August 5 sees the launch of Showdown, the next season of Apex Legends. As always, there are some big, sweeping changes coming to the game, from how dropping into the map works in ranked to legend changes and map updates.
Here’s a breakdown of the major changes.
A new permanent mode is landing in Showdown. Wildcard takes players to a reworked King’s Canyon filled with gravity cannons and ziplines and massive piles of loot to speed up the power climb. This new, more action oriented mode also gives teams a second chance when they’re wiped.
Caustic’s gas will deal more damage when the update lands, and the clouds will appear thicker and, well, cloudier, thanks to a visual upgrade. To top it off, Bang’s smoke can now breach doors, and she gets an upgrade that allows it to destroy enemy traps and shock enemies. Guess we’re back to the smoke meta again…
Amps are new lootable items that grant powerful, game-busting passives like infinite ammo, bonus armour, and healing upgrades. Maybe it’s time to rock energy weapons again.
Hop-Ups are no longer lootable because they’re now built directly into the guns. They’ll be locked when you loot a gun, but you can unlock them by doing damage like the evo shield charge up. The system is intended to reward players for sticking to their guns, but it remains to be seen whether this change leads to less weapon diversity on the field.
Ballistic just dipped into his private arsenal to offer an amped up RE-45, a powerful three-round burst variation of the old favourite (or, if you’re me, the worst weapon in the game).
E-District gets a new bright skybox, lightening up the map with new lighting and making it more readable.
Ranked is moving closer to the ALGS, removing the jump master role entirely. Instead, squads are assigned a POI and piloted in, where they can choose a landing spot within that designated zone. Loot and beacon placement have been tweaked to make sure every POI is more viable for a drop. Players will also unlock Ranked Auras, new cosmetics that show off your ranked tier with a coloured halo based on your rank. Now you’ll know at a glance when you’re about to get ganked by a full stack Pred team.
Wipe squads, kill stylishly and unlock milestones and you’ll get accolades at the end of each match, granting you an XP bonus based on your feats.