Apex Legends has a lot going on with Season 20, which begins on February 13th. To mark the fifth anniversary of the successful battle royale, Respawn Entertainment is changing many well-known mechanics. However, there will be no new legends or cards in the coming season. We go through all the big changes – from small to big.
Never collect materials for the crafter again?
Three things change fundamentally. This is how crafters and shields work. In addition, all legends receive small updates to their abilities. We explain the changes in more detail.
First, the crafters as you know them will be crushed. They now function fundamentally differently. You no longer collect materials for these and can use the machines directly. Instead of rotating objects, you will now find ammunition that corresponds to your weapon types, as well as shield cells and medikits.
The good thing about it: You can now get the items much faster. Instead of waiting a long time for the item to be finished, you collect it immediately. Each player is only able to benefit from the Crafter’s effect once.
This is what it looks like in the Crafter. You can also collect the tokens of the killed teammates here. This is useful if you can no longer get to them due to opponents or the ring position.
The shields are no longer left to chance
Next we turn to shields. You won’t find these on the ground anymore. From a completely random system where players could get lucky and find a purple shield right at the start, Respawn is now going in a completely different direction and linking the shield level to the legend level.
Your Legend Level increases through Evo Points. This increases through certain actions that you can carry out within a match. For example, through kills, assists, knocks, squad wipes, care packages, scanning beacons, using consoles, revives and much more. Your level increases automatically with every action.
You start with a white shield and then you get a higher shield level per level. Blue is followed by violet and finally red. The gold shield falls away.
You can select the skills directly in the active game or in the inventory. The new level system has its own place here. The ability upgrade icons are displayed to the left and right of the armor upgrade.
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Improve your Legend every match with two new abilities
With each level-up you also receive a modification for your legend. A small window will open and you can choose one of two additional improvements to your Legends’ abilities. These lower cooldowns, give an ability additional effects or charges.
The effects differ from legend to legend. The only thing that is the same is that you can choose a weaker modification at the second level and a stronger modification at level 3. The number of Evo needed to level up is the same for all players. However, more actions help you level up more quickly and you can still have different shields even within a squad.
If you die, the level remains. It is also practical here that Respawn can use these additional abilities to balance the legends.
In my play session it was relatively quick to reach the blue sign and the first modification. Things are different with the purple sign; it takes a noticeably long time. If you leave the game early, you probably won’t see the second modification. Overall, however, the change felt fair, as no one has an extreme shield advantage – and if they do, it’s only because they’ve actually done something for it.
Respawn is also tinkering with other things. The promotion checks will be removed, the mid-season split will be reintroduced and you can benefit from a better game summary. The ranks are being diversified a bit and the amount of RP for a rank increase now increases with each level and the fast-paced new mode Straight-Shot is coming to the mixed playlist.