Apex Legends Season 16 is altering how character lessons work. Beginning with Season 16, the playable legends will likely be divided into 5 totally different lessons, every with its personal perks. If you happen to’re a brand new participant, nevertheless, you will solely have entry to 4 of the 5 lessons from the beginning. You will have to purchase into Controller.
The 5 new lessons 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. Which means if you wish to play as a Controller, you will have to purchase one.
Controllers concentrate on space set-up and denial, possessing skills that enable them to lock down and fortify a place so their squad can bunker all the way 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 data on the scale and placement of the following ring. There are 4 Controllers as of Season 16: Caustic, Wattson, Rampart, and Catalyst.
As Reddit person 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 one in every 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 in the course of the first week of the occasion will get you Crypto (a Recon legend) and doing so once more in the course of 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 assume Respawn would wish to make each class freely obtainable for brand new gamers to not less than attempt earlier than they’re pressured to determine on the place to spend their in-game foreign money.
Granted, of the 5 lessons, Controllers are probably the most tough to make use of. To make use of Caustic, Wattson, Rampart, and Catalyst to the most effective of their skills, it takes a complete understanding of map structure, an not less than elementary grasp of how Apex Legends’ unimaginable 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. That could be a tall order for brand new gamers and so proscribing them from freely accessing Controllers from the soar could also be Respawn’s approach of marking it as a extra superior class.
It is nonetheless a bit odd, although, no matter no matter Respawn’s reasoning is perhaps. Hopefully, not less than Caustic and Wattson (who’ve been within the sport since day one and Season 2, respectively) turn into freely obtainable for brand new accounts in some unspecified time in the future. Person dropnation40 places it completely in a follow-up remark to their unique put up: “Caustic advantages from an offensive playstyle [and] Wattson advantages from a defensive playstyle–teaching newcomers about controlling in numerous 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 stage. Nonetheless, it takes 12,000 Legend Tokens to unlock a character–a little bit of a steep curve whenever you’re first beginning out. Spending Apex Cash is so much sooner but it surely 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 prime of all the brand new modifications which might be coming to Apex Legends, take a look at 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 return in Yr 5 and past.
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