Season 13 is nearly here in Apex Legends, and ahead of the release of the new season, Respawn gave players a glimpse at the changes in store for them. Titled “Saviors,” season 13 will see the customary new legend, as well as the usual tweaks to maps and the legend meta.
Season 13 will also include some sizable changes to the game’s weapon meta, as well as significant shifts in how the game’s ranked mode works and the addition of custom matches. All told, there’s going to be plenty for players to test out when season 13 launches.
Here are all the changes coming to Apex in season 13.
New legend: Newcastle
Newcastle, aka Lamont Craig, aka Bangalore’s brother, Jackson Williams, is a defensive legend who’s unafraid to mix things up. Instead of the camping playstyle that defines many of the game’s defensive legends, however, Newcastle’s kit incorporates plenty of abilities designed for a more active approach to defense. This includes his Castle Wall ultimate, which he can leap forward dozens of meters to place down.
Newcastle’s tactical, Mobile Shield, is another ability that allows him to protect himself and his allies while on the move. And his passive, Retrieve the Wounded, lets him drag a downed teammate around while he revives them.
For a full breakdown of Newcastle’s abilities, you can check out our full guide to the new legend.
Map changes coming in season 13
Season 13 has plenty of changes in store for Storm Point. The map has a new point of interest, Downed Beast, which is primarily made of the giant sea monster that the legends defeated in the Saviors launch trailer.
Also coming to Storm Point in season 13 are IMC Armories, weapons caches that will give players loot, provided they can defeat the automated Spectre units that defend these armories.
World’s Edge also got some attention while it was away in season 12, with Respawn making some changes to cover and windows around Lava Siphon, while the gondolas in Lava Siphon and Climatizer will now not have as good of a chance to spawn high tier loot on them.
In addition to the changes big and small to Storm Point and World’s Edge, season 13 has a new map rotation. The available maps to play in season 13 will be Storm Point, Olympus, and World’s Edge. This means Kings Canyon will be out for the season.
Weapon changes in season 13 of Apex
There are big changes coming to many weapons in season 13, beginning with the game’s light machine guns. The Spitfire comes out of the care package and will receive the customary nerfs that all care package guns returning to ground loot get. Notably, the Spitfire will no longer accept barrel stabilizers.
The rest of the game’s LMGs will get nerfs alongside the Spitfire, however, with the Rampage, Devotion, and LSTAR all getting handling nerfs. All LMGs except for the Rampage will also get reduced headshot multiplies. The Rampage also goes into the replicator crafting system with the R-301, while the Flatline assault rifle and the Longbow sniper return to the ground loot pool.
These weapon changes aim to knock down how powerful LMGs became over the last several seasons, with large magazine sizes and simple recoil patterns making them too reliable at dealing massive damage from short and long range.
Elsewhere, the Mastiff replaces the Spitfire in the care package and is buffed accordingly. The Kraber gets a nerf to its headshot damage. The Mozambique and Peacekeeper get slight buffs to limb damage, and the Havoc gets a little buff to its recoil pattern as well. Finally, the Dual Shell hop-up for the Mastiff and 30-30 Repeater has been removed from ground loot and crafting rotations. It will only appear in the game already attached to the Mastiff in the care package.
Legend changes in season 13 of Apex
One of the biggest changes introduced in season 13 will be a nerf to the Fortified passive. A passive afforded to the characters with significantly bigger character models, like Gibraltar, Caustic, and possibly Newcastle, Fortified reduces damage taken by characters that are easier to hit. In season 13, however, this damage reduction will not apply to headshots.
Valkyrie also gets a nerf, specifically aimed at changing the way she is played late in matches and at the highest levels of the game. She can no longer freely spin while launching during her Skyward Dive ultimate, making her and her team much more susceptible to teams trying to shoot them out of the sky. Characters will also now not be able to use any abilities, weapons, or healing items while out of bounds, an indirect nerf to Valkyrie. Since her introduction to the game, teams have used her ultimate to safely land out of bounds and then drop on other teams while throwing utility at them from above. The nerfs retain Valkyrie’s value in quickly rotating around a map and effectively leaving behind bad fights while tuning down the effectiveness of her ultimate as a “get out of jail free” card teams with bad positions can use late in a game.
Rampart, on the other hand, gets a sizable buff, with both her Amped Cover tactical ability and Sheila ultimate getting improved deploy/charge-up times, allowing all of Rampart’s utility to come out faster. Her Amped Cover walls are now beefier while being deployed, getting a health buff from 45 to 120.
Does season 13 of Apex have private lobbies?
There are changes coming to private lobbies in season 13 with the introduction of the custom match system, but it’s unclear if these custom matches will be available to the public or will still only be available to certain creators and tournament organizers. Information from popular Apex creator KralRindo suggests that custom matches will not be available to everyone as of yet.
As for the custom match system, season 13 will upgrade the old private match system with a new user interface design, as well as several upgrades for Observers and their feeds.
Bug fixes and other changes in Apex season 13
A host of bug changes is coming to the game with the Saviors update. Chief among them include a fix to players on controller getting aim assist on enemies they cannot see through Bangalore’s smoke, and a fix to the issue of Valkyrie not being able to use jump towers in matches where she has previously been shot down during her Skyward Dive ultimate. Players will also be relieved to see they can no longer get permanently stuck at crafting stations if they open their inventory during the animation for entering the replicator system. Finally, several smaller bugs are addressed in season 13, including purple shields being visible outside of loot bins, Crypto’s heirloom getting stuck in his body, and Fuse’s ultimate range being extended while targeting flying targets like Crypto’s drone.
Elsewhere, there are plenty of changes to weapon and utility prices in Arenas, with several weapons becoming less costly to buy and upgrade, while the Havoc and Devotion both get a bit more expensive.
Sweeping changes are coming to the game with the Saviors update. You can test them out for yourself when the new season releases on May 10. If Respawn holds to its usual pattern, season 13 should go live at 10am CT.
