Apex Legends’ Season 20 Breakout Patch Notes introduce the addition of Legend Upgrades, Crafting reworks, balance changes and new LTM game modes starting February 14th. For so long Apex Legends has always lacked content. From the start, the game only added new content by adding new character mechanics or introducing new weapons or maps. Despite this, only a few maps are in rotation for Apex, and they’ve all been exhausted by their die-hard player base, and the changes to both weapons, maps and Legends are either game breakingly unbalanced for good or for ill or don’t shift the gameplay experience in a meaningful manner. Here’s to hoping that the updates on the Fifth Anniversary of the game can bring back players to a game with still so much untapped potential.
Crafting
Crafting is being reworked with the Crafting Station reducing the options that can be printed to:
- Shield Battery
- Medkit
- Ammo
- Player Banners
With Replicators being a one-time use for each player per game. To offset the reduced capacity of crafting at each Replicator, the game will start with twelve Replicators across the map and Replicator airdrops occurring in round four. The Replicators will also have decreased interaction time, meaning you’re less likely to be stuck in the animation of crafting and get shot from the side.
Wraith with new shades in Season 20? Yes, please.
The Replicator changes ensure that stocking up crafting points and playing outside the ring aren’t viable strategies, as this forces teams to move for loot and not just camp areas. It encourages more interaction across the map and also dramatically reduces exploitative interactions for the crafting system which is a major positive.
This also affects Rampart’s weapons at Big Maude which players can now get one Big Maude paintball weapon for free after interacting with the vending machine to dispense the weapons. The lack of Gold Weapons makes me personally disappointed, but an increased variety in weapons should ensure strong loadouts into the start of the game around Big Maude and shorten looting paths which is what the Crafting changes seem to be aimed towards.
Many rewards and cosmetics just by playing through Season 20.
New LTM: Straight Shot
Mixtape is honestly a mixed bag but it is a casual way to play the Apex Engine without the grind of casual 60-player pub lobbies which can feel like a slog if you survive the first two team fights you encounter. Loadouts have been updated to suit the meta and the Charge Rifle is replaced by the Kraber which honestly may cause more headaches but also increases the skill ceiling which is honestly better than the skill-floor raising Charge Rifle.
The new LTM called Straight Shot will spawn players above a random POI and skydive in with no Jumpmaster. The aim of the game is a more up-tempo way to play Apex and Straight Shot delivers by reducing the lobby to 30 players, weapons spawns kitted at different rarities and re-queing available through the death screen. Better weapons and smaller rings should force more fights, push people together and aim for more time in combat and less time looting with more optimised weapons.
It’s another way to warm up before going to ranked mode with your premade team or exploring more hectic gunfights and movement within a smaller window of time. The idea is good, the lack of Jumpmaster is also kind of refreshing as you don’t end up getting in each other’s way in your loot pathing, and this game mode also gets a big thumbs up from me.
The Thunderdome will come alive as the first custom Mixtape Map.
Legend Upgrades
The Legend Upgrades are one of the biggest shifts in Apex Legends gameplay and have the potential to heavily shift the meta and give more opportunity for players to outplay opponents with the new perks the Legends can receive. The fact that these choices can be made in the game adds a new layer of tactical strategising that can tailor the player experience to the needs of the players.
This should reduce the feeling of the same old with the finite meta comps in a lot of mid to high-level ranked lobbies and should add more fluidity and give players more agency irrespective of the Legends they play in the BR game mode. Also, the lack of armour RNG off-drop will make it more of a skill-based system rather than the individual landing on better loot having a massive advantage by default.
Every Legend has level two and three upgrade options and while they all uniquely impact gameplay, the most powerful Upgrade Options from each Legend class will be introduced so all players can explore the best new agent per Legend class to get started.
Sharpen your edge with the Breakout Battle Pass 💥
Tear through squads with the "Buzz Kill" Reactive R-99, Lifeline's Legendary "Code Blue" Skin, and more. All this kicks off on Feb 13! pic.twitter.com/H9qjlscceL
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) February 12, 2024
Assault
Mad Maggie
Mad Maggie’s abilities are all fairly strong, but the buff she gets through the upgrades makes them even more powerful and allows her to become an unstoppable force. The Level Two Upgrades either superpower her Ultimate or allow her to stay in the fight longer with auto reloads, while her Level Three upgrades allow her to either clear more space or clear multiple angles at once.
The Upgrades suit Maggie’s playstyle and the aggression she can unleash makes her terrifying. It’s also good that her more impactful upgrade comes at level two while her level three upgrade feels more like it would be useful in the endgame rather than off the rip. For teams chasing kills or looking to force fights in small spaces, Maggie is the go-to Assault Legend and her optionality gives her usefulness in tense end-of-game situations or free-for-all beginning to mid-game fights.
Time to run! Wrecking Ball is going to hit harder than ever with Maggie’s Upgrades.
