Apex Legends: Upheaval releases on Tuesday 7th May, 2024 and is the 21st season of the ever-evolving battle royale. Alongside the arrival of the first villainous Legend to hit the games since Revenant in 2020, there are plenty of new and returning additions that promise to turn this season on its head including a revamped Broken Moon and Solos mode returning for a limited run.
First things first, let’s talk about the big addition – a Legend called Alter joining the Apex games at the launch of Upheaval. Alter is a dimensional traveller of the Skirmisher class and the first villain we’ve seen in a long time. Alter is from another dimension, though which one she’s from is a mystery for now (she’s not a reliable narrator). If she tells you something, chances are it’s been altered to suit her needs at that very moment – though there are a few shreds of truth in some things that come out of her mouth if you pay close attention.
Alter’s Passive ability ‘Gift from the Rift’ lets you see deathboxes through walls and take a single item from them. Her Tactical is ‘Void Passage’ which allows you to make bridging portals through surfaces that your squad can also use. Finally, her Ultimate is ‘Void Nexus’ where Alter puts a device down that allows you and your team to phase back to that point while the device is still active. Be wary of this one, enemies can also make use of it too.
The next Upheaval for this season is visible on Broken Moon as the recent collision has made the map almost unrecognisable from its previous iteration, leaving alien inhabitants and plant life to take over the map. The biggest change is that the main point of interest (POI) Promenade has been completely reworked, and renamed as the Quarantine Zone. Filled with contained fast-moving zip wires and the removal of bottle necked areas, play here should be less chaotic but still deadly for anyone brave enough to venture in. This is just one of 20 POIs in season 21’s Broken Moon.
Alongside this, multiple new mini-POIs have been added map wipe to improve the connected pathways of the map while flattening the terrain a touch to even out the playing space.
Anyone climbing the ladder in Ranked will be pleased to know there will be a staggered start to Upheaval but the base will remain at 20. You will have some value based on how you performed in the previous season, for example if you graduated out of Rookie then you’ll instantly start the season as a Bronze. Also, for performing well in Ranked you will be able to get a static or animated badge once you reach the final tier of a rank.
The Apex team have heard you and are finally bringing Solos back for a limited six-week run at the launch of Upheaval. With a few quality of life changes made to the long-desired mode to bring it up to date with current game mechanics, including auto regeneration, and a new HUD allowing you to see nearby enemies. You’ll be able to test your skills on a lone run of the season 21 maps from May 7th until June 18th.
On to weapon rotation! The Devotion and Evo-8 are replacing the Wingman in the care package, meaning the latter is returning to ground loot with a hip fire reduction and can no longer take magazines. The Boosted Loader returns as ground loot but the Skullpiercer Elite has entirely been removed for this season alongside the 1x Digithreat Scope.
Crypto is getting active and passive updates including a range increase and improvement on Drone handling. Newcastle’s Shield Deploy has been sped up and the Castle Wall will douse projectiles sent at it while activated. Catalyst, Bloodhound, Octane, Caustic, Fuse and Ballistic will also be subject to minor power boosts at launch.
Melee Cosmetics were introduced in the previous season, Breakout, and in Upheaval you can take this cosmetic one step further with all new customisation options. You can customise the deathbox that drops for a player you’ve taken down as well as the base, theme, power source and active emote for the item. All of these components are unlocked and added to your Cosmetic when you attach a power source. Customisation options and Melee Cosmetics can be bought with Exotic Shards that are gained through the premium reward battle pass or via the shop.
A closing note, the Apex developers are highly aware of the cheating currently going on in Apex Legends including the boosting that’s been happening. At a recent press event they stated that they know all about these issues and are actively working on rolling out solutions to them.
Apex Legends: Upheaval, releases on Tuesday 7th May 2024 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.