The ninth season of Apex Legends – entitled Apex Legends Legacy – is now available to play on all platforms following its launch earlier today. The season includes a new Legend, a new weapon, and perhaps most significantly, a brand-new permanent game mode which offers an alternative to battle royale.
New Content in Apex Legends Legacy
The first big feature of Apex Legends Legacy is, of course, Valkyrie. The latest addition to the roster of playable Legends, Valkyrie brings an entirely new style of play to the table, giving players the option of flight! Her suite of abilities focuses on aerial mobility. Her Ultimate even lets Valkyrie’s whole squad boost into the air and skydive back down across the map. No doubt Valkyrie’s addition could have some significant impacts on the Apex meta. In fact, the update which rolled out alongside Legacy also included some big rebalancing changes for existing Legends, particularly Lifeline.
Weapons also got attention in the update, which added a brand-new Marksman weapon category. Foremost in this new category is the Bocek; Apex Legends’ first-ever bow which launched as part of Legacy. While it has a relatively low rate of fire, the Bocek is precise, and players can retrieve their arrows after firing.
Perhaps the biggest new feature of Apex Legends Legacy, however, is Arenas. Respawn has added all manner of variant game modes since launch. However, all of these have been limited-time modes, and variants of battle royale. Arenas is neither; the mode is a permanent addition, and on a very different scale to battle royale. Arenas is a round-based, 3v3 mode which takes place on custom maps. Due to the mode’s size, various changes have been made to Apex’s core gameplay mechanics. Weapons and gear are purchased between rounds, for example, rather than looted in-game.
Besides Valkyrie, the Bocek, and Arenas, Legacy includes several big features and changes. The Olympus map has gotten a new area, for example, while Emotes are now available for all Legends. The Starter Kit system also means that players will now enter battle royale with a basic kit of items, rather than nothing.