Apex Legends delivers a squad-based battle royale experience with a uniquely Respawn flavor. Players will select from one of eight Legends - each with their own unique abilities and playstyles - and the last team standing wins. Combatants can choose from unique characters like Bloodhound, the tracker who can see recent enemy activity on the map, or Lifeline, a battlefield medic who can shield teammates and bring them back from the brink of death. Balanced squads and teamwork are critical, as each Legend is easy to pick up and learn, but challenging to master.

Apex Legends showcases several new genre-leading innovations, starting before players even start the match. Once players are ready to begin, they’ll choose their drop point with the Jumpmaster system, giving each squad full control over exactly where they drop in. Is it smarter to head straight for the most valuable loot and risk early conflict with other teams, or make for one of the outlying areas to plot an attack and let other squads pick each other off?

EA and Respawn invite players to prowl around the galaxy in the upcoming Apex Legends Space Hunt Event, which will take place from September 17  - October 8. Embark on a cosmic adventure with the new objective-based Knockout LTM, 36 bounty hunter-themed cosmetics, the all-new “Serpent’s Sting” Universal Melee cosmetic and more from this out-of-world event. Lastly, on top of the Space Hunt event, Duos is Back! Starting Tuesday, September 17, the fan-favorite will be back for the remainder of the season.

• New Knockout LTM - Players and their squad must Capture Zones and Score Evo to earn points in this objective-based LTM, with the five lowest-scoring teams eliminated for each round. Watch out or get out. 

• • Amped Knockout Trials - For a limited time, Legends can take on weekly challenges to permanently unlock two pivotal Legends, Crypto and Wattson. Players who complete both sets of unique Legend challenges will be rewarded with an additional Epic badge.

• 36 Galactic Bounty Hunter-Themed Cosmetics & Reward Shop - Throughout the event, players can reap their Bounty Bucks for items in the Reward Shop including two Epic+ Skins for the Havoc and Prowler. Uncover 36 astronomical event cosmetics, with each unlock pushing them closer to killer Milestone Rewards.

• • Introducing An All-New Melee Cosmetic - Wield the all-new “Serpent’s String” Universal Melee Cosmetic, which can be upgraded to include Pentakill Fangs (Holographic Kill Counter) and a Deathbox Effect. 

Time to score, Legends!

Get into Knockout, an all-new objective-based LTM where you and your squad capture zones and earn Evo to score points. Rack up Bounty Bucks to unlock rewards in the Reward Shop, including two Epic skins for Conduit and Valkyrie. Pull 36 themed items from Space Hunt Event Packs including the all-new Mythic “Serpent's Sting” universal melee item. It’s high time that you prove you’re the best in the galaxy. The Space Hunt Event runs from September 17 to October 8, 2024.

NEW MODE: KNOCKOUT

Introducing the all-new 60-player, 20-squad, Battle Royale experience: Knockout! In this intense, objective-based competition, squads must capture zones and collect EVO to rack up points. The 5 lowest-scoring squads are eliminated after each round, so every point counts. Enjoy infinite respawns until the high-stakes Sudden Death finale. After 3 rounds, the final 5 squads are redeployed for an all-out battle where only one squad will emerge victorious. Will your squad be the last one standing?

AMPED KNOCKOUT TRIALS

For a limited-time, take on weekly challenges to permanently unlock two pivotal Legends: 

• September 17-October 15: complete Crypto’s Trials to permanently unlock Crypto
• October 1-October 15: complete Wattson’s Trials to permanently unlock Wattson

Featured Legends will unlock and be free-to-play for the duration of their challenge window. Complete all of a Legend’s corresponding challenges to permanently add them to your pantheon. Those that complete both Amped Knockout Trials will be rewarded for their efforts with an Epic tiered badge.

MILESTONE EVENT ITEMS

Unlock 36 limited-time cosmetics to proceed through the event and unlock milestone rewards. Each Space Hunt item received during the event counts towards these bonus rewards that you’ll automatically unlock after hitting milestones along the way.

Each of these event items, including the “Serpent's Sting,” can be acquired via Space Hunt Event Packs, which contain one event item and two standard items with a guarantee of no event item duplicates. Once you’ve acquired the Mythic universal melee item, “Serpent's Sting”, you’ll also be able to purchase additional customizations usable by any Legend, such as the new “Crimson Ripper” holographic Kill Counter.

