A standard in the battle royale genre for five years, Apex Legends is blowing out its candles by initiating big changes for its future with the arrival of a colorful season 20. A new name (Breakout), new features and a fresh face on the genre, this is what Respawn’s game intends to offer us.
Valentine’s Day was already seriously compromised for some with a Champions League clash between PSG and the Spanish club Real Sociedad (yes, yes football, we know). But also with the slew of games that chose to be released during the same month of February. To make matters worse for the emotional balance of certain households, it is the turn of the battle royale to get started and more precisely of Apex Legends, with the launch with great fanfare 24 hours earlier, on February 13, of its season 20.
Already 20 seasons… but the real reflection is already 5 years! In a merciless video game universe and after a pretty memorable launch, Apex Legends is still there, still standing and still faithful to the post. Moreover, well aware of this anniversary milestone and the longevity of its title, Respawn has decided to bring out the heavy artillery for this new season, with both minor and major changes but all geared towards one objective: changing the way to play Apex players, in order – obviously – to reach a new audience.
Evolving Legends for the new season of Apex Legends
So basically, what will change in this new season of Apex Legends? The Legends will be able to evolve during the game. Depending on the actions performed, they will be able to access different levels (from 1 to 4), with rewards and abilities available at each rank. Basically, Breakout brings elements of light-rpg to Apex and to the player, the choice to optimize their gaming experience according to their wishes and the possibilities offered to them. The developers present during the video presentation of this new season insisted that these changes were as useful and attractive to newcomers as they were beneficial to regulars. For the latter, we will necessarily wait for their returns in a few days to be able to judge.
What is certain is that the Legends’ style of play will change. It will be more passive or aggressive and will depend on your actions on the ground. From now on, the EVO or experience accumulated during the games will be used to increase the class of your Legends. And it won’t just be a matter of accumulating frags for that: the new XP system also favors group actions and in particular those linked to recognition and the collection of information (beacon scans, opening of crates , etc). Suffice it to say that reaching level 4 without having attacked any opposing team is doable.
Give these men a shield
The progression of Legends goes hand in hand with that of Shields. Respawn puts an end to the looting of the latter for obtaining through XP and therefore – always – through your in-game actions. The shield levels are represented by colors: gray, the basic one, blue, unlockable at level 2, purple (level 3) and red for the last one. Note that only two shields (blue and purple) allow the use of two passive skills. These will improve or partially change one of the intrinsic qualities of a Legend or modify the way of using a particular weapon on the field, for example.
Here again, Respawn’s desire is clear: to put all players at the dawn of this season 20, regardless of their in-game experience, on the same equal footing. Moreover, the shield wrap – the exchange of shields – which allowed members of a squad to equip themselves with the shields of members of a defeated squad – has been revised. Called Shield Core, it is defined as follows: shield points are recovered from the corpse of the fallen enemy. If his shield was of at least similar quality to ours, these points regenerate our shield. If the shield recovered was higher, the points allow an overload and therefore a temporary increase in our shield. Note that when you die in a game, you respawn while keeping your shield level.
Brand new ranked games
The other big change in this 20th season of Apex Legends is the ranked match system. During the presentation, the developers insisted during their speech on a desire for balance among the players. Thus the number of points linked to ranked games, the RP, will increase to 1 for all players when Breakout is launched.
To increase this capital, nothing more: you just need to win a game, defeat opponents in numbers or better ranked than you. Risk-taking is strongly recommended and if everyone is free to adopt the style of play that suits them best, the premium on aggressiveness and offense will be strongly rewarded.
Apex Legends is preparing a festive birthday!
Moreover, it should be noted that our actions will be dissected and analyzed after each game. A summary will show us the actions that allowed us to win the famous RP, and, at the same time, will allow us to study the errors made during the game. For the rest ? A new game mode is appearing in Unclassified, Straight Shot (or Direct Shot), which will bring together thirty players in tight arenas, with a random drop-off point. A new map, Thunderdome, is added to the Mixtape panel.
Six Legends (Seer, Fuse, Rampart, Mad Maggie, Loba and Valkyrie) will be unlockable for free during the season (depending on the objectives to be achieved), at the rate of one legend every two weeks. Finally, an interactive museum appears to allow players to understand and follow the events and lore linked to the Legends. You will have understood, the new season of Apex Legends is aimed at a wider audience and sounds like a new boost for the license. Response on February 13 and in the days that follow to find out if these changes have borne fruit