Apex Legends season 2 is live: Here's everything we know

Apex Legends, the battle royale game based in the Titanfall universe, came out of nowhere in early 2019 to dethrone the top game in the genre, Fortnite. Although the game's popularity waned, excitement for its second season has reinvigorated the player base.

When does Apex Legend season 2 start?

The new season of Apex Legends, titled Battle Charge, started on July 2. Respawn Entertainment revealed the date of the next season during EA Play at E3 2019. 

What's new in Apex Legends season 2? 

Respawn made some big changes in the second season of Apex Legends, but also a lot of small updates players have been wanting for some time. 

As shown in a gameplay trailer for the season, Kings Canyon has gone through some changes. The area's defenses are done allowing giant Leviathans and Flyers to roam around. So far there hasn't been an explanation on how the beasts will play a part in matches.  

Prominently shown in season 2 trailers is the new L-Star weapon. The light machine gun will fire larger projectiles than other weapons and can be used to open doors in buildings.

Since it shoots large plasma bullets, the L-Star can overheat so it's advised to not keep the trigger down when using it. The weapon is so powerful that it can only be found in airdrops and comes with a limited supply of ammo that can't be refilled.

Apex Legends season 2 also has more weapon attachments and ammo known as Hop-Ups. Disruptor Rounds increase damages to shielded targets while Hammerpoint Rounds increase damage on unshielded targets. Energy Mags increase the magazine capacity and reload speeds of the Havoc, Triple Take and Devotion guns. Other Hop-Ups, Arc Stars and weapons also received various balance changes.

One big change players clamored for is a ranking mode. The Ranking Leagues mode will pit players against those of similar skill levels with the best players earning the title of Apex Predator.

A blog post on Monday shows how the ranking mode will work. Rankings will have their own period of time, called a series, in which players will be ranked according to how they play. The first Ranked Series will start in July and end in September. Respawn says the timing for the series will not necessarily coincide with the start and end of each season. Once a Ranked Series is over, the rankings will be reset and everyone starts off at the bottom. 

The tiers for the ranking mode are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Apex Predator. Each rank is split into four divisions, except for Apex Predator. Players will receive Ranking Points at the end of their match based on their performance, such as how many kills they had and where they placed in the match. The amount of RPs a player has will dictate what rank they're in. Players lose a certain amount of RPs each time they play a match within a certain rank, with Bronze requiring no points to play. Respawn also said those who quit out of ranked matches will be hit with a penalty equal to how much RPs they spent to join a match. 

With this system, players who move up to the Gold ranking, for example, can be promoted or demoted to the different divisions within the ranks such as going from Gold IV to Gold III if they perform poorly, but they won't go down from Gold to Silver or Bronze rank if they continue to lose. 

Players can team up for Ranked Mode matches, but the players must be at level 10 or higher. The matchmaker will find other players at the same ranking as the highest-leveled player, which means teammates will be in for a tough match if they join a squad with a player who has a much higher level. 

At the end of a Ranked Series, players will receive an in-game reward based on their final ranking. 

Several Legends had a myriad of changes regarding their respective abilities. Some were improved while others were nerfed a bit. 

Respawn also made changes to The Ring, which closes in Kings Canyon as the match progresses. The developer changed its size, speed and how much damage it can deal in games. 

There were also a slew of other bug fixes and quality of life changes to the game in the season 2 update. 

For more in-game rewards, Respawn also redid its Battle Pass. The developer created a season pass that would give players in-game content for playing the game the first season for 950 Apex Coins, or approximately $9.50. The concept didn't work in Apex Legends nearly as well as it does in its competitor, Fortnite. 

The Apex Legends Season 2 Battle Pass has daily and weekly challenges for players to complete in order to increase their Battle Pass level. There will be three daily challenges and seven weekly challenges. Completing the challenges will give players Stars and increase their Battle Pass level, which will unlock new rewards. 

Who's Wattson?

Natalie "Wattson" Paquette is the 10th Legend introduced in Apex Legends season 2. Unlike other Legends, Wattson is more defensive and it requires more strategy to make full use of her skills.

Her ability is Perimeter Security that lets her set up electrified fences that will both slow and damage an enemy while pinging the location the fence was crossed to the rest of the team. She can use a maximum of 12 nodes at the same time that can be used to create a defensive perimeter around the team if needed.

Wattson's ultimate is Interception Pylon that will charge up the team's shield, destroy any enemy projectiles such as grenades or arc stars. However, bullets will not be blocked while cooldown will be reduced for the electric fences. For her passive, Spark of Genius, Wattson's will receive 100% ultimate charge whenever she uses an ultimate accelerator.

Another difference with Wattson is that she has more insight into her background than the other Legends. She's the daughter of the engineer who created the Apex Arena's Ring. According to the lore, she's looked at like a little sister by the other Legends.

What else is coming in season 2?

Data miners already have an idea of what else is coming in Apex Legends season 2.

One new Legend they predict will debut this season is Crypto. There were glimpses of the character in the season 2 trailer, and he will likely make his debut later on.

Apex Legends is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Respawn has also confirmed that the game will make the jump to mobile devices in the future.

Originally published on June 27.
Update, July 1: Adds additional details for Ranked Mode and Battle Pass. July 2: Adds season 2 details.

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