Summary

• Season 22 of Apex Legends brings a variety of changes to the long-running battle royale.
• Season 22 will not feature a new Legend, instead focusing on larger, sweeping changes to the gameplay.
• Apex Legends is receiving a new map, aim assist nerfs, balance adjustments to certain classes, and more.

Season 22 of Apex Legends drops on August 6 with huge changes to the long-running battle royale. The latest season, titled Shockwave, brings a nighttime neon city map, a modified battle system, and plenty of quality-of-life changes to shake up the Outlands.

Instead of a new Legend, which is traditionally what a new season focuses on, like Season 21's Alter, Shockwave is tweaking existing elements of the game to improve player experiences with looting, visual clutter, and game sense. Two Legend classes are receiving significant buffs and players will now have access to the new Battle Sense feature, which shows enemy health and outlines mid-fight for all Legends regardless of class.

10 Season 22 Is Bringing A New City Map To Apex Legends: E-District

A Neon Paradise

E-District is the newest map in Apex Legends and the only full map to be set after dark, unlike the original Kings Canyon. Instead of a shining sun, E-District is lit by flashy neon lights across the map's densely packed points-of-interest (POIs).

The shiny new map brings the most urban environment ever to Apex Legends, with POIs like Old Town, Blossom Drive, and Heights all featuring multi-story buildings for more up-close combat, designed to emphasize verticality, according to the Season 22 patch notes on EA's website. A city-based map is sure to be a smash-hit for Apex Legends, as some of the most popular POIs in the game’s history have all been more urban settings, like East Fragment and Skull Town.

9 Season 22 Will Be The First Apex Season With A Split Battle

Two Battle es Per Season

The Apex battle is getting a major overhaul for Season 22: Shockwave, and it isn’t without controversy. Before this season, the battle lasted the entire season and cost 950 Apex Coins (about $10 USD). At first, Season 22 split the battle into two parts, while each split costs $10 USD with no option to purchase it using Apex Coins.

This change initially sparked significant community backlash until Respawn Entertainment backtracked. Respawn later announced that the new battle system will still be purchasable with Apex Coins and have promised better rewards going forward.

8 Controller Nerfs Are Balancing Aim Assist In PC Lobbies

Aim Assist Is Getting Downgraded

Aim assist for controller players is being significantly nerfed as Apex Legends heads into Season 22. With cross-platform multiplayer, an overly beefy Aim assist has been a hot button issue for years, especially when it comes to competitive Apex Legends. The nerf for aim assist will only impact lobbies with PC players, with the largest aim assist strength decrease coming for controller players on PC. Controller players on PC will have their strength reduced by 25%, while console players in PC lobbies are reduced by 18%, and console performance mode crossplay in PC lobbies are reduced by 22%.

Controller versus mouse and keyboard is an age-old debate in multiplayer gaming, with the latter typically held as the gold standard for a mouse's superior precision over that of a joystick. It's that same lack of precision that makes aim assist a common feature in console first-person shooters, though overtuned implementation of it tends to approach unfair territory. The aim assist in Apex is notoriously strong, and many see this nerf as a long time coming.

7 New Battle Sense Features Will Help Players Keep Track Of Ammo & Enemy Health

Visible Enemy Health Bars

Apex Legends is adding a new Battle Sense feature, which will aid players in keeping track of their ammo and keeping track of enemies. The game will now alert players when they’re getting dangerously close to running out of ammo, showing an on-screen icon of what type of ammo they need, and automatically notify teammates when their weapon is empty.

In addition to ammo tracking, Apex is adding enemy health bars and outlines that will appear only when dealing damage. This new feature will make it easier for newer players who are less familiar with how much health an enemy has at various shield levels.

