Apex Legends Season 16 is altering how character courses work. Beginning with Season 16, the playable legends can be divided into 5 completely different courses, every with its personal perks. In case you’re a brand new participant, nevertheless, you may solely have entry to 4 of the 5 courses from the beginning. You will have to purchase into Controller.
The 5 new courses are Assault, Recon, Skirmisher, Help, and Controller. There are 23 playable legends in Apex Legends, however new accounts solely begin with six: Wraith, Pathfinder, Bloodhound, Gibraltar, Bangalore, and Lifeline. Wraith and Pathfinder are each Skirmishers, Bloodhound is Recon, Bangalore is Assault, and Gibraltar and Lifeline are Help. Meaning if you wish to play as a Controller, you may have to purchase one.
Controllers specialise in space set-up and denial, possessing skills that permit them to lock down and fortify a place so their squad can bunker right down to heal, put together an ambush, or plan their subsequent transfer. These legends are additionally the one ones who can entry the brand-new Ring Consoles, granting them info on the dimensions and placement of the following ring. There are 4 Controllers as of Season 16: Caustic, Wattson, Rampart, and Catalyst.
As Reddit consumer dropnation40 first observed, none of these 4 characters are free, that means new gamers must grind to earn sufficient foreign money to unlock them or drop actual money to purchase any considered one of them outright. None of them are being freely provided as a part of the Anniversary Assortment Occasion that kicks off Season 16 both. Logging into Apex Legends throughout the first week of the occasion will get you Crypto (a Recon legend) and doing so once more throughout the second week unlocks Ash (an Assault legend).
It is a seemingly odd oversight on Respawn’s half, given how a lot Apex Legends Season 16 is a perfect on-ramp for brand new gamers. You’d suppose Respawn would wish to make each class freely out there for brand new gamers to at the least attempt earlier than they’re compelled to resolve on the place to spend their in-game foreign money.
Granted, of the 5 courses, Controllers are probably the most tough to make use of. To make use of Caustic, Wattson, Rampart, and Catalyst to the very best of their skills, it takes a complete understanding of map format, an at the least elementary grasp of how Apex Legends’ unbelievable doorways work, and an consciousness of why you’d ever wish to cease and bunker in a sport as fast-paced and movement-focused as Apex Legends. Which may be a tall order for brand new gamers and so limiting them from freely accessing Controllers from the soar could also be Respawn’s manner of marking it as a extra superior class.
It is nonetheless a bit odd, although, no matter no matter Respawn’s reasoning is likely to be. Hopefully, at the least Caustic and Wattson (who’ve been within the sport since day one and Season 2, respectively) change into freely out there for brand new accounts in some unspecified time in the future. Person dropnation40 places it completely in a follow-up remark to their authentic put up: “Caustic advantages from an offensive playstyle [and] Wattson advantages from a defensive playstyle–teaching newcomers about controlling in several methods.”
There are two methods to unlock new characters: Legend Tokens or Apex Cash. You earn Legend Tokens by taking part in the sport, unlocking 600 with each degree. Nonetheless, it takes 12,000 Legend Tokens to unlock a character–a little bit of a steep curve while you’re first beginning out. Spending Apex Cash is so much quicker nevertheless it requires actual cash to unlock the foreign money. You should buy a legend for 750 Apex Cash, which is simply over $7 USD.
To maintain on high of all the brand new adjustments which are coming to Apex Legends, try the Apex Legends Season 16 patch notes, learn up on how Apex Legends Season 16 takes a swing on the scan meta, and take a peek at what sport director Steve Ferreira and design director Evan Nikolich should say concerning the previous 4 years of Apex Legends and the way these classes will inform what’s to come back in Yr 5 and past.
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