Apex Legends is approaching its one-year anniversary and it’s celebrating in style. The title’s fourth season is called “Assimilation” and will reach the servers on Feb. 4, exactly one year after the game’s launch.
Assimilation follows the model of the previous seasons and is prepared to introduce a series of changes and new additions to the game. The new legend, Revenant, is a ruthless assassin who has a vendetta against his creators, but he isn’t the only addition to the Outlands. Players are also getting the Sentinel sniper rifle, a new ranked division, free rewards, and the return of a familiar arena.
Apex’s season four is going to be big and here’s everything you need to know about it.
Revenant
Death itself is coming to the Apex Games. Respawn revealed that Revenant is the next character to join the roster with a thrilling cinematic introduction.
Revenant is a simulacrum, a term used in the Titanfall universe to loosely define a robotic body with a human mind implanted into it. The character was created by Hammond Robotics and appeared to be on the company’s payroll as an assassin.
The cinematic showcases Revenant’s assassination of con-man and thief Marcos Andrade. The legend sneaks into a high-rise building and single-handedly takes out Andrade’s heavily-armed security detail. After the fight, however, some parts of his coding were compromised. Hammond Robotics programmed him to see himself as a human, but the glitch showed him his true form.
After seeing what Hammond had turned him into, he went on a rampage against the company and everything it stood for. Revenant’s vendetta is at the forefront of season four. His introduction to Apex was marked by bloodlust, mystery, and treachery.
Hammond Robotics had plans to expand into the Outlands and was starting to create facilities near the arena of World’s Edge. Revenant engaged in a series of systematic attacks to undermine the company. He broke into several of Hammond’s facilities, stole confidential information, and likely murdered three employees. He also assassinated the company’s protégé, Jimmie “Forge” McCormick, who was poised to join Apex as the next playable legend.
Data miners uncovered Revenant’s skillset in the game files, and if the leaks are true, he could be one of the most complex characters in the Apex Games. He appears to have a focus on stealth and infiltration and can alternate between two different stances—a power we saw in his cinematic introduction.
It’s unclear if all the skills listed by data miners will make their way into the final version of Revenant in the game, but players don’t have to wait too long to see him in action. But that’s not all that’s coming with season four.
Sentinel sniper rifle
Most players thought Respawn would unveil the Volt SMG as the next weapon to join the game, but they were surprised when the company revealed the addition of the Sentinel sniper rifle. The weapon is entirely new to the Apex universe, and unlike some of the game’s weaponry, it wasn’t taken from the Titanfall franchise.
The Sentinel is the second sniper to be added after Apex launched, following the Charge Rifle introduced in season three. Design director Jason McCord described it as a bolt-action sniper rifle that’s “a little different than other sniper rifles because it has a charge mechanic.”
At first glance, the Sentinel and the Charge Rifle can appear similar based on their category and charge mechanics, but that may just be a misplaced impression.
The Sentinel is supposed to give players “little more decision making” by asking themselves if they want to “take the most powerful shot you can take right now” or not, according to McCord. Community lead Jay Frechette said the sniper has a “neat twist” that feels almost as if it had “another fire mode.”
A post on the PlayStation Blog revealed more details about the weapon. Defined as “fast (for a sniper), accurate, and surgical,” the Sentinel is “particularly devastating” to shields, which might point to it dealing extra damage against body armor. Its charge mechanics will also allow players to “consume a shield battery from your inventory” to add an extra punch to their shots.
Respawn has also kept some degree of secrecy on the weapon, but Frechette said you’ll “definitely be seeing” the weapon in upcoming trailers and breakdowns. In the meantime, descriptions of the weapon provide a starting point for deciphering its functioning.
Changes to Ranked Series 3
The next ranked season is also getting an overhaul. With the addition of a new tier, two splits, and soft resets, there’s plenty to keep players on their toes.
Ranked Series 3 will see the addition of the new Master tier for players above 10,000 Ranked Points (RP), the equivalent to Series 2’s Apex Predator. The name “Apex Predator” will comprise a new, rarified tier restricted to the top 500 players on each platform. The standings are dynamic and can fluctuate as players gather RP.
“You will bounce out of Predator if somebody else gets more RP than you,” senior game designer Chin Xiang Chong said. “So Predators need to maintain their status.”
EA’s official website says that “ranked rewards will be granted for the highest tier achieved in either split of the series, but exclusive animated badges will be granted if you can make it to the same tier both splits.”
The developers are also changing party restrictions. Players in Platinum or higher must group up with other teammates within one tier of each other. The rationale behind this change is to avoid boosting and to “help keep matches closer in the higher skill levels.”
Loss forgiveness is also seeing some changes to curb the chances of exploiting the system. The measure is likely a part of Respawn’s “judgment day” against players who abused the system to climb the ladder unfairly.
“Loss forgiveness when a teammate leaves or fails to connect” is “working as intended,” but the penalties for leaving matches will become considerably more drastic, according to EA’s website. RP loss forgiveness for quitting matches will be limited to once per day and players who surpass that limit three times in a season will “lose all forgiveness for the remainder of that series.”
Season four is also introducing some map changes to World’s Edge that will help keep it fresh as part of the first split. But the second split will be fought on familiar ground.
Updated World’s Edge and the return of Kings Canyon
There’s no place like home and Kings Canyon can feel like home for most Apex players. The map was the original arena for the Apex Games since the game launched, but was pushed off the rotation with the introduction of World’s Edge in season three. Now, it’s making a welcome return for the second half of season four.
The iconic map will be available during the second split of ranked matches starting on March 24. It’s likely that the arena will also be playable in unranked games, allowing all players to revisit the original battlegrounds.
Before Kings Canyon reaches the map rotation, however, players will square off in a modified version of World’s Edge. Players can expect some “big map changes” for Assimilation, according to design director Jason McCord.
The developers haven’t specified what the changes will be, but Forge’s corporate sponsor, Hammond Robotics, “might have something to do” with them, according to McCord. A picture on EA’s website shows what could be the next version of World’s Edge and it features a gaping sinkhole in Capitol City. Players speculate that a mysterious spaceship found in the game could crash into the map and destroy parts of its structure.
The spaceship was Apex’s first in-game teaser for season four and the community suspected it could be one of Titanfall’s Harvesters, used to extract materials and minerals from a planet. Another teaser said that Hammond Robotics aims to “begin the Harvest” around World’s Edge and the theory was finally confirmed in a post on the PlayStation Blog. “World’s Edge is getting a literal shake-up as the Planet Harvester arrives to mine precious resources,” the post reads. It’s likely that the extractive activities could deeply alter the landscape of the map.
Free login rewards
It’s not a birthday party without cake and presents, and players are getting both. During the first week of Assimilation, players who log in will receive a bundle called the “Anniversary Gift.” It will contain an origami gun charm, a dynamic badge, and an XP bonus, according to EA’s website.
The loyalty badge can be displayed on banners and comes in three increasingly sophisticated variants, all of which depict a birthday cake with candles. Details become more intricate based on the type of badge and the highest version features an ornamented border with lit birthday candles. Players will earn them based on “where you came in for the game,” according to community lead Jay Frechette.
Lastly, players will also be getting an XP boost of 10,000 XP for the first match of the day, obtainable once every day.
