APEX Legends Update: New Event, Duos Mode and Map Rotation

Respawn Entertainment have released a new update for APEX Legends, which launches an in-game event, introduces permanent map rotation and duos game modes, as well as buffs for Revenant and Lifeline.

The Old Ways event will be available between April 7th – April 21th and allow players to unlock unique rewards by completing challenges, including a character skin for Gibraltar and a weapon skin for Longbow. Besides that, the store will feature a number of event exclusive items.

One of the main changes of the update is the adjustments of the matchmaking system. From now on there are three main options to play – the casual matchmaking allows selecting either teams of three or two, with rotation between World’s Edge and Kings’ Canyon happening every two hours. The ranked matchmaking is still limited to teams of three and, for this part of the season, to Kings’ Canyon. The developers mentioned that as of now there are no plans to add solos on permanent basis.

The developers have significantly buffed Revenant, who has been underperforming since his launch. His tactical ability – Silence – now has two charges instead of one, as well as an increased duration (status effect from 10 to 20 seconds, AoE effect from 5 to 10 seconds). Besides that, his ultimate – Death Totem – now respawns characters with 50 health, instead of 1. In addition to the above, the character is no longer considered “Low Profile”, which means that he will not be receiving increased damage from hits.

Lifeline received an additional passive ability. After the update, the maps will spawn special Blue Bins, which will randomly replace ordinary bins. While the main part of the Blue Bins can be open by everyone, only Lifeline players can open its secondary compartments that will spawn health items, weapon attachments and knockdown shields. Once they are open by Lifeline, anyone can loot the items.

The update also introduces a new location on World’s Edge called Bloodhound’s Trials, where players will fight against hordes of AI-controlled monsters to claim high-tier loot. In terms of weapons, the developers slightly nerfed G7 Scout and L-STAR, as well as increased headshot damage from Kraber and reduced Sniper Ammo pick-up amount and inventory stack size. Besides that, they significantly lowered damage requirements for Evo Armor to evolve. The update also includes a number of bug fixes and quality of life improvements.