As Apex Legends approaches its 20th season and celebrates its 5th anniversary, there's no better time than to introduce new concepts to keep the game fresh. Legend upgrades are one of the biggest shakeups that the live-service shooter has seen in recent seasons, and it's sure to change the game.
Legend abilities have always been a core mechanic in Apex Legends, and knowing your team comps and cooldowns is as important in the professional ALGS sphere as it is in friendly pub matches. But the game has been around for enough time that people have quickly adapted to the ever-changing meta. So the devs at Respawn are bringing in "the single largest change to legends since the game launched".
If you're after more Apex Legends guides, be sure to check out our list of legend pick rates, so you can see what character is in the current meta. Plus, we talk you through all the changes to armour evo, as well as the changes coming to ranked this season.
Apex Legends - legend upgrades
The legend upgrade system is a brand new addition in Season 20 of Apex Legends, and it looks to bring in 4 different ability upgrades to each legend in the game. This totals out to 100 new ways to personalise your experience in the game.
Every match in a battle royale format plays out differently, and the unpredictability of the genre tends to be what makes it so fun to play. So to add to this organised chaos, the new legend upgrades in Apex Legends will turn gameplay on its head, with each player able to fully customise the way their legend moves through the match.
We don't have a full list of upgrades for each legend, as Season 20 isn't out yet. But when it drops on February 13, 2024, we're sure to see exactly what each upgrade has to offer. So check back with us regularly, as we'll be updating this guide with all the legend upgrades once we know what they are.
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+ 2Legend upgrades we've already seen
As it currently stands, we've only seen some teases to legend upgrades. These include a Mad Maggie ultimate, her devastating wrecking ball, lit on fire with thermite grenades that explode in a ring of fire upon impact, as well as a "baby bubble" for Gibraltar, which involves shrinking the size of his protective dome, but speeding up the cooldown time so that you get it back quicker.
It's been confirmed by Respawn that the core legend abilities will remain the same, and these legend upgrades will serve to augment these static abilities. This improves the specialisation of each legend and will make picking your main even more exciting because there will no doubt be a huge number of different ways to play them.
How to use legend upgrades
There will be a number of different ways to upgrade your legend throughout an active game of Apex Legends. As soon as you join the fray of a fight, support your team, or use class perks (such as opening specialised bins for Assault and Support legends), you'll gain evo and climb the upgrade curve.
The decision-making points will happen in early and mid-game, and after getting enough evo you'll be able to select an upgrade that pairs well with your own playstyle. There will also be the opportunity to swap out legend upgrades on the fly, so you can cater to whatever type of fights your team is taking.
click to enlarge + 2The addition of legend upgrades in Season 20 of Apex Legends is sure to give the game a fresh coat of paint, as far as legend balancing goes, and it'll be interesting to see how the meta shifts. For more on Apex Legends Season 20, be sure to check out everything we know on the new Straight Shot LTM, as well as all the changes to armour evo.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and Apex Legends page.