Apex Legends kicked off its second season earlier this month and when it did it demonstrated that developer Respawn and publisher EA have been listening to the community. Apex Legends had one of the most successful launches in recent memory but suffered from a lack of updates, communication and a competitor (Fortnite) that was constantly adding new content.
Thankfully, Apex Legends is (slowly) starting to respond and Apex Legends Season 2 has shown that the game has plenty to offer the community.
Season 2 launched on July 3 and brought with it a host of updates, features and content that helped breathe life back into the battle-royale.
Apex Legends Season 2
Where Apex Legends launched in a fairly vanilla state, Season 2 has added a whole lot of chocolate. For instance, Season 2 has introduced Ranked Leagues.
Ranked Leagues in Apex Legends function similarly to ranked modes in other competitive multiplayer matches, however, in a battle-royale game, ranked mode ratchets up the tension even further.
Beginning at Bronze, players need to win matches, get kills and placements to earn points and climb the ranks. Each tier has four divisions to play through — Bronze IV through Bronze I — except for Apex Predator. To work through the tiers, players need to earn Ranked Points by getting kills and surviving. However, to enter a match, players will also need to spend points.
Bronze matches are free but as you move up, so does the cost. Silver matches cost 1RP, Gold 2RP, Platinum 3RP, Diamond 4RP and Apex Predator 5RP. A kill earns players 1 RP (up to a maximum of 5RP per match) and placing in the top 10 earns 2RP. A top 5 finish earns 4RP, top 3 earns 7RP and winning a match earns 12RP.
Members of the Apex Legends team — Tangentiallogic, pinedsman, and SpamminBandies — talked about the introduction of Ranked saying;
We believe that Apex is a dynamic game that takes time and effort to master. Ranked Leagues should be the place where competitive players (or players who feel competitive now and then) can go to prove their skills and gain recognition for their efforts.
Respawn also created Ranked Leagues to reward players, foster competitive integrity, create a space for the best players without a forced meta and accurately measure skill in the game.
Rewards for participating in Ranked Leagues include badges that show off your rank and tier, however, Respawn has said that it is still working on other rewards.
New Legend
Alongside Ranked League, Apex Legends Season 2 has introduced the new Legend Wattson. Wattson is the daughter of the Apex Games lead electrical engineer and thus “fights in the arena she helped build.”
Wattson’s abilities include Perimeter Security, Spark of Genius and Interception Pylon. Perimeter Security allows her to connect nodes and create electrified fences that damage and slow down enemies.
Spark of Genius is Wattson’s passive ability and it allows Ultimate Accelerants to fully charge her Ultimate Ability. Additionally, standing near an Interception Pylon boosts her Perimeter Security.
Her Ultimate, Interception Pylon, places an electrified pylon on the ground that destroys incoming ordnance and repairs damaged shields.
You can find more about Wattson in the video below.
Lore and Order
Apex Legends Season 2 also ushers in changes to the map through some storytelling and lore. After the Repulsor Tower was felled the Apex Games were forced to suspend for a time. With the Repulsor Tower down, the gigantic monsters seen out on the horizon were able to return to Kings Canyon which has wrought destruction on a massive scale.
Apex Games crews have worked hard to repair the map, however, parts are still unrecognisable. Also, thanks to the lack of Legends and Apex Games, vegetation has returned to parts of the map.
Finally, Season 2 has seen the introduction of Daily and Weekly Challenges designed to engage players and help boost Battle Pass XP. Players are now able to earn Legendary skydive emotes, Legendary skins and enough crafting metals to unlock a Legendary item.
Season 2’s Battle Pass includes over 100 levels of content with tonnes of loot up for grabs.
Apex Legends Season 2 full details can be found at the official page. Apex Legends is free-to-play on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
