Plus new Mythic R-301 and the removal of helmets.
Image credit: Respawn Entertainment
Apex Legends has announced Takeover, the 24th season of Respawn’s battle royale, which introduces a new way to grab weapons called Arsenals. Additionally, Assault Class Legends take center stage with several perk changes, while Ash and Ballistic gain strong buffs. POIs will now be visible from the drop ship so you’ll be able to see exactly where you’re headed. Finally, there’s new ranked challenges and the introduction of Mythic weapons – in short, there’s a lot to sink your teeth into.
Arsenals will be available in all game modes across Apex Legends from the start of the season, as a new way of obtaining weapons once you land from the drop ship. They’ll be across the map near POIs, be visible from the moment you exit the drop ship and they’ll have map icons as well as HUD elements.
In a nutshell, Arsenals are small weapon caches that you can visit to change the weapons in your inventory or those you pick up at the beginning of a match, somewhat reducing the chaotic scramble to grab anything before you get shot. Arsenal locations are fixed but the weapons stored in them will be randomised. In a recent press event attended by Eurogamer, we learned that this was designed in part to give players better chances for getting the weapons they want and are more comfortable with.
Speaking of weapons, Mythic guns are being added that will serve as the best version of weapons already available in-game, with their own twists on the classics. These weapons will be inspired by individual Legends, and the Season 24 addition is the Mythic R-301 inspired by Wraith. Complete with a new void-inspired look, the Mythic version comes with new animations you can equip on other R-301 skins you own as well.
In addition, every weapon this season has been buffed and most of them have received a damage increase as well as an alteration on their headshot multiplier. The Havoc, for example, is staying in the care package for this season and, while the Kraber remains a one-shot headshot weapon for most armor pieces it will become more than one-shot when faced with the new red helmet armor piece.
White, blue and purple helmets will be fully removed for Takeover to make the headshow damage value consistent for each weapon; it will no longer be dictated by the helmet a target wears. However, the only way you can get one will be to grab the red mythic grade helmet that will only show in late game care packages and in mythic bins. Once equipped, this helmet will turn the rest of your armor red. This is the only way to get this level of armor in Season 24 and armor evolution for every player for white, blue and purple armor pieces will be capped at level three. To help you stay alive longer with these changes, Shield Cells, Med Kits and Syringes are now faster to use.
Assault Class Legends have been buffed with new perks for Takeover. In addition to being able to access red supply bins and carry one extra ammo per stack, the Combat Reserve perk means they’ll also have two extra ordinance slots specifically for grenades. Battle Surge is gained after an Assault Legend cracks an enemy shield – once active, they’ll get a temporary speed boost, faster reload speed, and highlight the cracked target for the rest of the team. The Stowed Reload perk will auto-reload any stowed weapon after two seconds.
Ash and Ballistic in particular have seen more buffs for this season. Ash’s ultimate will further and you can move through it faster with better end point detection, the tether will snare from its own location rather than at the enemy target’s location. Her passive has changed, and she now has an omni-directional dash ability, Predator’s Pursuit. Both Ash’s ultimate and passive can be upgraded through the upgrade tree to have two charges. She’ll still be able to see Deathboxes on the mini-map too.
Ballistic’s sling upgrade and dual tactical charge has now been integrated with his base kit, plus it can now carry crate weapons with unlimited ammunition when active. His upgrade that used to allow extra charges has been replaced with an upgrade that doubles his tactical charges, meaning at tier three Ballistic can carry four charges of his Whistler. His Tempest also now has a team movement speed bonus added to it too.
However, Support Class Legends have had their heal expert perk removed for the upcoming season to focus them more on reviving.
Road to Ranked is a fresh way for new players to get into Apex Legends’ ranked mode. The previous account requirements for joining ranked has been removed and replaced with a set of challenges designed for you to prove you can make it in ranked modes. Road to ranked challenges are for you to show you’re a good enough teamplayer and have the skills, as well as experience, to succeed in ranked mode. However, if you’re already a ranked player from previous seasons then you won’t need to participate in these challenges – these are just for new players trying to get into ranked.
Your starting skill value will be influenced by your performance in non-ranked modes across Apex and there will be more transparency in displays for the lobby as well as improvements made to the end of match summary screen, Respawn has said. Account progression has a dedicated home and access away from the main ranked lobby for Takeover. Finally, weapon mastery trials have changed, and the system itself has been simplified with some of the more intense and complicated challenges being removed.
Apex Legends Takeover will see different creators from the Apex community helping to create and curate their own challenge and rewards all season. As well as a collection of new takeovers and limited-time modes. Some to look forward to are a second change mechanic and an OG-inspired loot pool takeover.
Alongside the creator modes and challenges, starting at season launch Rampart Care Packages will appear in all PUBS modes for the first three weeks of the season. Within these care packages are Rampart-designed weapon variants and this time they’ll be dropping with three mythic R-301 weapons. Each variant has its own unique perks, for example, the red vermillion has increased critical hit damage and triggers thermite on knocked enemies.
There are more creator modes, challenges, events and rewards coming in Season 24.
Apex Legends Takeover launches on Tuesday, 11th February 2025 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.