As you kill enemies during a match, red holographic triangles will fill on the “Serpent's Sting”, maxing out at 5 kills and resetting each match. For those who reach the coveted title of Kill Leader, you’ll see a unique crown holographic at the top for as long as you retain the title.

REWARD SHOP

Earn Bounty Bucks by completing daily event challenges, then head to the Space Hunt Reward Shop to choose your own rewards and see your progress with event badges. The Reward Shop and offerings will rotate halfway through the event on September 28, 2024, at 10am PT.

A limited amount of Bounty Bucks can be earned per day by completing challenges and they refresh daily.

STORE TAB

Explore limited-time Space Hunt offers in the Store tab from September 17 to October 8, 2024.

PATCH NOTES

BALANCE UPDATES

Gold Weapons Rotation

• Mozambique Akimbo, P2020 Akimbo, EVA-8, VK-47 Flatline, G7 Scout

GAMEPLAY UPDATES

Loot Bin Reset

• Added Announcer voice line when Loot Bin Reset has triggered for improved clarity 
• Reduced spawn rate for some high value loot (backpacks, hop ups, gold attachments) after reset
• If a Loot Bin is opened just before the reset happens, loot from that bin will be thrown out onto the ground ensuring players can grab desirable items instead of those items being deleted
• Legendary Loot Bins will roll fewer Gold items via Smart Loot when opened
• Mythic Loot Bins will roll large healing items more consistently
• Updates to Legendary (Gold) Loot Bin spawning logic which reduces the number of spawned Gold Bins and more consistently distributes them across the playable space

Dev Note: You should be rewarded for surviving to the late game. More consistent access to high value loot with Loot Bins has been a great reward, however the rewards were a bit too generous. We’ve reduced the rates of the best items that end the loot chase too soon to maintain the value of continuous looting after Loot Bin Reset. Additionally, no one loves the experience of opening a Loot Bin and seeing something they want, only to have the reset slam it shut in their face. Getting that loot onto the ground ensures you get the full value out of a Loot Bin regardless of the reset timing. 

Loot Ticks

• Greatly improved the contents of loot ticks
  • Removed white and blue rarity attachments and equipment from possible loot
  • Increased the chances to receive gold weapons
  • Removed Phoenix Kit and hop-ups from possible loot

Dev Note: Long have Loot Ticks been a bit underwhelming. We’ve increased their power to be more on par with other, more recent sources of high tier loot acquisition.

WEAPONS & LOOT

Havoc Rifle

• Removed Turbocharger as a Hop-up

Dev Note: Even after our most recent round of nerfs, the Havoc is still overperforming compared to our other weapons. Removing its high-valued chase item is intended to tamp down its power level.

R-99 SMG [Care Package]

• Damage fall-off at 11+ meters increased to 11
• Improved recoil

Ammo

• Ammo that spawns with a weapon will now always be a single brick, but with twice the ammo

Dev Note: Previously, there was a 70% chance to spawn two separate ammo bricks and a 30% chance to only spawn one when a weapon spawned with its corresponding ammo. We’ve changed this to clean up the number of items on the ground and slightly increase the ammo economy.

Hop-ups

• Reduced spawn rate of Gun Shield Generator
• Removed Turbocharger from loot pool

Ultimate Accelerant

• Rarity increased to Purple (was Blue)
• Reduced spawn rate
• Increased movement speed while using

Dev Note: Ult Accelerants are in a tricky spot. Their power is clear to some players, being able to chain multiple ultimates in a single engagement, while other players will leave them on the ground in favor of other loot. We want all of our players to understand the power that comes with the Ult Accelerant, but we also don’t want to mess too much with the careful balancing act that comes with Legend ult timing. This change aims to decrease the cadence with which they can be used while also making their power more obvious and convenient to access.

LEGENDS

Fuse

• Hard capped the max radius of the scan area to be 450 (+50% of default ring/flat surface)
• Disallowed mortar targeting on multiple objects within the players control to prevent perfect setups

Dev Note: We gave Fuse the ability to see enemies inside the mortar ring as a quality of life improvement. The scan area would scale as large as necessary to match the area of the ring. This had the unintended side effect of giving a very large scan area when shot on tall objects. Our intention for the ult is to primarily be an area of effect ability, not an information gathering ability.

