The ninth season of Respawn’s stellar battle royale Apex Legends is imminent, and it’s bringing with it a slew of changes to its maps and weapons. Chief among them is the restructuring of the weapon classes to accommodate the newest weapon, the Bocheck compound bow.
Pronounced bow-check, the Bocek isn’t quite a stealth weapon, but it will make it easier to confuse opponents. However, the Bochek isn’t necessarily anything new; in fact, it’s the latest evolution of bows in video games, a trend that has been popularized over the past decade.
Bows have always been a “cool” weapon in popular culture, dating back to the days of Errol Flynn and Robin Hood and remaining popular in the modern day with Rambo, Arrow and...well, Robin Hood. Video games have always had them around thanks to games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but they became a bit more mainstream in the early ‘10s. The FPS genre started adding bows in titles like Crysis 3 and Far Cry 3, which action-adventure games picked up on and ran with. Tomb Raider and The Last of Us built significant portions of gameplay around bows, while Horizon Zero Dawn took it to the nth degree with Aloy’s stunning bow mastery.
Apex Legends, however, is following the lead of another game to add bows to it: Destiny 2. The Bocek feels remarkably similar to Destiny 2’s bow-class weapons, but that’s not a bad thing. They take many of the same elements, including correlating the arrow’s draw to a charge when aiming down sights and balancing the accuracy and range of the bow with the need to occasionally fire wild from the hip. The Bocek feels great no matter how you’re using it in battle.
Rest assured, though, the Bocek doesn’t mean you’re going to get stalked on the map. As detailed during a recent press event CBR was invited to, the Bocek is not a silenced weapon, though it is quieter than the game’s guns. The real benefit will be ammo conservation; the Bocek uses a new unique ammo type, Arrows. You’ll be able to see them visually in an opponent when they’re stuck, and they’ll stay there until death. On death, though, you’ll be able to pick up the spent Arrows from your enemy’s deathbox, allowing you to reclaim some of your ammo.
The Bocek will support a number of sights like the 3x HCOG and 2-4x variable sights, allowing you plenty of variety for range options. There are also two new mods exclusive to the Boceck: Shatter Caps, which will split the arrow into a more shotgun-like spread and Deadeye’s Tempo, which will reduce draw time and increase power if you time your draws perfectly. Uniquely, the Bocek can use both mods at the same time.
The Bocek is also bringing about some minor changes to how firearms are treated, too, as it joins the new Marksman category alongside the G7 Scout, Triple Take and last season’s new weapon, the 30-30 Repeater. Weapons in this new category are meant to bridge the gap between Assault Rifles and Snipers, serving as precision weapons for mid-to-long-range combat. So far, Respawn has only confirmed this translates into faster movement speed when aiming down sights for these weapons; previously, they were correlated to Sniper-class weapons, but now they’ll be slightly faster.
Naturally, there will be several skins available for the Bocek in the Battle Pass this season, and it’s sure to be a favorite among players. Will it stand the test of time, or is it destined to be nerfed to oblivion as other weapons have been? Players will have to dive into Season 9 to find out.
Developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by EA, Apex Legends is available now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC. Season 9: Legacy begins May 4 across all platforms.