Respawn Entertainment

Apex Legends: Breakout - An Evolution Worthy of a Fifth Anniversary

New armor system, gameplay, qualifiers, and more. We give you all the details down to the individual legends.

Update: Feb 5th, 2024 17:00 CET

Apex Legends is one of the best-maintained Battle Royale games, and year after year it has sought to respond to its fans while integrating new players. Thanks to an invitation from Electronic Arts, we had the opportunity to attend a two-day Media Summit organized by Respawn Entertainment at their offices in Los Angeles, CA. Below we present all the changes that will be included in the 20th season of Apex Legends: Breakout, coinciding with its fifth anniversary.

A new core in gameplay

One of the first changes worth highlighting is the armor shields, as the way they evolve will now depend on the Legend you play with. Now you won’t have to find one color or another, but it will depend on several variables, whether you’re playing with a structure called the Evo Harvester, which will level up all the armor on your team, or individually with the Evo Cache, which is a kind of core that will increase your level points.

Something important about this new feature is that if you already have purple armor, for example, when you touch a new Evo Harvester or find an Evo Cache, it won’t exactly level up to red, but it will depend on the Evo Points you’ve accumulated. Eliminating rivals and supporting your teammates will help you level up. Another noticeable change is that, for example, if you have a level two shield and you find a purple one, you will only temporarily gain its power, and when you finish it due to damage, you will return to your original level. On the other hand, if you lose a shield due to damage, you will still be dependent on the batteries to recover.

Armor upgrades system by legend

Another of the major changes in Apex Legends will be the special powers that we will have for each level we get in each armor. Each time we level up, we will be able to choose what kind of special power we want. Below is a list of some of these new sections per legend:

Bangalore

Level 2: Ability to see through walls in deathboxes or reduce ultimate collapse by 25%.
Level 3: Automatically ping enemies that activate Double Time or regenerate HP inside the smoke cloud.

Fuse

Level 2: Reduce the damage and slow of an enemy ultimate by 50% or be able to see through the walls of deathboxes.
Level 3: Receive a temporary speed boost on a successful cluster bomb hit or have 25% less damage from explosives.

Ash

Level 2: Display the number of squads within 150 yards after eliminating one, or use the Kill Marks to track the enemy’s position on the map for 60 seconds.
Level 3: Gain Arc Trap Charge, or the Arc Trap stays in play for 24 seconds and can trap multiple enemies.

Mad Maggie

Level 2: Gets a charge from the Riot Drill and reduces the active duration to 1 or increases the depth and width of the Riot Drill by 1.5.
Level 3: The Wrecking Ball catches fire and spits thermite fire when detonated or automatically recharges the shotguns when hit.

Pathfinder

Level 2: Gain access to survey beacons or ring consoles.
Level 3: Ziplines now gain energy for a short period of time, granting a 25% damage reduction while in use or a cooldown on the reuse time of the grapple when hitting someone.

Wraith

Level 2: Reduces Tac cooldown by 5 seconds or activates passive when the number of nearby squads increases.
Level 3: Reduces Tac Wind by 20% or reduces ultimate cooldown by 20%.

Octane

Level 2: Take less than 25% damage when using the stimulant or take 25% less damage from explosives.
Level 3: Gain an extra jumping platform or change the direction of the double-jump when using the platform.

Revenant

Level 2: Reduces Tac cooldown by 5 seconds or displays the number of squads within 150 yards after eliminating one.
Level 3: Tactical refresh on hit or total Shadow attack recharge time is reduced by 20%.

Horizon

Level 2: See up close through walls in Death Boxes or see what ammo is in Death Boxes.
Level 3: Reduce ultimate cooldown by 14% or reduce tactical cooldown by 5 seconds.

Valkyrie

Level 2: Increase the height of the upward jump by up to 15% or increase the speed and acceleration of the jetpack.
Level 3: Change rocket pattern from 4x3 to 3x5 or increase jetpack fuel by 25%.

Bloodhound

Level 2: Reduces tactical cooldown by 5 seconds or the white ravens give you 25% more charge when active.
Level 3: Gain 25 HP when you hit a Beast of the Hunt or double the duration of Tracker.

Crypto

Level 2: Reduces the tactical cooldown by 10 seconds or reduces the ultimate cooldown by 20%.
Level 3: Increases the range of the Neurolink by 50% or causes the Surveillance Drone to call the squadrons in the area.

