I can’t believe we are in Season 20 of Apex Legends. I think all of us Apex gamers can agree we have a love-hate relationship with the game. We’ve heard the “I hate this game” phrase countless times, yet, we still log on and cave in to that addiction. Now leading up to this, we’ve had a bunch of leaks as to what Season 20 has to offer. First of all, WHAT. THE. FLIP? The developers have really taken the time to shake things up.

SEASON 20: BREAKOUT

Season 20 will start on the 13th of February as new seasons usually start on Tuesdays at 10 am PT / 6 pm GMT. This season, the developers are releasing a 120-hertz performance setting for consoles and haptics for PlayStation 5 controllers.

SHAKING IT UP

This season we have the largest ever change since launch! We drop in hot with the newest change to Legends and Armor! What’s new? Well, we’ve come a long way when it comes to armor balance! Evo Armors were introduced back in Season 4, and then in Season 6, all armors became evo armors. Following that, we’ve had changes to evo armor here and there. This change however is about to elevate the game to new heights!

NO MORE ARMOR SPAWNS

All armor will be removed from ground loot, this will help with eliminating more RNG and luck in POI contests. Each armor has also had a slight HP nerf, with all of them being reduced to 25 HP. Purple will now have 175 health instead of 200, and Red will get you to 200 instead of 225. All those panicking about Armor Swaps, don’t worry, it’s still a thing! When entering a deathbox, you’ll see a Shield Core, now this is an interesting change! Players will only receieve whatever shields they currently possess, any extras (if you swap with a higher levelled shield) will be converted to overshields.

UPGRADING EVOS

Now as we all know, we upgrade evos through dealing damage. This season we’re being introduced to EVO CACHES and EVO HARVESTERS. Evo is granted to whole team/individual when you interact with harvesters and caches. Doing specific team actions, for example, scanning ring, and such can also contribute to your evo.

Personal Gains
– Damage
– Knocks and Knock Assists
– Knocks against a legend of higher level will net an underdog XP bonus
– Finishers
– EVO Cache (Care Packages, Vaults etc.)

Team Gains
– Squad Wipes
– Revives
– Respawns
– Class Interactions (Survey Beacons, Ring Consoles, etc.)
– World Interactions (Wildlife, Trials Completions, etc.)
– EVO Harvesters

EVO CACHE :

Loot items found in highly contested areas like vaults and supply drops

EVO HARVESTER :

Will randomly spawn on every BR map with a delayed activation during the first ring, allowing players time to loot up before seeking them out. Any squad member can interact with them to award a large amount of EVO to the whole squad. Every team can interact with each EVO Harvester individually, as with Crafting Harvesters in previous seasons.

METAS: SHAKE IT UP WITH LEGEND UPGRADES

Now let’s talk legend upgrades. Everyone has been losing their shit over this change most of all and rightly so. We’re always talking about how the meta shifts each season. The new legend upgrades are an in-match game progression system that players will get to enjoy going forward into future seasons. As you progress your Evo shield tiers, you will be able to select new ability upgrades for the legend you have chosen in the game. This means the core ability of your legend stays the same, but you will be able to modify your tactical or even ultimate. Each legend has 4 total upgrades, but you will only be able to pick 2.

• Upon upgrading armor, players can choose one of two perk options.

LEVELLING FOR BEGINNERS

As mentioned earlier, basic in-game activities will trigger the XP gains just so it’s easier or more beginner-friendly for people. Even small things like opening bins will help you in the long run (No this is not an open invitation for you to channel your inner loot goblin). Here’s an interesting tip, there is even an underdog bonus for peeps with lower-tier armor when they defeat enemies who are more levelled than them. This design choices not just ease beginners into the gameplay, but also just reward people for taking risky fights.

If all this is a little confusing for you, here’s a little infographic!

This is how your Inventory will also look now, showcasing the perks you have chosen on the left side:

And a little sneak peek at some Legend Upgrades we’ll get to see in action soon.

RANKING UP THE RANK SYSTEM

The last couple of seasons have been a ride for ranked/competitive players. Ranked has been reworked and improved on moving each season forward. The last overhaul we did introduced LP (Ladder Points), Provisional matches, as well as Promo trials. This season we are seeing another big overhaul. Ranked splits are finally making a return (BLESS UP!) Here’s the catch, EVERYONE starts the season off at 1RP.

• Matchmaking will be based on your RP; so you’ll be matched with people around the same RP as you.
• Yes, that means GOODBYE LP, and WELCOME BACK RP!
• We now also have a Top 5s in a Row bonus!
• More kills will give you more rewards!
• Entry cost will return: 20 RP per Tier starting at Silver.

Top 5 Streak Bonus: for maintaining a placement streak of 5th or better. Every time you extend your streak you’ll earn 10RP more than your previous match, up to a maximum of a 40 RP bonus.

• 2 match streak: +10 RP
• 3 match streak: +20 RP
• 4 match streak: +30 RP
• 5+ match streak: +40 RP

Challenger Bonus: earn a 50% bonus on the elimination of a higher-ranked player when you’ve personally contributed. This bonus is unaffected by the elimination soft cap of 6 kills.

CRAFT WHAT?

Yes, there are crafter changes! Replicators will now be free but you can only use it once per game. You can also only craft health items, banners and ammo now! Crafting speed is now faster so you don’t have to wait for THAT teammate forever.

Bangalore meta has been strong for a while now, and to shake things up even more, Digital Threats will no longer be able to be applied to SMGs from Season 20.

MODES: COMING IN HOT

STRAIGHT SHOT

Think less, drop hot and fight more. We’ve got a brand new LTM and man, is it GOOD. Let me break it down for you:

1. There will be 30 players per game.
2. End ring comes in half the time.
3. Your squad is randomly dropped into a POI. (Each POI will have 2 teams)
4. All weapons will come fully kitted. (Yes that includes attachments!)

That’s not it! My favourite part about this mode? You can q up for another game immediately from spectate mode.

THUNDERDOME RETURNS

Thunderdome joins the league of mixtape matches! Take a look at our favourite entertainment venue coming right to you.

Don’t worry, Three Strikes makes a comeback in Season 20.

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY, APEX LEGENDS!

During the Anniversary Event, all players will get a 1.5x boost to account XP gains! The map will be surrounded with decorations for the festivities! Expect a splash of colour on every map!

During this event, completing all challenges will reward you with the highly awaited and wanted recolour of the S4 Flatty skin! That’s not all, we’ve got some other sweet rewards waiting for you! Some legends will be available for free to players who don’t have them on these dates as well (Keep in mind you will have to do specific challenges to actually obtain them) :

• Seer Unlocked (Feb 13 – 27)
• Fuse Unlocked (Feb 27 – Mar 12)
• Rampart Unlocked (Mar 12 – Mar 28)
• Maggie Unlocked (Mar 28 – Apr 8)
• Loba Unlocked (Apr 8 – Apr 23)
• Valkyrie Unlocked (Apr 23 – May 7)