During the EA Play stream, earlier today, EA and Respawn Entertainment finally revealed the first details of Apex Legends – Season Two. After an underwhelming first Season and a declining player base, the company had to turn things around if they wanted to stay relevant in the Battle Royale genre. It looks like the definitely listened to the community since the second Season might include everything we wanted.
Challenge yourself
Battle Charge is the name of the new Season and it kicks things off with some crucial improvements. The biggest and in my opinion best improvement is the fact that they finally included some challenges. These will be available on a daily or weekly basis and will test your skills on the battlefield. Unlike other popular games in the genre, these challenges are stackable, meaning you won’t miss out on the fun if you couldn’t sign in on a certain day. These challenges will also replace static badges and trackers, allowing players to constantly challenge themselves. Although we don’t know a lot of these challenges just yet the reveal did give away some important details. It looks like some challenges might actually be time-based, giving you access to more limited cosmetic items. The Legendary Hunt event was the first one of this category, giving you some sweet gear if you fight hard.
What I like most about these challenges is the fact that you’ll be motivated to keep playing. This was something I missed during the first Season where leveling was more time-based instead of skill-based. These challenges will allow players to constantly adapt to new situations and overcome new challenges. It’s a logical but crucial improvement for the game and I can’t wait to see what these challenges will hold in the future.
Measure yourself with the best
Another great innovation for Season Two is the so-called Apex Elite Queue. This is basically a new mode where you will have to test your skills against the very best of the arena. Only the top 5 of each match will qualify to queue for Apex Elite where they will be put against the best of the best. This is that wanted challenge professional players wanted to see from the start. Instead of being teamed with random players, you’ll be able to test your skill against some of the best players in the game. I for one think this might improve your own skills incredibly well if you manage to land in the top 5 multiple times.
But that’s not all. Respawn Entertainments also revealed the Ranked matches. These matches are divided depending on your skills (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Apex Predator). The more you play and win, the higher you get on the ladder. What I like most about these Ranked battles is the fact that you’ll fight with equals as long as you’re on a certain level. Again, it’s an improvement to keep gamers motivated to play and I’m pretty sure it’s a great new system. These ‘tiers’ in your own level advancement mean a lot more than what your level means nowadays.
Some shocking news
Now, what would a new Season be without a new Legend? Enter Natalie “Wattson” Paquette a familiar face in the Apex Games, though for a different reason than most. Daughter of the Games’ lead electrical engineer, she studied his manuals to stay close to him, and discovered her calling at a young age. Though she could be completely distracted one moment and hyper-focused the next, electricity grounded her – its ordered, predictable flow made sense in a way the rest of the world didn’t. Nathalie has some impressive new tools to work with.
Her Tactical Ability allows her to secure a perimeter by connecting nodes in order to create electrified fences. These fences allow your team to get past them while they will stop the enemies. The fence will also ping if there’s an enemy nearby, giving you a huge advantage during combat. Her passive ability is called ‘Spark of Genius’ which she can use to fully charge her Ulitmate Ability with an Ultimate Accelerant or boost her Tactical Ability near interception pylons. Talking about interception pylons, that’s her Ultimate. These electrified pylons destroy incoming ordnance and repair shields as long as it stands. Wattson is a defensive character that certainly has the right tools to win the battle if she works together well with her team.
Besides here, you’ll also get a new weapon called the L-STAR. This new experimental Energy Weapon will fire some high-caliber shots at an incredible pace. There are only two limitations to it. One, you can’t recharge the ammo and two, if you use it too fast, it will overheat. It sounds like a problem for a gun but I’m guessing these limitations are needed to keep the balance in the arena. As you can see in the trailer, the gun definitely deals out a lot of damage:
I’m guessing it will only get a lot better
What we’ve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg but it’s a reason to celebrate. This live stream provided us with enough improvements to get us enthusiastic for Apex Legends once more. On top of the improvements mentioned above, there will be three extra modes, some new areas on the map, and some needed weapon balancing. It’s good to see that both EA and Respawn Entertainment are taking care of their project, even after the underwhelming first Season. They definitely learned from their mistakes and Season Two is clearly meant to save the game from a continuous decline. If you ask me, I think they’ll succeed!
