On May 9, Apex Legends will roll out its 17th season, and it’s set to change the game in some pretty significant ways. The new season will see the addition of new areas to storm on World’s Edge, a brand-new survival item set to shake up the game, a slick new Legend to play as, new systems for progression, and so much more.
Here’s everything coming to Apex Legends’ new Arsenal season.
New Legend: Ballistic
Dropping into the battlefield at the ripe old age of 63, August “Ballistic” Brickman is a veteran of the Thunderdome Games, which was the predecessor to the Apex games. Ballistic, voiced by the excellent Robin Atkin Downes, was one of the first people to gain fame and success for his lethal abilities.
Ballistic dropped out of the arena when his best friend and brother-in-law were killed, but has decided to jump back in, as part of an effort to get his son from following in his footsteps. The deal was simple — if the British Legend comes out of retirement, his son won’t be allowed to compete.
Ballistic is adorned in his brother-in-law’s sunglasses, a long, stylish trenchcoat, and a very high-tech backpack filled with surprises. Gibraltar is among many Legends who idolized heroes like Ballistic when they were growing up, apparently hanging posters of the silver-haired fox in his bedroom wall, so there’s likely to be many exciting interactions between him and other characters in-game.
He’s got an aggressive playstyle, excelling at initiating fights and the divide-and-conquer strategy, which sounds like a lot of fun. Here’s everything he can do:
Passive
- Sling: Can carry a third weapon, but it can’t take attachments.
Tactical
- Whistler: A smart bullet that can curve around corners and home in. The bullet debuffs and overheats the target’s gun. If they let it overheat, it explodes and damages the Legend. Lasts for 12 seconds or until the explosion is triggered. The overheat applies to the player, not the weapon, so switching weapons doesn’t counter it.
Ultimate
- Tempest: Buffs self and teammates, granting infinite ammo, faster reloads, and quicker armed movement speed. Also makes the Sling weapon a gold version of that weapon for the duration. Teammates must be nearby to get the buff, but they don’t have to stay close to keep it.
Weapon mastery system
Apex Legends will introduce a brand-new long-term progression system called Weapon Mastery in the new season. Every gun in the game has its own set of challenges, as well as tracking for kills, headshots, knocks, and damage. Respawn envisages the new system as a way to ease players into engaging with each weapon on a deeper level, and gaining a new understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.
Every weapon will start at level 1, and there are 100 levels per weapon to obtain through completing challenges. Every 20 levels, you’ll unlock a trial which grants a reward upon completion, which can be trackers, badges, banner frames, and a Legendary skin for mastering each weapon.
World’s Edge map changes
World’s Edge is getting a lot of changes, now that it’s healing and cooling down a bit, making the terrain a bit less volatile, but a lot more interesting. Lava chasms that used to send you back to the top with a gust of wind have been risen, now traversable by foot. The north of the map is covered in snow, with new footpaths to travel on. A new vault is available to explore near Skyhook, while Bloodhound’s Trials have had a major makeover.
If you take a quick trip over to Fragment, you’ll see a new point of interest called Monument, which contains a museum for the Apex Games — thematically appropriate, given Ballistic himself is a relic of the games’ past. It’s also seemingly a museum for Apex Legends itself, with plenty of sneaky easter eggs and early design ideas on display.
On the gameplay side of things, it’s a deep bunker POI with perfectly positioned sniper nests, accessible via zips. Of course, if things get a little too heated at the top, you can always retreat back into the bunker, which is the perfect spot to get in an ambush on the attacking team.
Ping wheel updates
The ping system used in Apex Legends was one of the game’s defining features at launch, letting players quickly and effectively communicate without saying a word to each other. Now, we’re seeing big changes to the system that should make communication all that much easier.
There’s new callouts, like “do not revive” and “retreat here”, which are sure to be helpful in any match, but the big new addition is full map pinging. Simple ping a specific icon on the map, and your teammates will be met with an appropriate callout, taking the useful system and multiplying its utility tenfold.
Evac Tower Survival Item
Almost every team in Apex Legends picks Valkyrie, due to her remarkably useful ability to scan on the drop. She’ll likely still be a powerful option for quick rotations, but Respawn has an answer to her dominance, and they’re called Evac Towers.
An Evac Tower will let you spawn a jump tower anywhere in the world, but it comes with drawbacks. It takes a few seconds to deploy it, leaving you vulnerable as you try to set it up, and it can be destroyed by coordinated fire from enemy teams. It can also time out and expire if you’re not quick about it, and if it’s destroyed or times out while you’re ascending, you’ll drop right back down.
Firing Range overhaul
Another nice addition, if not particularly exciting, is a total overhaul of the Firing Range. It’s an all-new map, with new areas and combat options for bots, including the ability to shoot back.
Playing around doors has always been a big part of the game, and you’ll finally have an option to hone your skills around them in the new Firing Range, with a new town-style POI providing plenty of options for getting it down.
You can also take on your friends in a new dueling pit, and you’ll drop straight into any in-progress Firing Range when you join a party.
Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.
