrape can provide.

TL;DR

Season 27 trades a shiny new Legend for deep system and kit updates, and that’s the right move. Superglide support, an Olympus revamp, and meaningful reworks for Horizon, Valk, and Rampart could refresh the meta if weapon tuning doesn’t tilt things too far. Octane changes aren’t here yet, but Respawn says he’s on the roadmap — and for once, the studio’s priorities actually line up with what the game needs now.