Here are 10 things to love about the new season of Apex Legends

Apex Legends has been around for over 15 seasons of consistent releases and updates. Season 16’s release yesterday has brought even more radical changes to the popular BR that need review. Some of these changes have been requested since release, while others provide subtle quality-of-life updates to the game.

These updates include modifications to the firing range, major overhauls to class systems, and balancing changes to Legends.

There’s a trend in the patch notes for the Legends this season. It’s all about speed for these Legends in season 16. The need for speed nerfs Horizon, but drastically improves the playing experience for Pathfinder, Lifeline, and Wraith.

For the long-neglected Pathfinder, a speed boost of 66% on his Zipline Gun has majorly improved his kit. Lifeline has received two significant speed boosts to her abilities. First, a reduced slow penalty when reviving teammates, and second, a shorter animation for her Care Package drop. Similarly, Wraith now has a speed boost over time when using her Dimensional Rift.

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Alongside these speed boosts, other quality-of-life changes are being added to the Legends that seriously elevated the characters. Mirage, as well as his teammate, is now invisible while reviving and for 3 seconds afterward.

Pathfinder has been long neglected since Apex released in 2019, as other Legends have stolen his passive over time and his previous clunky Ultimate ability was more often proven as a hindrance in battle than a help. In addition to his speed boosts, Pathfinder’s Zipline Gun has an increased range of roughly 60% with improved targeting for placing the Ultimate quickly. Wraith’s Dimensional Rift has also increased in length, going from 76m to 152m.

One of the most desperately needed updates to Apex Legends is the firing range. Specifically, the dummies have always been a little lackluster for players hoping to practice before jumping into a game.

Thankfully, Season 16 has made this feature of the firing range more dynamic and useful than ever before. Dummies can now strafe around at whatever speed you want and can crouch, which is a huge asset for practicing against real enemies. You can also now choose what the dummy shield level is to practice both early and late-game fights. It's fantastic that after some review of player feedback, Season 16 has finally added this to Apex Legends.

With dummies improved, now it’s far easier to practice your aim. This will be especially easy with the new dynamic stats that will appear in the firing range whenever you deal damage so it’s easier to keep track of.

Hit indicators will also appear, allowing you to study the spray patterns of different weapons. Another fantastic update for the firing range is infinite ammo, so you no longer need to repeatedly fill up your backpack with ammo while practicing. The devs have promised further updates to the firing range, so hopefully, the near future will bring an even more robust space to practice your 1v1s.

The new class system is another change at the forefront of the season that will make all the difference going forward. Despite the obvious pros to shaking up the game, the overlooked virtue of this massive overhaul of the Class system shows that Apex Legends is a game made by and run by very passionate devs.

The amount of work put into the game to make this refresh happen can’t be ignored. For a game that has been online since 2017, these are signs of a very healthy game, especially since Apex just recently hit its all-time highest player count on Steam.

A small but very useful update that may be overlooked in the massive patch notes for Season 16 is the change to using meds. Now when your teammate is popping a battery or medkit, a small progress icon will appear next to their name. This functions in the same way as revives do. Consequently, it’s much easier to keep track of important information about your team during a fight.

With more information available about your teammates, this season has also added more information to gather in general. The addition of new scanners with the introduction of the Legend class system means your team can strategize in ways that were never possible before.

The Recon class has the Survey Beacon (enemy location), Controller class now has the Ring Console (next ring), and the Skirmisher class can now see what’s available in a care package. Though the care package information may not be as flashy as the other beacons, that information can be vital when a RE-45 or Kraber is in play during the end game.

 An obvious but fantastic addition with Season 16 is Team Deathmatch. Respawn has tweaked the mode after a small rough start, but this 6v6 mode is fun, fast-paced, and a great place to practice. TDM is the ultimate Apex Legends warm-up game mode.

After over 15 seasons of Apex Legends, it’s only natural that the skill ceiling for the game would rise. Any new players looking to join the game and have an ounce of fun would normally be stomped into the ground by the well-seasoned Horizons and Octanes. Recently however, Respawn has added an Orientation Match system that will let new players fight bots and learn the basics of the game before joining in with the other TTV_Wraithzz in normal lobbies.

New decorations and details are all over the maps for the fourth celebration of the Apex Games. Some of these additions are small, like the flags lining buildings. However, other additions like the Legend balloons scattered across the skies are very fun. They add to the festive atmosphere of this year's celebration. Confetti, balloons, colorful banners, and more are what make this year stand out from the rest of the Apex Games.

For more reviews and news on Apex Legends Season 16 check back for more esports news at esports.gg!