December 07, 2021 Patch

## New content

* New event:  Raiders - runs from December 07, 2021 to December 21, 2021.
* The Winter Express gamemode returns
* Added new heirloom for Wattson.

## Balance changes

 Seer
* Focus of Attention: Decreased detonation delay from 1.6s to 1.4s

 Arc Star
* Sticks
	+ Base stick damage lowered from 30 -> 10
	+ Shield Damage Multiplier increased from x3 -> x4 (stick on shielded enemy will now max out at 40 instead of 90)
	+ Sticking an enemy now applies a slow debuff (reverting Legacy update change)
* Non-Sticks
	+ Slow duration is now driven by distance to the center of Arc Star detonation

 Splatter Rounds
* Removed increased magazine capacity

 Crafting
* Shotgun Shells,  Sniper Ammo, and  Arrows crafting output reduced to a single stack

## Quality of life

### New Custom Reticle Color System

Custom Reticles are here! The new UI can be opened under Gameplay Settings by selecting the Customize option under Reticle. Once in the new Custom Reticle UI you’ll be able to:

* Select a color from some of our recommended favorites
* Use the color and brightness sliders to find that perfect color
* Manually enter an RGB color
* Toggle between 4 different hand picked environments to preview your reticle

## Private match

* Observer Mode - UI and Scoring Improvements for in-game stats menu.
* Observer Mode - Reduced opacity on Loba’s Back Market for map & mini-map.
* Observer Mode - Added toggle option to show next ring location.
* Added [Team] Eliminated text in kill feed for Private Match Anonymous mode.
* Admins now have the ability to end matches in either Observer or Player positions.
* Fixed issue for real time API delay after running consecutive games.
* New real time API events including:
	+ Shots fired
	+ Kill awarded
	+ Line by line formatting
	+ Unique player IDs

## Bug fixes

* Wattson: Fixed the issue with fences “sticking” when trying to place a node near a fence.
* Wattson: Fixed bug for cases where Wattson’s Fence nodes ignored player collision.
* Wattson: Fixed bug with the blueprint line not showing up to signify where the fence will be created.
* Wattson: Fixed issue where Caustic’s Ultimate isn’t zapped by the Interception Pylon.
* Wattson: Fixed bug where Arc Stars could stick to and damage the Interception Pylon
* Ash: Based on feedback we’ve increased the audio presence of Ash’s Ultimate.
* Ash will no longer “bleed” when shot and now displays sparks [like Pathfinder and Revenant].
* Ash: fixed cases where a grid pattern would show on some rare and common skins.
* Valkyrie / Revenant: Fixed a bug where using a Skydive with Death Totem at a specific time caused Valkyrie’s skydive to enter a bugged state.
* Valkyrie: Fix for Birthright Skin where Valk’s jetpack control clips into her hands in first person.
* Arenas: Fixed bug where Seer could continuously charge his tactical after it’s reached zero uses.
* Arenas: Reduced reconnect times since the matches are shorter than a Battle Royale match.
* Arenas: Fix for missing ammo UI on the common, rare, or epic, CAR.
* Arenas: Fix for missing horizontal black bars while spectating.
* Arenas: Fix for cases where the Death Tab is missing from the shop window.
* Fixed issue with a spot on Storm Point where players could camp in unintended areas near Command Center.
* We also addressed multiple minor bugs around the map ranging from misplaced kill triggers and holes in geo.
* Bocek Compound Fracture Legendary skin bug: Fixed an issue where players would still see iron sights when aiming even if another sight is equipped.
* R-301 Dynastic Cycle Legendary skin bug: Fixed an issue with the gun using a mix of two different skins.
* Fixed bug for cases where the Loba Edition displays “No Price Found” when viewed in the store tab.
* Based on feedback we’ve reduced the SFX on reactive skins for the Volt.
* Fixed bug where players were unable to scroll downwards when looting a death box or black market.
* Fixed bug that was preventing players from getting Rampart’s Heirloom even after buying all 24 event packs.
* Fixed bug where players could skydive faster after spamming Ping.
* Fixed issue with players seeing the 888 Elite Mode Badge constantly unlocking.
* Fixed bug where dive trails were not rewarded properly.

## Undocumented changes

* Changed Fragment East from an High Tier Loot area to a Mid Tier Loot area. This was mentioned in the February 08, 2022 Patch.
* Challenges now have a colored icon marking the game mode they are tied to. Battle Royale challenges have a "BR" teal icon, Arenas challenges have an "A" purple icon.
* Items from the  Dark Depths Thematic Event were accidentally added to the  Apex Packs loot pool. They were removed after a couple of hours, and all the items obtained were hidden from their respective lists and will be made available for equipping once the event starts on January 11, 2022.
* Changed lighting on some Legends in the Legend selection screen.
* Pinging any kind of Ammo will now show the amount of Ammo that batch contains.
* Fixed Ash's  Marked for Death not telling her teammates how long ago an enemy died when pinging a Deathbox (previously always showed "0s").
* Wraith's Kunai now has a glowing effect similarly to other Heirlooms, and a light blue energetic visual effect surrounding it.
* The Sentinel now requires two  Shield Cells for  Amped shots when wearing a  Body Shield.
* Rampart's  Modded Loader icon in the Legends menu of the lobby has been accidentally replaced by the one used by Lifeline's  Combat Revive.

## Developer notes

1. ↑ Seer was dialed back to a healthier spot with the balance hotfix soon after his release. However, after four months of evaluating his use in the live game, the detonation delay seems a little too sluggish. We want to improve its feel while continuing to evaluate the reveal meta as a whole.
2. ↑ Arc stars excel in a lot of areas. They have high damage potential coupled with a punishing slow, and can be thrown more accurately than other ordnance types. Removing the stick slow created some degenerate play patterns and often made it hard to tell when you got stuck in the heat of battle. We’re bringing that back with a tradeoff of lower damage potential and a proximity based slow falloff in non-stick cases. These changes make stick scenarios more consistent across shield types and make arc stars less effective at area denial.
3. ↑ Big Maude has been an awesome drop location and a reliable source of early power for teams that win the hotdrop. However, the paintball weapons are proving to be a little too strong so we’re going to remove the increased mag size but keep the handling improvements.
4. ↑ You’ll be able to pick from a lot of colors in the new system, but darker colors won’t be selectable because of how some of our reticles react to the world (additive effect) which would make them invisible. If a manually entered RGB value is in that range, we will do our best to keep that hue but will bring that value closer to a safe color.