Apex Legends Legacy will be bringing plenty of new content to the game when it launches on the 4th of May; a new Legend, a major new permanent game mode, and a new weapon. (Not to mention substantial changes to Olympus.) However, it will also be introducing a quite significant change for all battle royale matches; Starter Kits.
Apex Legends Legacy: Starter Kits
With the launch of Apex Legends Legacy next week, Starter Kits will become a standard part of the game. This means that, rather than entering each match with nothing, every player will instead drop into the map with a “Starter Kit” of basic items already in their inventory. Specifically, this kit consists of three items; a Level 1 EVO Shield, a Level 1 Helmet, and a Knockdown Shield. It also includes 4 consumable items; 2 Shield Cells and 2 Syringes. This means that players should be notably more durable in the opening moments of each match.
The addition of Starter Kits also mean changes to the Apex Legends loot pool. Since all players will now get a Level 1 Helmet and Knockdown Shield by default, both items have been removed from the loot pool. There will no longer be any point in them appearing, after all! The Level 1 EVO Shield hasn’t been completely removed, but the chances of finding one have been “significantly reduced“.
According to Respawn, the addition of Starter Kits is to make loot feel more impactful and to reduce the number of items in the loot pool. The three items are apparently; “the least exciting, least meaninful pickups” available in Apex Legends, the power of which; “is practically invisible.”
With two items disappearing from the loot pool (and a third becoming much less common), the loot pool is also getting a general rebalance. Players should find that the higher-level versions of Helmets and EVO Shields, for example, will appear at approximately the same rate as they currently do. However, other types of items will become more common, particularly ammunition, health items, and weapons. (Effectively taking over the space normally occupied by the removed items.)