Rampart

• Lowered delay before you can re-enter Sheila turret to 0.15s (was 1s)

Revenant

• Forged Shadows
  • Reduced shield health to 50 (was 75)
  • Activation time doubled

Valkyrie

• Now Recon Legend (was Skirmisher)
• Full Tank upgrade now includes a 50% reduction in refuel delay to 4s (was 8s)
• Gains Threat Vision while jetpacking, stays on until feet hit the ground/zipline
• Jetpack UI now has a 'refuel delay' timer
• More agile jetpack handling that feels similar to Valk’s release
• Various buffs to improve reliability and output from Tac
  • Move slow stun duration increased by 50%
  • Missile explosion radius increased by 20%
  • Min attack range decreased by 25% (can hit enemies that are closer)
  • Max missile travel time now 4s (was 4.5s)
  • Fire rate for launching all missiles now 25 (was 18)
• Upgrades
  • Aerial Expert: removed
  • Full Coverage: moved to Level 2, added reduced Tac cooldown
  • NEW Eyes in the Sky: ignores the LoS check on skydive HUD scan, increases HUD highlighting range by 40m

Shockwave Launch: Level 2	Shockwave Mid-Season: Level 2
Aerial Expert	Increased horizontal Jetpack speed and acceleration.	Full Coverage	Reduce Tac cooldown by 5 seconds. Widen Missile Swarm pattern from 4x3 to 3x5.
Shockwave Launch: Level 3	Shockwave Mid-Season: Level 3
Full Coverage	Modify Missile Swarm pattern from 4x3 to 3x5.	Eyes in the Sky	Enemies are revealed from further away and through walls while skydiving.

Dev Note: As Evac Towers rose, Valk’s fall from grace was no surprise. After 16 months of everyone having access to more macro-mobility, we used this midseason update to improve all facets of her kit and reevaluate her role as a Skirmisher. We felt that gating full ult potential behind upgrades was still an important playstyle decision and power check for someone with a jetpack for a passive. Do you prefer the combat strength gained from jetpack and tactical upgrades? Or will you opt for skydiving upgrades that can help you spot good landing locations in crowded endgames? Regardless, Threat Vision while jetpacking and her skydive HUD solidify her as a unique Recon pick: “They can have the ground, I own the sky.”

MAPS

Pubs & Ranked

• E-District
• Olympus
• Kings Canyon

MODES

Duos 

• Returns September 17, 2024
• Available until the end of Shockwave

New Mode: Knockout

• New 60 player, 20 squad, points-based BR mode
• Squads capture zones and collect EVO to earn points
• Five lowest scoring squads are eliminated at the end of each round 
• Players have infinite respawns until the Sudden Death finale
• After 3 rounds, the remaining 5 squads are redeployed for a Sudden Death finale
• Last squad standing wins!

MIXTAPE

• Map Rotations
  • September 17-October 14, 2024
    • TDM: Thunderdome, Skull Town, Estates
    • CONTROL: Caustic Treatment, Labs, Barometer
    • GUN RUN: Wattson’s Pylon, Estates, Skull Town
  • October 15-21, 2024
    • TDM: , Thunderdome, Skull Town
    • CONTROL: , Labs, Caustic Treatment
    • LOCKDOWN: Estates, Skull Town
  • October 22-28, 2024
    • BIG TDM: Estates, Skull Town
    • CONTROL: Thunderdome, Lava Siphon
    • GUN RUN: Wattson’s Pylon, Fragment
  • October 29-November 4, 2024
    • BIG TDM: Thunderdome, Skull Town
    • CONTROL: Labs, Caustic Treatment
    • GUN RUN: Estates, Skull Town

RANKED

Ranked has gone through many different layers through the years and of course every player has their favorite rendition. At the end of Upheaval, we stopped baking you Ranked cakes and started baking you Rumble pies. It was a limited run and some of you ate the pies, but realistically everyone that comes to the cake shop is there for cake. 