Seer

Level 2: Increases the range of the Heart Seeker by 25 yards or removes the movement penalty after using the Heart Seeker.
Level 3: Increases the range of the Exhibit by 20 yards or increases the duration of the Seeker by 1.5 seconds.

Vantage

Level 2: gain access to ring consoles or four sniper rounds when using ultimate accelerant
Level 3: Improve echo relocation on impact with sniper marker or improve echo relocation on double jump

Gibraltar

Level 2: Revives allies with up to 50% HP or automatically reloads shotguns with a single hit.
Level 3: Increases the protective dome by 4 seconds or reduces the cooldown and size of the dome by 25%.

Lifeline

Level 2: Increases resurrection speed by 20% or reduces tac cooldown by 10 seconds.
Level 3: The next support capsule will be a supply drop or auto resurrection.

Mirage

Level 2: Revive your allies with up to 75% of their HP or gain a Lure and reduce the cooldown by 30 seconds.
Level 3: Improve your tactics with successful decoys or gain a charge for the decoys and have them active at the same time.

Loba

Level 2: Increases the range of the black market shop by 25% or Loba can purchase an additional item from the black market.
Level 3: Tactical skill height and range increased or tactic cooldown reduced by 5 seconds.

Newcastle

Level 2: Mobile shields gain 250 HP or increase speed.
Level 3: +250 HP in the castle wall and increased duration up to 2 minutes or resurrected allies can recover up to 75%.

Conduit

Level 2: Displays the number of shield batteries in the deathboxes or increases the radius of each ultimate mine by 10%.
Level 3: Increases tactical range by 15% or gains one tactical charge, but halves the healing time of the shield.

Caustic

Level 2: Increases the range of the tactical throw by 75% or increases the area of the Nox grenade by 20%.
Level 3: Regenerates HP while inside the Nox Gas or increases the visibility duration of the Nox Vision.

Wattson

Level 2: Resurrect allies with 50 HP or the ultimate’s intercepts generate Arc Stars.
Level 3: Place two High Tension Towers with half their regen capacity and use the ultimate’s accelerators twice as fast or double the ultimate’s regen capacity.

Rampart

Level 2: Increases the maximum number of active spikes or increases the range of spikes by 40%.
Level 3: Increases the length of the Dark Veil by 27% or its duration by 20%.

Catalyst

Level 2: Increases the maximum number of active spikes or increases the range of spikes by 40%.
Level 3: Increases the length of the Dark Veil by 27% or its duration by 20%.

A new object crafting system

Now we will have a simplified menu with few options to create. We will no longer be able to create weapon accessories, it will now focus on batteries, ammunition and banners to revive the squad. Something to highlight is that we will no longer need materials, now they will be single-use, so we will have to choose carefully. Another point to highlight is that the creation of these items is now instantaneous, it no longer has those loading times it used to have.

Mixtape – Thunderdome

There will also be a new stage, which will be a multilevel stadium with a skull-shaped lair to make the confrontations more frenetic. It will be cheered by the crowd and players will be able to access it in Gun Run, Team Deathmatch, and Control modes.

A new way to classify

In this season the points will be bonused according to the losses you generate and now everyone will start with one rank point or RP. Everyone will start at 0 in this promotion within the qualifiers and matchmaking will be based on RP to create more even matches. Ranked divisions are also being reintroduced and promotional events have been eliminated. The entry point for ranked play will now start at level 20.

Legends Free to Play

Every two weeks a new legend will be free and the ones that will be available are: Fuse, Seer, Rampart, Mad Maggie, Loba, and Valkyrie. From this list, each will have a unique challenge pack; if players complete it before the season ends, they can unlock it permanently. Rewards will include cosmetics, Battle Pass Stars, and other gifts.

More frames per second on consoles

Another update in the console version will be that we will be able to play in performance mode to reach up to 120 frames per second on compatible TVs.

5th Anniversary Event

As part of the celebration, the maps will have anniversary details, and the Straight Shot will be introduced, a faster LTM where 10 squads can drop in at different points with modified weapons. The ring rounds are faster, there are no Jumpmasters, the map is smaller, and you don’t have to queue in the lobby.

There will also be 24 cosmetics for a limited time, and players who collect them all before the end of the event will receive 150 relic fragments and a mythical item of their choice. It will be up to all players to see how they like all these updates, which although a bit radical, will add more dynamism and fun to the games.

Apex Legends Season 20 will be available this February 12th on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.