Apex Legends Season 13: New Legend, Storm Point Rework, Ranked Changes and More

Developer Respawn Entertainment may have impressed players with Titanfall back in the day, but the success of Apex Legends is out of this world. Each season has knocked it out of the park. And with the brilliance of Season 12, players are already anticipating what’s coming in the next.

Just what will the battle royale pull out the bag? Here’s everything we know so far about Apex Legends Season 13, including all the major leaks and rumors.

The typical window between each Apex Legends season is around three months. With that in mind, we can expect to see the debut of Season 13 in May 2022. This can all change, however, depending on Respawn’s plans for the future of the battle royale game. That’s especially true as limited-time modes like Control have gone on to garner immense success. 2022 could see Apex Legends evolve into something far more than just your typical last-team-standing experience.

NEW LEGEND: NEWCASTLE

HEROIC DEFENDER

For years, Newcastle defended the small town of Harris Valley, making it a safe haven for all who lived there. Now to fulfill that mission and continue defending his home, he’ll have to prove himself a hero among Legends. In the Apex Games, Newcastle can use his Knockdown Shield to protect his squadmate as he revives them, and even drag them out of harm’s way. He can charge into the fray with a Mobile Shield, blocking weapon damage and deflecting grenades, while his Ultimate erects a fortified Castle Wall.

PASSIVE: RETRIEVE THE WOUNDED

Drag allies as you revive and protect them with your Revive Shield.

TACTICAL: MOBILE SHIELD

Throw a controllable drone that creates a moving energy shield.

ULTIMATE: CASTLE WALL

Leap to an ally or target area and slam down, creating a fortified stronghold.

MONSTROUS MAP UPDATE

With this being the first map update to Storm Point, our goal was to add new content and improve map features while not subtracting anything. We added a brand-new POI; a washed-up sea creature known as the Downed Beast—which is a unique combat experience for Apex Legends—an organic combat zone, and a refreshing change from man-made architecture. On top of that, we added a brand new PvE feature, IMC Armories, at four strategic locations around the map which can dynamically change the championship outcome. Be wary here, you will encounter waves of Spectres but if you survive you can earn sweet loot tailored to your loadout.

Check out all the details in our Storm Point Update Blog by Senior Level Designer, Keith Jensen.

MAP ROTATION

The map rotation for the season for Saviors will be Storm Point, Olympus, and World’s Edge. We’re also removing the longer 2-hour rotation block. We felt that could be too long considering it could span the whole play session for some people.

RANKED RELOADED

Apex Legends: Saviors’ upgraded Ranked system adds tier demotions, entry cost adjustments,, and a rework of Ranked Points to promote teamplay. The current Ranked goals revolve around Teamplay for Victory, and Accurate Skill & Better Competition. We are making a large number of changes that focus on these two core pillars, with the outcome that players will focus on playing as a team and playing for the win, and RP will be a more accurate representation of your overall game skill.

Read the full blog detailing all the changes coming to Ranked Mode this season here.

BALANCE UPDATES

Fortified Legends

• Fortified no longer reduces headshot damage

Crafting Rotation

• Flatline & Longbow coming out and are now floor loot
• Rampage & R-301 going into crafter

Gold Weapons

• EVA-8, Bow, Flatline, P2020, Spitfire

Helmets Buff

• Blue helmet headshot damage reduction increased from 40% to 50%
• Purple helmet headshot damage reduction increased from 50% to 65%

Kraber

• Headshot multiplier down from 3.0 to 2.0
• Damage reduced from 145 to 140

Rampage

• Increased reload time from 2.6 to 3.1
• Slightly increased handling times

LSTAR

• Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
• Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
• Overheat cool-off time increased from 2.5 to 3.6
• Slightly increased handling times

Devotion

• Damage reduced from 16 to 15
• Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
• Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
• Increased reload time from 2.8 to 3.2
• Draw time increased to 0.8 from 0.7
• Holster time increased to 0.75 to 0.65
• Raise time increased to 0.65 from 0.55
• Lower time increased to 0.6 from 0.5

Havoc

• Improved recoil at the start of the pattern

Dual Shell

• Removed from floor loot and crafting bundles

Mozambique & Peacekeeper

• Increased limb damage from 0.8 to 1.0

Crate Weapons

• Spitfire back to floor loot
• Mastiff into crate

Spitfire

• Damage decreased from 19 to 18
• Purple & Gold Magazine capacity reduced from 55 to 50
• Crouched hipfire spread increased
• Removed barrel attachment slot
• Reduced headshot damage multiplier from 1.75 to 1.5
• Reduced headshot distance from 64m to 57m
• Increased reload time from 3.2 to 3.4
• Draw time increased to 0.8 from 0.7
• Holster time increased to 0.75 to 0.65
• Raise time increased to 0.65 from 0.55
• Lower time increased to 0.6 from 0.5

Mastiff

• Tightened blast pattern
• Ammo capacity reduced from 6 to 4
• Stockpile ammo: 28
• Damage per pellet increased from 11 to 14
• Increased pellet size
• Fire Rate increased from 1.1 to 1.2

Cells & Syringes

• Cells and Syringe spawn rates have been lowered by about 18%

Rampart Improvements

• Sheila spin-up time decreased from 1.75s to 1.25s
• Amped Cover deploy health increased from 45 to 120
• Amped Cover deploy time decreased from 4.25 to 3.6

Valkyrie

• Can no longer freely spin while launching during Skyward Dive

Out of Bounds

• When going out of bounds the following will be disabled:
  • Legends Abilities
  • Weapons, Ordinances and Survival Items
  • Healing items (Will not cancel mid healing)
  • All Active Passives (e.g. Valks Jet Packs)

