Respawn Entertainment has revealed the launch date and details for the upcoming 20th season of Apex Legends.
Titled Apex Legends: Breakout, the next season will begin on Tuesday, January 13, which, among plenty of other things, introduces the Legend Upgrade system to the Battle Royale modes. As per the Apex Legends website, this all-new in-match character progression system will allow you to “tailor your Legend [playable character] to your playstyle,” restarting each match to allow you to try out different upgrades and find your favorite.
“Earning Evo will now Level-Up your Legend over the course of the game, improving your armor tier and unlocking unique upgrade selections at Levels Two and Three. Choose wisely, as your decision can impact your whole squad’s strategy,” the website explains.
Each Legend’s upgrade tree will be revealed in the season’s upcoming patch notes, which are set to be published on February 12, so stay tuned for those.
Another key change to Battle Royale is the removal of Body Shields from both the ground and pool of loot items. Going forward, Legends will instead have built-in ‘Legend Armor’ which permanently increases in capacity as they level up.
“Legend Armor is fueled by a Shield Core which contains the current shield HP,” the Apex website reads. “Shield Cores can be swapped or dropped at any time as with previous armor systems, however, fallen enemies will now drop Shield Cores in their Death Boxes.”
Meanwhile, in Mixtape (a permanent playlist of the Control, Gun Run, and Team Deathmatch modes), a new map called Thunderdome will be added. Otherwise, all players can look forward to unlocking six Legends throughout the season via Breakout Rewards. Completing challenges with them will also provide the Reactive Top Tier Flatline, along with a matching set of Wraith cosmetics.
There’s plenty more to look forward to in Breakout when it launches, including 120Hz output on supported displays – though only for current-gen consoles. We’re sure to get even more details when the patch notes are revealed next week.
For more games like Apex Legends, be sure to check out our roundups of the best multiplayer PC games, as well as the best FPS games.