There's no new Legend for Apex Legends Season 20. There's no new weapon, no new map. Looking at the game on the surface, it seems like nothing has changed. But a little analysis reveals that one of the game's core mechanics has been tweaked in a way that will change the way the entire game plays. On its fifth anniversary, Apex Legends is taking a step into the unknown.
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Armourno longer appears on the ground. You start the game with white shields and must upgrade them to improve them. This ties into Legend Levelling, a process that evolves your Armour and Legend simultaneously during the match. You level up based on damage as usual, but you get bonuses for knocks, kills, assists, squad wipes and use of your class abilities, such as scanning Survey Beacons or Ring Consoles.
When you level up from white to blue and then from blue to purple, you can also choose a perk for your Legend. Each Legend has two unique perks to choose from at each level in Apex Legends Season 20, offering new ways to use Legends in different scenarios.
“With each upgrade having four upgrade options, we’re talking about a hundred new things in the game that need to be considered,” admitted John Larson, a game designer at Respawn. “This is definitely something that I was personally very scientific about from the beginning, and I ultimately believe that a lot of the abilities [and] upgrades remain essential to the normal cycle of how you interact with Legends. If there’s a change, if it’s something like Ash – where none of her upgrades (spoiler alert) increase Tactical charges, or she can hold her one-time charge for longer seconds – we signal that with a slight visual or audio difference. So you can understand when you see this version go live, it’s going to be different.”
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I'm not sure if this will help the readability of the game, as you no longer know what abilities your opponent has available during combat, but it seems like a simple way to balance out Legends. Less commonly used Legends like Lifeline and Mirage get big buffs and strong abilities, while more popular choices like Revenant and Horizon get poor abilities. A shorter cooldown is still a shorter cooldown, but it's hardly worth a self-revive, right?
Shield swaps are also gone, or at least significantly nerfed. Swapping in an opponent's shield from their death box now heals your shield and grants a temporary health pip for each level it has above yours. So, if you have a blue shield and swap it for a purple one, you have 75HP at full and a temporary 25HP pip that can't be reset.
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Here are all of the Apex Legends Season 20 Skill Trees in full:
Ash
Ash has several minor changes, giving her more utility with her Tactical Ability
Ballistic
Similar to Ash, Ballistic's Tactical is enhanced in different ways depending on which branch of the skill tree you choose.
Bangalore
Bangalore can now heal slowly while in her smoke, which could mean the difference between life and death in a single moment.
Bloodhound
Bloodhound has a nice combo, with White Ravens quickly charging their Ultimate, then recovering HP when they knock down enemies with their Ultimate active. Remember that knocks also increase the duration of their Ult, and suddenly you have a powerful combo.
Catalyst
Catalyst is already strong, so she's just getting small improvements to her abilities.
Caustic
Caustic gas becomes even more toxic. A little regeneration into his own Nox Gas could prove useful during the reset.
Conduit
Like Catalyst, Conduit is already in a good position. Her skill tree is therefore insufficient to balance her powerful abilities.
Crypto
A bigger Ultimate ability could be useful for Crypto's Evo Shield development, but he would need to already have level 3 shields to receive the buff. This skill tree could have been much more exciting.
Fuse
A small speed boost could be useful for slow Fuse mains, but his skill tree mainly improves matchup when fighting other Fuses.
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is all-in in bubble fights, and you can either choose to upgrade your shotgun or prepare for better recovery with his skill tree.
Horizon
Horizon is probably the strongest Legend in the game, his skill tree just shortens cooldowns. Personally I would choose Tactical.
Lifeline
How do you choose between Self-Revive and Supply Drop with Kraber chance? I think I'd go with the former, but it might depend on your situation. Don't overlook the +20% revive speed, either. The only Legend with single-use perks, Lifeline is doing well in Season 20.
NOTE:
Respawn hasn't ruled out using Legends' skills as a way to balance each other out in Apex. You can already see that better Legends have worse abilities and vice versa.
Loba
Loba can get an additional loot item from the Black Market, but she is somewhat weak in other areas.
Maggie
Maggie's Fireball gives her a Thermite Grenade for her Wrecking Ball, and her Tactical is now surprisingly big. Big guns after Fireball is the move here.
Mirage
The Mirage meta is coming. The best reviver (sorry, Lifeline) just got a buff in that department, and the Bamboozle bonus can create chaotic endgames. Have fun.
Newcastle
Newcastle is a hugely underrated Legend, and his new abilities make him a great support pick. The persistent support and Revive Master make respawning easy.
Octane
Players who main Octane on a controller gain a tap strafe. Come on now
Pathfinder
I didn't have a chance to try out Pathfinder's new ziplines before Season 20, but his skill tree makes him a versatile option, if not particularly exciting.
Rampart
If there was one thing Rampart needed, it was reduced time for Sheila. Just kidding. This will be a disappointment.
Revenant
Revenant's skill tree revolves entirely around his tactical, so get ready to jump, dance, and fly over tangible Storm Point in the upcoming season.
Seer
Respawn doesn't know what to do with Seer, and his skill tree reflects that. His abilities now have a wider range, but he remains inactive.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie has been pushed out of the meta with the introduction of Evac Towers. Additional Thrusters won't bring her back, and her passive didn't need any changes.
Vantage
I'm a little surprised that Vantage didn't get more of a buff to his skill tree, which is pretty indifferent considering everything else.
Wattson
Wattson now has two different Pylon options, which could be great when playing in different zones or areas. I like the idea of covering a larger area with two slightly weaker Ultimates to discourage any incoming grenades or artillery from multiple angles.
Wraith
Wraith gets her old Tactical back with Quick Shift, but Wraith mains will have a tough choice between that and the cooldown reduction of her Ultimate.
As John Larson said, there are now a hundred skill options available in Apex Legends Season 20, and many more variations for every opponent you encounter. Of course, you also have more tools at your disposal, but don't count on those shield swaps to get you out of a tight spot.
Source: thegamer