World’s Edge

• Redesigned windows at Lava Siphon’s Control Tower to focus sightlines
• Added some additional cover around Lava Siphon's Lava Pit
• Gondola loot has been tweaked. The chances of finding high-tier armor in them have been notably reduced. Climatizer and Lava Siphon will still remain as High Tier Loot POIs

BUG FIXES

• Fix for players inside of Bangalore smoke unintentionally getting aim assist on targets outside of smoke.
• Fixed bug where Valk could no longer use Jumptowers if she has been previously shot down during her Ultimate.
• Fix for Volt animation for cases where the weapon and reticle have a jittery animation when the player is crouched.
• Fix for cases where weapons and attachments can be dropped/switched during Charge Tower interaction leading to animation glitch.
• Fix for Charge Rifle Legendary skin “Curse of the Amazon” where the upper part of the weapon blocked camera view when aiming down sites.
• Fixed bug for cases when the user accesses the replicator and pulls up their inventory before the UI for the replicator shows up, they can drop their weapon and is stuck in a crouched position.
• Canyonlands: Fix for cases when players could get blocked when trying to activate Valk’s Ultimate.
• Fixed a bug where Season Trackers were no longer showing what season stats they are tracking.
• Fixed bug where the Sentinel could charge instantly when vaulting.
• Xbox One: Fix for cases where players sometimes had to skip the Legend Select phase due to being stuck on the "waiting for players" screen.
• Fixed issue when Knocking a player on an enemy team and then dying before getting the kill, can lead to the kill being rewarded to another team instead
• ARENAS - Fixed issue where Boosted Loader was missing on Wingman.
• Fixed issue where Finishers are not counted as damage towards Challenges.
• Fixed bug where Purple Evo shields glow through closed care packages, loot pins, and Lifeline Care Packages.
• Fix for cases where players could get killed by a death box if coming in contact with it on an airship.
• Fixed bug for an issue with Players getting killed when throwing a caustic barrel up against an opening door.

• Fix for cases when Crypto's heirloom (sword) appears stuck in the middle of his body while his drone is deployed.
• Fixed issue when inspecting his Heirloom with the "Deadly Byte" skin equipped, can show missing arm texture.
• Fix for cases when players could recall their Drone instantly after activating their Ultimate.
• Fixed bug for when Crypto is using his legendary skin, and while being revived by a Mirage, he turns invisible except for his sunglasses which remain visible during the revive.

• Fixed bug where using Fuse’s Tactical in water caused the audio to get overwhelmingly loud.
• Fix for bug where players can extend Motherlode's range if used on flyers, Crypto's drone, loot drones, and Loba's Bracelet.

HORIZON

• Fix for cases when Horizon’s Ultimate disappears if the player opens a door next to it.

MIRAGE

• Fix for bug where the shield regeneration from Wattson's ultimate would reveal Mirage's location when he is invisible while reviving.
• Fixed bug for when Mirage’s decoys would sprint faster when the player is armed with an item than when they are unarmed.

PATHFINDER

• Fix for an issue where grappling grounded Loot Rollers can cause the player to get flung at high velocity.

NEW CUSTOM MATCH SYSTEM

Custom Match is replacing the previous Private Match system.

• Custom Match QOL improvements:
  • UI & Design Improvements.
  • Custom Match now saves Team Names & Match Settings when returning from match to lobby.
  • Match flow improvements.
• Added new launch parameters to pre-select viewing targets for Observer.
• Updated the color pallet used by Observers when viewing teams (Map Overview + Highlights)
  • Additionally, fixed the color duplication issue previously seen on the map overview
• Updated the Team Eliminated Text with a unique color for Anonymous Mode in Custom Match.

Another change that's coming in Season 13 is how Ranked points are awared to players during a match. While they've tinkered with the KP in previous seasons, it appears this time around they're going to adjust it based on teamwork and other factors.

Respawn has noted:

"Rise and fall through the Ranks together in a reworked Ranked system that rewards teamwork and skill."

Downed Beast

"You can fight inside, on top of, and around the monster's carcass - a new high-tier loot location, between North Pad, Checkpoint and The Mill."

IMC Armories

- Fight waves of Spectres for 60 seconds to unlock smart loot
- Smart loot will match your loadout, with upgrades for your current gear
- When inside + fighting, the Armory is locked - so you can't be third partied

Titanfall Spectre's

Bascially, this seems to be some form of NPC that players will either have to fight or interact with, similar to how Fortnite handles their NPCs around the map.

Maybe they'll be guarding some amazing loot on the re-worked Storm Point?

New Storm Point POI

Titled "The Downed Beast" this may be where the Spectre's are guarding, and we can assume some incredible loot awaits players here!

Apex Legends leaker Thordan Smash is noting that Loba is the next agent to get an heirloom within the game, and it could release next season as well!

With the incredible success of limited-time modes like Control, we’d be curious to see what Respawn can do next with familiar game modes. Adding a Team Deathmatch mode for a short period would be an excellent way to utilize the game’s brilliant movement.

Arenas is currently played in trios, but the addition of 2v2 or even 1v1 gunfights would give the experience even more adrenaline-filled moments. Lastly, after remaining absent from the game for quite some time, King’s Canyon could do with a return to revisit where it all started.

Article author: Sam Comrie is a journalist and filmmaker based in Sheffield, UK. When he isn't causing chaos in Just Cause 2, you can find him listening to Foo Fighters on repeat 24/7. Seen at NME, Red Bull Gaming, From Gamers Magazine, and JumpCut PLAY.