Conduit, cross-progression, and cosmetics galore with Apex Legends Season 19

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Conduit, cross-progression, and the “can't see shit” meta fix are coming to Apex Legends Season 19: Ignite.

Apex Legends season 19: Ignite is set to be released tomorrow, October 31 and with it a host of new changes and updates coming to the battle royale. One of the biggest updates will be the introduction of the game's newest legend Conduit, who was introduced last week in its latest episode of “Stories from the Outlands: For Us, Utang na Loob”. Conduit will be the first Filipino legend to join the party and the first-ever Southeast Asian to be part of the list.

But aside from Conduit being the latest and greatest inclusion to Apex Legends, the people at Respawn Entertainment and EA have finally introduced cross-progression. This has been a hot topic within the community since it was first announced in one of Respawn's Reddit AMAs years ago and after two years of waiting, it's finally here. Another new addition that will be making its return to Apex Legends is Storm Point, which has had a facelift after it was ravaged by a horrible storm.

And with Storm Point back into the rotation, this means that World's Edge will be out of the pool. Joining Storm Point in the map rotation pool will be Olympus and Broken Moon. Anti-cheat updates are also a thing now in-game as players will be able to get real-time notifications on the kill feed of a banned player. Holysprays whilst sky diving is another new feature added to the game.

New Legend: Conduit

Conduit will be the 25th legend to join the ever-growing roster of the Apex Games as well as the sixth Support character in the game. This gives Conduit all the perks of a Support legend, which includes being able to open the extended blue supply bins as well as crafting fallen teammates' banners once it's timed out. And given Conduit's kit, it makes sense why she's the latest Support legend. 

As for the lore surrounding Conduit, the latest 'Stories from the Outlands' short showcased her backstory that revolved around her life on Nexus where she lived with her family. Having been saved by a Monarch Titan in her youth during the Frontier Wars, she would eventually join the Apex Games to give her family a better life. Conduit uses a fallen Monarch Titan battery to power her suit and abilities, which she then transfers over to the battlefield.

Respawn has gone down the Southeast Asian route and introduced its first-ever legend of Filipino descent. The Philippines has seen great representation in esports over the years as Riot Games introduced two Filipino-inspired characters in both League of Legends and VALORANT.

Abilities

Savior's Speed - Passive

• Gain a burst of speed when running towards a teammate out of tactical range.

Radiant Transfer - Tactical

• Restores up to 60 shields at a rate of 7.5 points per second over 8 seconds.

Energy Barricade - Ultimate

• Deploy an array of shield-jamming devices which damage and slow enemies. (2.5-minute charge time)

Storm Point Update

Storm Point has become a mainstay in the ALGS as it is one of two maps in the rotation pool for the competitive scene. However, it was taken off the rotation in Season 17 due to terrible storms that struck the island. This resulted in multiple POIs getting desecrated in the process as even the IMC Armories were not spared. However, with the help of Wattson and the Syndicate, they were able to bring power and breathe new life back to Storm Point.

As Storm Point is the largest map in Apex Legends to date, the overall size of the map has since been reduced with season 19 to improve mid-game spacing. This included significant map reductions to both the southern coastlines and the northern mountainous area with the hopes of making these areas more attractive for earlier combat while also cutting down on the overall distance between squads.

The IMC Armories were also no match for the storm as it left only remnants of what used to be a place for great loot and to level one's armour. While some high-tier loot may still remain within the supply bins, the IMC Spectres will not be around to defend it this time.

Wattson's Pylon & Forbidden Zone

And through that, the devs have introduced a new town takeover with Wattson as her POI, the Pylon has replaced Antenna, which sat towards the southern end of the map. This new POI was intended to be the new hot drop zone for players who are looking to fight from the get-go. It also features vertical ziplines towards the upper levels of The Pylon, which is a classic gameplay trope that can be found on World's Edge. The top floor of The Pylon is Wattson's room, which also has some interesting details related to Nessies…

There is also a Charge Tower at the centre of the POI as well as a Gravity Cannon that will launch players into the reworked Forbidden Zone. Speaking of which, the POI that was once an infested Prowler's nest has now been completely redone after the terrible lightning from the storm scared away the Prowlers. With parts of the perimeter fence now gone, the Forbidden Zone now features additional structures and various forms of cover around the area that also includes the already existing buildings that somehow survived it all.

ECHO HQ & Coastal Camp

ECHO structures have been a mainstay on King's Canyon for some time now and the devs at Respawn have decided to bring the ECHO HQ to Storm Point, which will take over the southern coast POI that was previously known as Gale Station. A large imposing structure, it will have a massively open interior with maintenance tunnels around the exterior for protected flanking and a central zipline for easy rooftop access.

While not specifically stated in the Season 19: Ignite update, Coastal Camp will replace what's left of Lonely Island and Ship Fall after the storm. The coastline was pulled in to further reduce the size of the map, which resulted in a large playable space condensed into a much smaller area. It will also provide a much better connection to nearby POIs like Wattso's Pylon and ECHO HQ. There is also a new mountain rotation between Coastal Camp and Barometer, which will make for more creative ways a team can manoeuvre around the map.

ZEUS & CETO Station

The northern part of the map also got some rework that included two new POIs named ZEUS Station and CETO Station, both of which were constructed to support Wattson's efforts in restoring power back to Storm Point. ZEUS Station is located in the northern mountains near Lightning Rod as a direct replacement for High Point. This symmetrical POI was created to make a more viable option for players who are dropping on the high side of the map. ZEUS Station will still retain its sole re-deploy balloon in the entire map and it now also features a new pathway that cuts through the mountains to connect the POI directly to Lightning Rod.

As for CETO Station, it replaces the Prowler Island that used to reside just off the centre of the map but was a crucial rotation point for many POIs. Given the infestation of Prowlers in previous seasons, it has now become CETO Station, that can also function as a new hot drop zone. This is due to its centralised location which is also nearby other POIs in the vicinity.

Devastated Coast

The POI known as Fish Farms was the most badly affected area by the storm, which has since resulted in half-flooded walkways and destroyed buildings. However, ECHO has stepped in and built a protective wall to reinforce the central river from future flooding while also creating a new structure that defines the ridgeline. There is also a building suspended by a nearby crane that can provide a great position for when the zone pulls in your favour.

Cross-Progression

The talk of cross-progression has been on every player's lips since it was first spoken of two years ago and now, it's finally here. This will now allow you to have one account across all platforms, whether it be on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox. However, players must note that as cross-progression is rolling out on existing platforms, players will be phased over a period of time to ensure stability for this anticipated feature.

Be on the lookout for an in-game prompt that will initiate the migration to bring together your content and progression. Cross-progression data will be associated with your EA account, which is the main way you will have to merge your accounts together. But due to the nature of merging accounts across platforms, various aspects of Apex Legends like Apex Coins, Crafting Materials, etc. etc. will be impacted differently.

It's also worth pointing out that any secondary Apex Legends accounts created after October 26 for the same EA account, will not be eligible to be merged. Be sure to check out the full blog post to find out more.

Ranked Updates

The competitive ranked environment in Apex Legends has become a toxic cesspool for quite some time now as the grind to become the number one ranked predator has become nothing more than a popularity contest. And given the number of cheese strats that have been introduced into the game, Respawn may have finally found a way to prevent players from boosting their ranks through various methods of staying alive outside of the zone without having to fight.

Instead of automatically ranking up once you hit the threshold for a given rank, you will now have to complete challenges to move up. The Promotional Trials are a set of time-limited skill challenges that players must complete to rank up. It also ensures a minimum skill level for each ranked tier. Here is what the Promotional Trials will look like for each rank: