Apex Legends is celebrating its 5th year anniversary and season 20 is bringing about a complete overhaul to the classic battle royale mode. Not only is Apex Legends getting a new performance 120fps mode for consoles, new shield system, and a new leveling system in matches, and more. Here’s what you need to know about Apex Legends Breakout.
New Leveling System
When playing battle royale in Ranked or Casual in Apex Legends, you will now be using a Leveling System to unlock better shields and modified abilities. When entering a game, you’ll enter at Level 1 with a basic Shield.
When you do Class actions, do damage, or get kills you’ll get XP that will increase your Level. Additionally, you can find Evo Harvesters around the world that will grant your team 400 XP. Think of this system like the FPS version of League of Legends match leveling.
When your teammate performs a Class Action, you’ll also get some points to your level. Class actions include Support Legends opening the extra Support Bins, or Controller Legends scanning Ring Consoles.
There are four total Levels and each one comes with a Shield upgrade and two modified abilities. At Level 2 you get a choice between two modified abilities and at Level 3 you get your final choice between two modified abilities. These additions are meant to encourage different playstyles within the battle royale.
When you earn a level up, the prompt will come up on your screen and you can select your new modified ability immediately or open your inventory screen and select from there later.
Shields Overhaul
Evo Shields were the previous iteration where you could earn new Shield levels by doing specific amounts of damage. The new armor will only upgrade now through the new XP Level system in each match.
When you earn a new Level, your shield will upgrade and you’ll earn a new pip (another bar). After you hit a new level, your shield will also automatically regenerate slowly but will pause if you take damage.
Shields are no longer lootable in the world. The new name for the shields are Shield Cores. When you kill an enemy, you can loot their Shield Core, so the previous Shield Swapping is still something you can do. However, if the enemy has an Shield Core that’s a higher level than your current shield, you’ll only get an extra pip as a temporary overshield.
For example, if you’re only Level 2 and pick up a Level 3 Shield Core, you’ll get the full three pips but the fourth pip will only be temporary. There are items throughout the maps that will grant instant level ups but they’re a bit rare so the best way to go about increasing your shield permanently is by leveling.
Battle Royale Changes
Along with the new leveling and shield system, a few mechanics have been adjusted to the battle royale. The Crafters will no longer require any materials to craft but will also no longer hold a weekly and daily rotation of weapons or attachments.
Instead, the Crafter will only be able to produce Medkits, ammo, Shield Batteries, and Respawn Banners if your party has a Support Legend. You can only use a Crafter once but the time to craft is almost immediate.
If you spend too much time outside of the ring in Season 20, you’ll be prompted to get back into the safe zone with a timer that counts down overhead. So don’t think you can get away with looting or healing in the zone to cheese your matches.
Ranked Changes
For more competitive players curious about Ranked changes, Everyone’s Ranks will be completely reset. Everyone will be starting with 1 RP and will have to climb through the ranks to see how far they can go. Ranked midseason splits are returning along with the return of Ranked Points instead of Ladder Points.
The required level to enter Ranked is now 20 instead of 50. There will also be a new transparent scoring system that will give players actionable feedback. You’ll be able to see how you fared in combat, match placement, and other bonuses like skilled play after each match.
In matches, you’ll be able to see your enemy’s current rank so that intel is now available to all players. Each Rank will have an increased entry cost and the Promotional Trials implemented last season (the trials you needed to complete to rank up into a new tier) are gone this season. However, also returning is the midseason rank demotion where you’ll be dropped up to six tiers to restart the climb.
Your highest rank out of both splits will be counted towards the animated badge which is your season 20 reward.
Stella is a Video Producer, Host, and Editor at IGN. Her gameplay focus is on competitive FPS games and she's previously reviewed Apex Legends, Hyper Scape, Halo Infinite Multiplayer, and Battlefield 2042. She regularly hosts and shoutcasts competitive Apex Legends and Halo Infinite tournaments when she isn't streaming on her Twitch channel after work outs. You can follow her on Twitter @ParallaxStella.
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New Leveling System
When playing battle royale in Ranked or Casual in Apex Legends, you will now be using a Leveling System to unlock better shields and modified abilities. When entering a game, you’ll enter at Level 1 with a basic Shield.
When you do Class actions, do damage, or get kills you’ll get XP that will increase your Level. Additionally, you can find Evo Harvesters around the world that will grant your team 400 XP. Think of this system like the FPS version of League of Legends match leveling.
When your teammate performs a Class Action, you’ll also get some points to your level. Class actions include Support Legends opening the extra Support Bins, or Controller Legends scanning Ring Consoles.
There are four total Levels and each one comes with a Shield upgrade and two modified abilities. At Level 2 you get a choice between two modified abilities and at Level 3 you get your final choice between two modified abilities. These additions are meant to encourage different playstyles within the battle royale.
When you earn a level up, the prompt will come up on your screen and you can select your new modified ability immediately or open your inventory screen and select from there later.
Shields Overhaul
Evo Shields were the previous iteration where you could earn new Shield levels by doing specific amounts of damage. The new armor will only upgrade now through the new XP Level system in each match.
When you earn a new Level, your shield will upgrade and you’ll earn a new pip (another bar). After you hit a new level, your shield will also automatically regenerate slowly but will pause if you take damage.
Shields are no longer lootable in the world. The new name for the shields are Shield Cores. When you kill an enemy, you can loot their Shield Core, so the previous Shield Swapping is still something you can do. However, if the enemy has an Shield Core that’s a higher level than your current shield, you’ll only get an extra pip as a temporary overshield.
For example, if you’re only Level 2 and pick up a Level 3 Shield Core, you’ll get the full three pips but the fourth pip will only be temporary. There are items throughout the maps that will grant instant level ups but they’re a bit rare so the best way to go about increasing your shield permanently is by leveling.
Battle Royale Changes
Along with the new leveling and shield system, a few mechanics have been adjusted to the battle royale. The Crafters will no longer require any materials to craft but will also no longer hold a weekly and daily rotation of weapons or attachments.
Instead, the Crafter will only be able to produce Medkits, ammo, Shield Batteries, and Respawn Banners if your party has a Support Legend. You can only use a Crafter once but the time to craft is almost immediate.
If you spend too much time outside of the ring in Season 20, you’ll be prompted to get back into the safe zone with a timer that counts down overhead. So don’t think you can get away with looting or healing in the zone to cheese your matches.
Ranked Changes
For more competitive players curious about Ranked changes, Everyone’s Ranks will be completely reset. Everyone will be starting with 1 RP and will have to climb through the ranks to see how far they can go. Ranked midseason splits are returning along with the return of Ranked Points instead of Ladder Points.
The required level to enter Ranked is now 20 instead of 50. There will also be a new transparent scoring system that will give players actionable feedback. You’ll be able to see how you fared in combat, match placement, and other bonuses like skilled play after each match.
In matches, you’ll be able to see your enemy’s current rank so that intel is now available to all players. Each Rank will have an increased entry cost and the Promotional Trials implemented last season (the trials you needed to complete to rank up into a new tier) are gone this season. However, also returning is the midseason rank demotion where you’ll be dropped up to six tiers to restart the climb.
Your highest rank out of both splits will be counted towards the animated badge which is your season 20 reward.
Stella is a Video Producer, Host, and Editor at IGN. Her gameplay focus is on competitive FPS games and she's previously reviewed Apex Legends, Hyper Scape, Halo Infinite Multiplayer, and Battlefield 2042. She regularly hosts and shoutcasts competitive Apex Legends and Halo Infinite tournaments when she isn't streaming on her Twitch channel after work outs. You can follow her on Twitter @ParallaxStella.
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