The shotguns ’n’ sniper rifles only mode has also returned, but this time with a new item that let you summon a one-use respawn station. I’m glad to see those will be added to the main game once the event has run its course. It’s been a while since I stretched my Apelegs but a change like this is a fine way to lure me back. The treasure-hunting has something to do with Loba, a recently-added champion who seems to have gotten everyone else into it. It is also an excuse to coat Revenant in Aztec skulls.
This is all tied into a Collection Event with cosmetics you can chase after, if you fancy. Collecting 24 (24!) items from in-game crates lets you unlock some special clothes for Mirage, along with a talking statue of himself that he can use as a melee weapon. I’ll let you pick over that part yourself, from the event page. Respawn stations aren’t the only tweak to “Armed And Dangerous Evolved”, the shotgun and snipers mode. They’ve also done away with all armour except “Evo” armour, which is the kind that levels up as you deal damage to people. I still wouldn’t be interested if it weren’t for those respawn beacons, though - in this mode everyone starts with one in their inventory, so you can expect to see the skies swarming with the things. They take a while to land, so the idea is other squads will have time to come over and mess you up. Apex Legends doesn’t really need to do more to push players into conflict, but this is pleasing anyway. I enjoy saving my friends even more than winning, so it’s great to have another way of doing that. The new addition to the map seems cool, too. Crypto, the creepy git, has set up a surveillance centre in the south-east. It’s a big room that shows where all the other squads are on a big hologram. Neat! There are too many balance changes to mention them all, but: Wraith has been nerfed because they were killing too many people, Lifeline has been buffed (presumably) because they weren’t reviving enough people, and everyone can now do a double jump when they hop on Crypto’s jump pad. Full patch notes are here. If you missed it, cross-platform multiplayer between PCs and consoles (including the upcoming Switch version) is coming this autumn. It’s landing on Steam at some point in autumn, too.
