Image: Electronic Arts
Apex Legends: From the Rift is bringing back its original launch content for a limited time.
Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts are taking players back to 2019 in Apex Legends: From the Rift. The upcoming season is bringing back the original version of Kings Canyon and reverting all balance changes back to the game’s original launch state in a special new mode, allowing everyone to have a nostalgic trip back in time.
The new season also adds a Lifeline rework, Rift Relics and more.
Apex Legends brings back launch content in Season 23
Respawn Entertainment is taking Apex Legends players back to 2019, with a new limited-time mode called Launch Royale reverting every major change made to the game since it launched. In this mode, all of the game’s original weapons, Legends, and abilities will be made available without later additions like EVO Armor or Ability Upgrades.
That means loot pools are going to be a lot more frustrating, to the point that anyone who picks up some purple armour or finds a good gun is almost guaranteed to win, but the old-school vibes might make it all worthwhile. The event will come with Launch Royale Challenges to unlock Legends and earn Apex Packs, so there’s plenty to grind out in this event alone.
One of Apex Legends’ very first playable characters is also getting a major rework: Lifeline. Lifeline’s new kit now allows her to play more aggressively, with more mobility and stronger healing abilities centered around her companion drone DOC.
For one, her ultimate ability now has DOC deploy a Halo Shield System, allowing all players inside the shield to use Health and Shield consumables quicker. DOC can also follow allies to heal them, or be deployed on the ground to revive them. Lastly, Lifeline can now briefly glide in the air by using DOC after jumping.
Next, Rift Relics are coming to Season 23, allowing players to secure special items that randomly appear throughout each match. These Rift Relics can give players weapons like the EPG-1 Launcher, Hop-Ups like Lifesteal and Survival Slot items like Boost Kits - providing that players find and destroy them during a match.
The Support class as a whole is getting some big buffs for what Respawn calls “the season of Support,” in addition to Lifeline’s rework. The Support class is getting two new perks: Heal Expert and Revive Expert to buff them up. The former perk allows Support Legends to move at full walk speed while healing, and heal double the amount from small meds. The latter perk allows Support Legends to have 25% faster revives and the ability to grant health regen to their revived allies, which can restore them to full health.
In addition to all of these changes, Season 23 is adding a feature to display the ranks of every player in a given match, and a new universal melee cosmetic called the Raptor’s Claw. Find more details on EA’s official blog post here.