6 New Mythic Loot Bins & A Bin Refresh In Every Match

One Incredible Bin For The Whole Lobby

Loot bins are receiving one of the most underrated changes for Season 22 of Apex Legends. Halfway through a match, every bin on the map will now reset and “reroll” with better loot. Players will have a better chance of finding high tier loot in normal bins and in special Legendary bins that will spawn “smart loot”, which always gives upgrades to your squad’s armor and weapons.

There will now also be one Mythic bin in each match, which contains a lot of goodies. The only drawback to the Mythic bin is that it takes a while to open when a player interacts, but the benefits definitely outweigh the time spent. The one Mythic Bin, which spawns anywhere on the map, contains one random Care Package weapon, gold version weapons of those that the squad is running at the time of opening the bin, medical supplies and grenades, and a large EVO bonus to the squad.

5 Apex Legends Season 22 Is Bringing An Important Death Box Redesign

Faster Looting & Shield Swapping

Death Boxes now have a modified layout, which will speed up looting for players when they’re at their most vulnerable. The Shield Core is now at the top of the gear section, alongside helmets and backpacks. This small change in the layout of a death box shouldn’t be overlooked, since the valuable moments spent sifting through loot often mean the difference between life and death in a fast-paced fight.

Healing items have also been boosted to the top of the Death Box and sit in their own category just below ammo. Players will now be able to grab the most important items for their survival much faster now that scrolling all the way to the bottom of a Death Box is unnecessary.

4 Controller Legend Upgrades Will Make This Class More Viable

Remote Recall For Controller Legends

Season 16 of Apex Legends introduced Legend classes. Each class has a unique perk, with some perks outperforming others. Season 22 is massively upgrading the utility of Controller Legends with a new Class perk, Zone Overcharge, and a new ability called Remote Pick-Up.

Zone Overcharge gives Controller Legends extra shields when they’re in-zone during a match, though never above the maximum of red shields. This perk will encourage players to play to their Legend’s strength by holding space in the zone to keep enemies away. To aid this, Controllers are now able to recover all Tacticals from a distance, allowing them to set up traps and defenses with more freedom.

3 Recon Legend Will Now Information On To Teammates Better

Survey Beacons Give More Up-To-Date Information

All Recon Legends (Bloodhound, Crypto, Seer, and Vantage) are now able to highlight enemies when looking at them through scopes, allowing their team to focus on the same enemy all at once. This perk gives more intel to the whole team and makes it even easier for Recon Legends to hunt down fleeing enemies.

Survey Beacons have also been updated for Recon Legends. They’re now faster to use (down from almost eight seconds to just three), don’t notify enemies as obviously that they’ve been scanned, and pulse over a longer period of time to give players more up-to-date intel.

2 Aim Flinch Removal Is A Universal Improvement To Apex Legends

Keeps Aim Steady

Aim flinch is the small camera movement players experience when being damaged, and it is, thankfully, being removed as of Season 22. In a hilariously candid note, the developers wrote, “Let’s be honest, no one really had love for Aim Flinch. We’ve made the call to eliminate it from all weapons and most Legend abilities.”

Removing aim flinch is another small change that will make a huge difference to the overall player experience, since the visual clutter that it adds isn’t necessary in a game with so much going on between Legend abilities, gun fire, and explosions.

1 Akimbo Mode Offers A Moderate Buff To The Mozambique & The P2020

Dual Wield In The Outlands

The power fantasy of dual-wielding in Halo 2 returns in Apex Legends… with the Mozambique and the P2020. Akimbo is the newest weapon mode exclusive to the two least powerful guns in the game. Picking up a second Mozambique or P2020 will enter Akimbo mode, which increases the rate of fire, doubles magazine size, and mirrors attachments so both guns are equally kitted.

The Akimbo Mozambique and the Akimbo P2020 will be in the Gold Weapon rotation for Season 22.

While this addition might seem a little useless when deciding between two P2020s and pretty much any other weapon, the double pistol action could make a huge difference when having just landed among multiple enemy squads and Apex Legens loot is sparse.

Source: EA