A cyberpunk map, akimbo pistols, accessibility features arrive in Apex Legends: Shockwave

Plus, no more bumping into a friend's butt when you're trying to climb a wall

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The next season of Apex Legends, appropriately called “Shockwave” after the impact it’ll have on the community, is landing on August 6. During a recent preview session, we got the chance to see it in action. Here are the major changes coming to Apex Legends when its next season disrupts the game. 

Apex Legends’ new map — E-District

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Respawn calls its new map – a cyberpunk dreamscape bathed in a neon glow – the culmination of everything it’s learned about rotations, fights, and player movement. E-District is the game’s sixth map and easily its most densely packed – from above, it seems like a smaller playground, but thanks to its verticality, it boasts more playable space than any other Apex Legends map. 

With the release last season of Alter, a new movement legend, this map feels as if it was built for this new generation of Apex, full of obstacles and flanking routes for skilled play and movement specialists. To help facilitate this, there are new movement tools: gravity launchers. Some send you up, some send you far, but they’re essentially miniaturized gravity cannons that fling you around and between POIs. 

As for those POIs, there’s Street Market – a tight network of markets and alleyways that look straight out of Cyberpunk 2077 – a main square inspired by Tokyo’s Shibuya Center, a cluster of high-end apartments called The Lotus, and the Neon Oval Raceway Stadium, now converted into a residential shanty town, among others. 

The entire map is inspired by Eastern culture – the devs all it “cyberpunk without the dystopia”,  all bright colors and vibrancy. The north end of the map is exotic and filled with resorts, while the south houses the old town and arcades. We arrive for the Apex Games after the blackout riots and a chemical spill caused by Alter moved everyone out. 

E-District will take over BR and Ranked when Shockwave starts. 

Read more: The making of Apex Legends.

Apex Legends: Shockwave gameplay changes

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Respawn says it wants to add more energy and action to every match while lowering the barrier to entry for new players this season. The result is some good news for veterans and some that we’ll just have to wait and see about. Either way, I can’t wait to get my hands on those akimbo pistols. 

First among these changes (and probably the most controversial) is Battle Sense being added to the core BR. It’s essentially visualized audio for every player, which feels like a bit of a band-aid solution to the game’s enduring audio issues. In practice, enemy health bars will highlight you have a line of sight (smoke and cover block it). It’s like having a Seer scan, but only when they’re fully visible at short range. 

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Next up we’ve got bin refreshes. Mid-game, all open loot bins now reroll and close back up so they can be looted again. There are also two new bins – rare gold bins with higher tier loot and one mythic bin with evo and gold weapons, Mythic bins are marked on the map and take longer to open. 

Respawn is also targeting aim assist for controllers on PC, reducing its strength by 25%. Console versus PC is the same, but console-only lobbies are unaffected. 

Perhaps the most exciting accessibility changes are the removal of aim flinch from abilities and weapons (but not ring damage) and making it so you no longer bump into a teammate’s butt when you both try to scale the same wall. Praise the Lord. 

Weapon changes

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My favorite change? Dual-wielding P2020 and Mozambique akimbo is as easy as picking up a second gun. Any attachment you find mirrors onto the second gun. Both guns can be fired in automatic with the left trigger and have increased fire rates. Deadly. 

Pistols aren’t the only weapon type getting some love. LMGs are getting front-facing shields with a shield generator hop-up, which absorbs up to 40 damage. Additionally, the reverse hip fire mechanic was added to existing LMGs from the loot pack Devo. 

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Elsewhere, shotguns are being made more consistent - fewer pellets, but stronger pellets. The Peacekeeper blast pattern is an upside-down triangle instead of a star. 

The Havoc is getting a significant hipfire nerf. The Hemlock’s damage is being reduced by one and it’s getting increased time between bursts. 

Light ammo weapons are increasing in ammo capacity across the board. Yes, that includes the R-301. 

Legend changes

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While there are buffs, nerfs, and tweaks coming to individual Legends – Respawn says Rampart, Wattson, Vantage, and Crypto mains will be happy – we have to wait for the full patch notes to find those out. In the meantime, some big, sweeping changes are coming to specific classes. 

Let’s start with Controllers, who now get zone overcharge – 25% extra shield when in the zone. Defensive Legends such as Caustic and Wattson will also be able to remotely pick up defensive tacticals by looking back at them and pressing the button, resetting their charges.

For the Recon class, survey beacons now have an increased spawn rate, can be used faster, and the scan refreshes multiple times over 15 seconds, though the scan range is being reduced. It’s now a focused reveal of your immediate surroundings, rather than an entire map scan. Recon Legends also have access to Threat Vision, which requires line of sight, but highlights enemies in red like a Bloodhound scan. 

Apex Legends: Bot Royale

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Bot Royale is a new mode to help onboard fresh players. Other than the main player and their squad, every other player in these matches is an AI-controlled bot. New players can use the mode to level up, up to level 10, while veterans can use it to warm up or train specific Legends, like a live firing range. 

All of this and more when Apex Legends: Shockwaves lands on August 6. You also won't need to worry too much about the changes to buying an Apex Legends Battle Pass -- Respawn walked that back after fan outcry. It's still one of the best FPS games around.