To cut the metaphors, our very first Ranked Rumble was met with rumbles. It didn’t deliver or align with why you’re playing Ranked: grinding for that sweet, sweet icing RP. You let us know about this misalignment and it was also reflected in our participation data. We set out to create a competitive experience that would offer a different flavor and we missed the mark.

Ranked Rumble will not be going live today or at the end of the Shockwave season. We’re going to take it offline and rework some of the fundamental systems to allow for the following goals to be achieved:

• Ranked Rumble should add to the existing Ranked experience, not be a substitute
• Provide a way to earn bonus rewards for competing directly against other players in your tier
• Provide an opportunity for meaningful competition and comparison once you have reached your skill cap
• Capture some of the Top Predator placement magic at every Ranked tier
• Create some of the best matches that Ranked has to offer by bringing more players together
• Create more opportunities for us to gather and respond to feedback, which allows us to dial-in the experience to be more fun and worth your time investment

Ranked Rumble will see a tentative return next season. We hope you’ll continue to enjoy Shockwave’s Ranked and look forward to us talking about Ranked Rumble again in the very near future.

BUG FIXES

Looking for something else? Our public Trello board is updated weekly with the status of bugs that we can talk about ahead of the patch note drops. We also update our game status here for those of you not on other social platforms.

• DX12 PC: fixed issue that prevented Apex from working on third gen Intel CPUs like 3570 and 3770
• Fixed a long standing bug that could cause servers to crash
• Fixed rare case where you could get crushed when mantling over open Loot Bin
• Legendary Loot Bins will no longer spawn too near each other or in clustered groups
• Low Ammo indicators will no longer spam while you’re unarmed
• Minimap icons for used/empty Perk Loot Bins will no longer display
• R-99 restored to Care Packages in Mixtape TDM and Big TDM
• Restored ADS red dot while using "Celestial Sniper" Longbow skin
• Restored Zipline upwards from the second floor of Wattson’s Pylon on Storm Point
• Teams with all max level players can no longer interact with Evo Harvesters
• Vastly reduced the likelihood of being in a constant state of rubberbanding

Loot Bin Reset

• Fixed rare crash related to opening Mythic Supply Bins after Loot Bin reset
• Loot Bin Reset warnings while spectating now shown at correct times

LEGENDS

• Crypto: EMP will no longer occasionally trigger while recalling Hack
• Mad Maggie’s passive will now trigger when hitting gunshields
• Newcastle’s “Swift Shield” upgrade now works as intended
• Wattson
  • Emergency Power upgrade will now affect teammates and ult accels
  • Resolved issue with health regen in Mixtape

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Added the ability to manage your inventory while healing and ziplining
• Valkyrie: can now cancel the her Tac by melee punching

E-District

• Added assets to aid in climbing up walls in certain areas 
• Added two survey beacons to the north side of the map
• Electro Dam's spillway slope can now be traversed upwards
• Ground loot and Loot Bin count has been increased
  • 100 Loot Bins have been added to the map
  • Buses now have ground loot
  • Various buildings have had their ground loot slightly increased
• Reduced the amount of possible high-tier loot spawning at The Lotus
• Relocated Blossom Drives crafter to the far West side
• Resolved a number of additional bugs and rat spots

GRAPHICS

• DX12 PC: made it easier to use stretched res with a DX12-only CVar, "mat_letterbox_aspect_min". Setting this value to 1.0 as a launch argument, such as +mat_letterbox_aspect_min 1.0, will let Apex stretch the game resolution as the last-stage of rendering in full screen mode, so that players shouldn't need to modify anything in system settings or in a GPU vendor's control panel
• Fixed some performance issues for quad-core CPUs that were introduced Upheaval mid-season
• GPU performance optimizations for rendering FX like legend abilities

The innovations don’t stop there as Apex Legends also delivers Respawn Beacons, one-time use locations where defeated teammates can be revived, a contextual Ping communication system that allows players to call out enemies, weapons, locations and more with the push of a button, and an intelligent inventory system which automatically attaches gear and equipment to the appropriate weapons once players pick them up. All together it creates a battle royale experience unlike any other, complete with Respawn’s commitment to top-notch quality and fun.

Apex Legends is now available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.