Apex Legends Season 26 Patch Notes Explained
Apex Legends Season 26 Wildcard released today and here are the biggest changes and updates you need to know before you play.
Wildcard
For casual players, a new permanent game mode has been added to Apex called Wildcard. This mode features shortened matches and only 30 players in a lobby to ensure fast-paced games that should only last about 15 minutes.
The Wildcard map is a modified version of Kings Canyon. It’s been spruced up with grav canons, zip rails, jump towers, and jump pads to close the gap and help keep you moving. There will be more maps added in the future but for the launch of Wildcard, Kings Canyon will be the only map for now.
You can respawn as long as you have one teammate left and you actually have one self-revive kit. You can get a revive kit back if you eliminate an enemy and collect theirs. You won’t have to loot very much in Wildcard since all weapons come kitted with attachments and all you ahve to do is gain EVO points to level your weapons.
There’s also a smart loot system where any loot you come across, you can just run over it to automatically collect it. The same goes for the Evo Orbs enemies drop which gives you a boost to health regen, shields, Evo xp, and teammate respawn timer reduction.
Wildcards brings in a mechanic that I'm really happy to see return from Titanfall where you have a card system (yes called Wildcards) that gives you special power ups when in your inventory. You have to craft them at Replicators but you can have up to three per match with one slot unlocking every round you survive. An example of a Wildcard includes a Wall Running card that lets you run on walls for a short distance.
Again, Wildcard is a permanent mode separate from pubs. And the best part? You can stack as many of one Legend in your team as you want. Do you want to load in with three Caustics? Or maybe just a team made up of Ash? Gross but sure go for it!
New Mechanics
The base battle royale game mode is also getting some significant changes. Hop-Up attachments are no longer loot you can find in matches but are now built into your weapons. However, you cannot utilize the Hop-Up until you meet the damage requirements needed to unlock the attachment.
It’s honestly very easy and quick to unlock Hop-Ups since most of the damage you need to inflict is only about 200 to 400 damage.
The Hop-Ups included in Season 26 are:
Accelerator: Gain extra Ultimate and Evo points on Knocks
Peacekeeper, Alternator, L-Star
Gun Shield Generator: Creates or Powers a Gun Shield
R301, Hemlock, Rampage
Rampart Graffiti Mod: Greatly improves weapon handling and increases magazine size
Eva 8, Spitfire, Volt
Selectfire Receiver: Change Fire Mode
Prowler, Charge Rifle
Skull Piercer: Increased Headshot Damage
Longbow, Wingman, 30-30 Repeater
There is also a new Amp system which are additional perks you can loot throughout matches in ranked and unranked. Amps are perks that you can swap out at any time but you can only hold one at a time.
There are five Amps you can choose from:
Overarmor: +25 Shield capacity
Infinite Ammo: Infinite Ammo at the cost of losing two inventory slots
Bottomless Batteries: If you hold 2 or more batteries, using one will not consume what you have
Power Booster: Tactical cooldown is reduced by 25% and knocks restore a Tac charge
Overflow Healer: Using a Cell or Syringe will start healing over time until your health or shields are back to full.
Weapon Changes
This season, the Akimbo P2020s are now Care Package weapons while the Peacekeeper is back on ground loot. The Gold Weapon rotations are the Eva-8, Hemlok, RE-45 Burst, Sentinel, and Wingman.
You’re probably wondering what the hell an RE-45 Burst is. This is a part of a new Elite Weapon system. The RE-45 is the first weapon to be swapped out to one Ballistic had altered in his private collection which takes it from being an auto weapon to an energy-based burst pistol. Elite Weapons are meant to be strong and introduce new mechanics into its selected weapons.
The RE-45 Auto will not appear in game anymore and only the Burst version will be available on floor loot as well as Energy Arsenals. While this is super exciting, I’m sad to report that the Season 25 favorite LMG the Devotion is getting a nerf with a widened reverse hipfire spread, less improvement from attachments, and a mag size reduction from 52 to 48. If you fully kit out your Devotion with purple attachments, you’ll still get the Turbo status so it’s not that bad but you will have to be more careful with close range fights.
The EVA-8 was also nerfed with one point less damage per pellet and a reduced rate of fire and the Peacekeeper no longer deals headshot damage and has a slower rechamber and choke time. The only weapon that seems to have gotten a buff is the Mozambique with an increase in rate of fire in both Akimbo and Single fire modes and a tightened blast pattern.
Legend Changes
Controller Class Legends are going to be happy this season since their passives Zone Overcharge and Ring Console scanning gives them more than before. Zone Overcharge, where Controller Legends can regenerate shields when in zone, now continuously regens shields in zone unless they take damage. But even after that, their shields will regenerate after six seconds. After scanning Ring Consoles, Controller Legends can spawn a taller EVAC tower from that Console.
One of those Controller Legends getting a real buff this season is Caustic. Caustic’s gas now deals 10-15 damage (was 4-10) and aim punches enemies who take damage in the gas. His Nox Gas also slows enemies and drains them of movement cooldowns. His traps now have 225 health as opposed to 150 and Caustic’s ultimate will last 5 seconds longer.
On top of gas buffs, Caustic has a unique leveling system with a new passive called Field Research that allows him to earn research points from dealing damage with his gas, opening specific death boxes, and scanning ring consoles.
Research points will then give Caustic an additional upgrade so he can actually unlock all four of his upgrades in a match. Here are his new Legend upgrades:
Level 2: Extra Traps (one additional charge, increased max in world by 2) OR Breathe It In (Caustic heals in his Nox Gas)
Level 3: Gas Fighter (Tac recharges 300% faster while in gas) OR Particle Diffuser: (increases Ult radius by +50%)
Bangalore has also finally been given a buff and her Tactical and Ultimate serve better purposes now. Bangalore’s Tactical will now break and travel through doors and the cooldown for her smokes have been reduced by 5 seconds. Her new level upgrades also can give her smoke canisters electric damage that will deal 100 damage to enemy Ults and destroy any enemy tacticals.
Bangalore’s Ultimate, Rolling Thunder, now only takes 1 animation frame to throw her projectile and the cooldown has been reduced by 60 seconds. Her level 3 upgrade allows her to choose a perk that electrifies her ult which increases its damage by 10 and can now destroy enemy deployables.
Here is Bangalore’s new ability tree:
Level 2: Electric Smoke (electrifies Tac dealing 100 damage to enemy Ults and destroys Tacs) OR Cover Me
Level 3: Payload (electrifies Ult dealing 10 more damage destroys enemy deployables) OR Medal of Honor (faster revives and passive triggers running towards knocked allies)
Ranked Changes
Ranked now features Drop Zones which takes away the Jumpmaster mechanic and now drops your lobby’s teams in different POIs. Hot Zones for loot are gone now and all loot across all POIs are equal. Before you select your Legend, you’ll be able to see a preview of where your team will be dropping on the map.
Don’t worry, after you land, you’ll get a warning if there’s an enemy squad invading your specific Drop Zone. Map Rotations for Season 26 include Broken Moon, E-District, and Storm Point. We’re finally getting a break from World’s Edge.
Another big change for Ranked is the elimination of Heat Shields in this game mode so no more last minute rotations in the Ring. Something I’m really excited about is earning your Aura in Ranked. This is the new cosmetic that will show off your Ranked Tier after this season launches. If you have Ranked unlocked, you’ll be able to get this cosmetic item after logging in.
