Changes will be made to gold gear for Apex Legends Season 14, including a change to Guardian Angel and the removal of self-revive.
Details of the upcoming Apex Legends Season 14 are coming in thick and fast. We already know of the new legend Vantage, the return of Skulltown - now part of an area called Relic - and the new level cap of 2,000. We also now know of rather crucial changes to gold gear, specifically Guardian Angel.
Guardian Angel moved to Knockdown Shield
From Apex Legends Season 14 onwards, the Guardian Angel revive perk will be removed from the gold backpack and instead moved to the gold knockdown shield.
As a result of this change the auto-revive feature of the gold knockdown shield will be removed from Apex entirely.
Self-revive removed from Apex Legends
The removal of the self-revive perk will be applauded by the competitive scene as deem the ability broken. So much so in fact, that the Golden Knockdown Shield was removed from the ALGS, the professional Apex circuit.
However, Apex Legends Lead Competitive Development Manager Eric "Ghost" Hewitt confirmed on Twitter on August 1st, that the gold knockdown shield will return to ALGS following the balance change.
Key gold gear changes for Apex Season 14
- Gold Knockdown Shield now comes with Guardian Angel perk (previously on the Gold Backpack)
- Gold Knockdown Shield auto-revive ability is removed completely for Season 14
- Gold Backpack's Guardian Angel ability is replaced with Deep Pockets, allowing the wearer to stack an additional Phoenix Kit, Shield Battery and Medkit in each slot.
Full list of confirmed changes in the Apex Legends Season 14 patch notes so far.
What does Guardian Angel do in Apex?
In previous seasons Guardian Angel was the perk that came with the Gold Backpack. Guardian Angel allowed the carrier to revive squad mates with bonus shield and health. A typical revive on a fallen ally grants just 25 HP. A revive with Guardian Angel restores 50% of that player's current health pool.
So if an ally has White Armour the revive will grant 75 HP (50 Health and 25 Shield). If the ally has Red Armour however, it restores 125 HP (75 Health and 50 Shield).
This made the gold backpack's Guardian Angel a brilliant perk on Lifeline, Mirage, Gibraltar or Newcastle.
Why is Guardian Angel great on those legends? Because all of them have an improved revive:
- Lifeline's passive Combat Revive allows her to revive squad mates without needing to be present.
- Mirage's passive Now You See Me allows him to go invisible while reviving a team-mate.
- Gibraltar can revive squad mates 33% faster while within his Dome Shield.
- Newcastle's passive Retrieve the Wounded allows him to drag downed allies while also protecting them.
So for Season 14 remember to look out for the Golden Knockdown Shield more than you would have in previous seasons!