Apex Legends is now more than two years old and it’s still going strong. The game’s release on Steam definitely helped increase the player base. The developer of the game, Respawn Entertainment, revealed a while ago that a new season is on the horizon, and the “Stories of the Outlander” trailer released a week ago gave us the backstory of an upcoming new legend. The gameplay trailer released a few days ago also showed us a new permanent mode and much more.
Now, the developer released the official patch notes of Season 9 Legacy. The new season will bring tons of changes including a new legend, a new weapon, a new mode, balancing changes to several weapons and legends, and changes to the Olympus map. There's so much to cover, so let’s get started.
ARENAS – New Mode
The previously revealed Arenas mode is a simple 3v3 arena with multiple rounds. Your only objective is to win the match by winning enough rounds. The game will feature a shop where you will purchase weapons, skills, and attachments to help you get rounds. Check out our previous article for more information. A more detailed explanation of the Arenas mode is also available on the official site.
ARENAS Maps
To accommodate the low player count, Arenas has its own maps but they are smaller in size and emphasizes action over looting. Some are new maps designed from the ground up while others are taken from the three battle royale maps.
Party Crasher
This map will consist of open areas with multiple two-story buildings. There is room for both close and long-range combat. So be careful about which weapon you choose and where you are on the map. There’s also a twist. The Mirage Voyage first seen in World’s Edge map is back and has crash-landed on this new map.
Phase Runner
Phase Runner is the second new map of the game, and also the largest. The map features a working prototype phase runner, similar to the phase runner in the Olympus map. The new map has tons of open areas, so be on the lookout for a patient sniper.
More Maps
There are three more maps available for Arenas and these are taken from massive BR maps:
- Artillery from Kings Canyon
- Thermal Station from World’s Edge
- Golden Gardens from Olympus.
I am not gonna lie, I am a little mad that Skull Town in Kings Canyon is not present. Come on, Respawn, we all miss it.
VALKYRIE – New Legend
Valkyrie, the daughter of the pilot Viper (the bad guy we killed in Titanfall 2), is joining Apex Legends. She has access to a jet pack made from the parts of her father’s titan, Northstar. Respawn has also detailed her abilities, and they seem quite OP.
Her passive ability will allow the player to fly and reposition quickly, however, she can’t shoot weapons and is vulnerable to attacks. Her Tactical ability is a swarm of mini rockets. They are not strong enough to kill fully healed Legends, but they are good at disorienting them. Rough them a bit before going for an assault.
Her Ultimate ability is Skydive. She can go high into the sky with the rest of her team and quickly redeploy. Imagine having a Red Balloon at your beck and call. Check out the character trailer above.
BOCEK BOW – New Weapon
The only thing Apex Legends was missing was a bow and an arrow. Well, we finally got it. Bocek Bow is a high damage weapon that requires good aim and precision. It will use arrows, a new type of ammo, though they will be rare to find. But you can grab the arrows you just shot letting you recycle them.
The weapon can use the following optics types:
- 1x HCOG classic optics
- 1x Holosight optics
- 2x HCOG optics
- 1x-2x variable optics
- 3x HCOG optics
For the first time in Apex Legends' two-year history, you can equip two hop-ups simultaneously on one weapon. Bocek Bow will let you attach both Shatter Caps hop-up and Deadeye’s Tempo hop-up. The former divides the arrow into three and makes the bow kind of a shotgun, suitable for close range. The latter reduces the arrow draw time, making it easier for rapid firing.
OLYMPUS - The Lost Fleet Update
The newest battle royale map in the game is receiving some major changes. The map is invaded by mysterious ships that brought some kind of a parasite to our floating city. (Halo flashbacks).
One of the ships, The Icarus, has landed on the map. You can explore it by grabbing the red key from the corpses nearby. Yet there is something afoot and I am sure something big is planned for the future.
Olympus maps went through tons of other changes. Two redeploy balloons have been removed and the height of other balloons has been lessened. Respawn made this decision to push players toward the Trident. You can learn about all the changes made to the map in the official blog post.
STARTER KIT AND LOOT CHANGES
There is no secret that at the start of a match, we are at the mercy of loot gods. This is because it’s all luck on whether we will get good loot. The developer is aware of the issue and has implemented a serious change. Although they aren’t giving you a base weapon like in Warzone, you'll get some good protection.
From now on, every legend will drop with a starter kit. It contains Level 1 Evo Shield, Level 1 Helmet, and Level 1 Knockdown Shield. You will also get two Shield Cells and Syringes. These should improve your chances of surviving at the starting of the round.
Because of the Starter Kit, extra loot changes are made as well. Level 1 Helmet and Level 1 Knockdown Shield are removed from the loot pool. Level 1 Evo Shield will now be very rare. However, the spawn rate of weapons, grenades, health, and ammo has been increased.
EMOTES
Did Christmas come early? The developer has made it so that you can get some Emotes without spending real-life money. When the new season launches, every legend will have one emote unlocked. You can get even more emotes from the Apex pack or you can craft them with crafting metals.
Emotes puts you in a third-person view as well. The developer has already taken some measures to make sure that players can't exploit this feature to see enemies which they couldn’t see in the first-person view.
BATTLE PASS
A new season always brings a new Battle Pass and Legacy will be no different. It will feature the free path and premium path with the latter getting the best content. All rewards will be purely cosmetics so don’t expect any unfair advantage. The Battle Pass trailer that reveals the cosmetic items has not been released yet. It should go live in a couple of days.
LEGEND UPDATES
Multiple legends have been tweaked. Some are nerfed while others are buffed. Check out our previous article for more information.
WEAPON UPDATES
Just like legends, Season 9 is bringing several changes to multiple weapons, including a completely new weapon type, changes to supply drop weapons, and much more. Click here for more information.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Thanks to player suggestions, a new option to categorize badges has been added to the game. You can now filter your badges by “unlocked only” or “all.”
Players will now be able to see the health of their teammates when they are looting.
You can also now mark your challenges as “Favorite.” The said challenges will then appear in a new tab that you can view in the lobby or on the map screen. Now, you don’t have to remember your challenges. You can just read them when you have time.
Other QoL changes have been made as well and you can read about them over here.
RANKED
Respawn Entertainment announced that no major changes will be made in the Ranked RP system. So keep doing what you are doing, however, maps will be different now.
The first split of Ranked will be played on World’s Edge as Kings Canyon will be sitting this one out. The second Split will take place on the new version of Olympus.
The first split will end on June 15. You can read the official blog post for more information.
BUG FIXES
The new update will fix dozens of bugs. You can check these bug fixes over here.
So what do you think? Are you excited about the new season of Apex Legends? Are you planning to buy the Battle Pass? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