Skirmisher
Valkyrie
The Skirmisher class has a few good Legend upgrades which are both unique in character and powerful to each player. Pathfinder’s Down and Away is perhaps the strongest individual perk, and Octane’s Mad Hops would also be an unstoppable space-closing combo. On the balance of all four options of the Legend Upgrades, Valkyrie’s upgrades all look useful and fulfil a niche that she will be able to fill either through more powerful team rotation and clearing or through individual mobility.
Her perks give her either more power in her Ultimate or through her Jetpack passive, which are the major defining factors of Valkyrie’s kit. Afterburners will be able to give her team more powerful rotates and allow her to jump over cliff faces she couldn’t before, but Aerial Expert and Full Tank give her more individual mobility and outplay potential. For both individual fraggers and team-based players, Valkyrie can fill both roles flawlessly.
Front liner or support, Valk’s upgrades allow her to lean into both roles depending on her teammates.
Recon
Crypto
Crypto has always fulfilled a niche in Apex Legends focused on slow tempo and teamplay while selectively fighting squads in advantageous situations. Level 2 Upgrade should be Ultimate Cooldown as Crypoto’s strength lies in his Ult and drone. His Level 3 Upgrade should be Network Expansion ideally, as it will give his team more control and power over the area around his team. Network Traffic is good in a niche sense but his drone should be able to seek out opponents in the area anyway so it feels kind of redundant.
Crypto’s style is all about finesse and control.
Controller
Caustic
I feel like Caustic’s Upgrades allow him to be a Controller and lock down areas more effectively compared to his compatriots. Particle Diffuser just allows him to spread his squad’s advantageous positioning while blocking sightlines while Parabolic Throw doesn’t seem too strong to offset how strong Particle Diffuser is. His Level Three Upgrades are both powerful as they give him vision advantage or make him very powerful inside his gas, and both allow him to lock down areas and punish anyone too reckless to back down.
Wattson’s Falling Stars should be a very powerful perk at the higher levels of the game, and Catalyst’s Upgrades are also fairly powerful but Caustic just becomes god within his Ultimate with the right perks so he takes the top spot for the most powerful Controller perks.
Caustic’s Upgrades should allow him to pop off inside his Ult and around spaces he controls.
Support
Gibraltar
Gibraltar has always been somewhat meta at the highest level of the game, and the Upgrades he can choose from will firmly thrust him back into the limelight as one of the best team fighting Legends who can enable his allies and protect against enemies. His Level Two Upgrade should be Shots shots shots as it Auto-Reload shotguns on knocks making him a capable bubble fighter without having to reload. His Level three Upgrades are both useful as Baby Bubble does the same thing but decreases cooldown so it will be better next to building or in endgame, while Bubble Bunker will be a better early game or in open maps or situations where Gibraltar’s team needs to take more space and camp longer inside the bubble.
All of his upgrades improve his teamfight capability and Fresh Start is a good niche option to have whenever the ring pulls towards your team and you want to go for placement points while teams swarm towards you. Lifeline’s Last Stand or Mirage’s More Me also look like super powerful Upgrades and the Support Class has been generally blessed with good perks.
More Gibraltar dome fights? More shotguns too?
Balance Changes
Weapons
The R-301 and Prowler seem to be the weapons of choice this season with the better hipfire of the R-301 and the Prowler being as strong as ever despite returning to ground loot. The 30-30, L-Star, Hemlock and R-99 are all more difficult to use with major nerfs in hipfire, recoil, attachment slots and performance all affecting these former Tier 1 weapons in one form or another. It’s a healthy state to know that previously favourable weapons are falling out of being the most optimal and other weapons are returning into the spotlight. Also, the EVA-8 is completely busted.
Parties are always more fun with friends 💖
Make sure to drop into the Anniversary Collection Event with your squad and unlock community-created rewards like this loading screen from @yamapan0912 pic.twitter.com/8LXSL54LaN
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) February 21, 2024
Legends
Catalyst, Conduit and Horizon face nerfs while Ballistic and Crypto are buffed but only slightly.
Mad Maggie’s buff is interesting as her Wrecking Ball will no longer be destroyed on the first enemy hit. Instead, the Wrecking Ball will trigger an explosion and then keep going, allowing for a second explosion to trigger later and the same player cannot be hit again by the ball for two seconds after the first impact with players only being affected by the shellshock and knockback effects once. The buff makes her Ult even more powerful in small spaces and scales better into the late game.
Heavy Rig Legends, Bloodhound and Octane have gotten quality of life improvements while Pathfinder’s Insider Knowledge is adjusted to scanning Care Packages/Ring Consoles/Survey Beacons now awarding 50% Ult Charge (was 100%) and 15s Ult Cooldown (was 10s). It feels like defensive Legends and abilities have faced a bit of a nerf which points to the devs wanting more aggression rather than multiple teams surviving until the end.
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