Apex Legends Season 17: Arsenal – Ballistic, weapon mastery, World’s Edge changes, and a new item that will change the game
Apex Legends’ 17th season is landing on May 9, bringing significant updates to the battle royale game. Among these additions are new areas to fight around on World’s Edge, a game-changing survival item, a fresh Legend, new progression systems, an overhaul to the Firing Range, and more.
Below we break down all the new updates coming to Apex Legends’ Arsenal season.
New Legend: Ballistic
At the age of 63, August “Ballistic” Brickman (played by Robin Atkin Downes) is the silver-haired daddy of Apex Legends. A veteran of the Thunderdome Games – a precursor to the Apex Games – he’s one of the first people to enjoy fame and fortune for his skills on the killing field.
He left it all behind after his brash, showboating playstyle got his best friend and brother-in-law killed. The British Legend rejoined the games to stop his son from following in his footsteps, saying he’ll come out of retirement if the organizers promise to not let his kid compete.
Ballistic wears his dead brother-in-law’s shades like a scar and comes kitted out with a long trenchcoat, slicked-back hair, and a high-tech backpack. Other existing Legends like Gibraltar idolized Ballistic when they were growing up, pinning posters of him to their bedroom wall, so you can expect plenty of fun interactions.
EA / Respawn Entertainment
As for how he plays, he will excel at initiating fights and singling out solo targets. Well-suited for aggressive players. Here are his abilities:
Ballistic Abilities – Refined Gunslinger
- Passive
- Sling: Can carry a third weapon, but it can’t take attachments.
- Tactical
- Whistler: A smart bullet that can curve around corners and home in. The bullet debuffs and overheats the target’s gun. If they let it overheat, it explodes and damages the Legend. Lasts for 12 seconds or until the explosion is triggered. The overheat applies to the player, not the weapon, so switching weapons doesn’t counter it.
- Ultimate
- Tempest: Buffs self and teammates, granting infinite ammo, faster reloads, and quicker armed movement speed. Also makes the Sling weapon a gold version of that weapon for the duration. Teammates must be nearby to get the buff, but they don’t have to stay close to keep it.
Weapon mastery system
EA / Respawn Entertainment
Weapon Mastery is a new long-term progression system for Apex Legends. Each gun comes with a set of challenges, as well as trackers for kills, headshots, knocks, and damage. Respawn sees it as a way to teach players to engage with each weapon on a deeper level, understanding the functionality of each.
Every gun starts at level 1 and you can work your way up to level 100. Every 20 levels, you get a trial which, upon completion, grants a reward. Rewards include trackers, badges, banner frames, and a Legendary skin for mastering each weapon.
World’s Edge map changes
EA / Respawn Entertainment
World’s Edge is getting a lot of love in Apex Legends: Season 17. The map will be in rotation along with King’s Canyon and Olympus in Ranked.
The environment of World’s Edge is healing and cooling down, which means the terrain is less volatile, leading to new developments. Those lava chasms that you used to be able to fall down before being blown back up by thermal gusts? They’ve risen and are now walkable. Snow has fallen in the North, creating new footpaths. There’s a new vault near Skyhook, and vault keys are more abundant. Bloodhound’s Trials have had a facelift.
Head to Fragment and you can explore an all-new POI called Monument. Monument houses a museum for the Apex Games, which is thematically relevant with the new Legend being a relic of the sport’s past. But it’s also a museum for the game itself, featuring early design ideas and other cool easter eggs for fans to sniff out.
In gameplay terms, it’s a deep bunker POI with high sniper nests that are accessible via zips. If things get too hot up top, you can retreat back into the bunker and set up an ambush for the attacking team, who can also take the rooftop and peek at you through the glass ceiling.
If you’re a fan of hot dropping and fighting over the zips on the streamer building, the construction stack has been relocated to Lava City, between the two domes close to Rampart’s ship.
Ping wheel updates
EA / Respawn Entertainment
Apex Legends led the way with its innovative ping system, allowing players to communicate without the need for voice comms. Now that system is evolving once more.
As well as adding new callouts such as “do not revive” and “retreat here”, Respawn is also adding pinging on the full map. Ping a specific icon on the map and you’ll get an appropriate callout.
Evac Tower Survival Item
EA / Respawn Entertainment
The Evac Tower is Respawn’s answer to almost every team picking Valkyrie. While Valkyrie will still be a more powerful option for quick rotations, thanks to her ability to scan on the drop, the Evac Tower will shake the game up in a big way.
Essentially, it lets you spawn a jump tower wherever you place it. The downsides are that it takes a few seconds to deploy, it can be destroyed by coordinated fire from enemy teams, and it also times out and expires if you don’t move your backside. If it’s destroyed as you’re ascending, you’ll drop right back down to the ground.
Firing Range overhaul
EA / Respawn Entertainment
Lastly, the Firing Range is getting a complete overhaul – a new map, new areas, and more combat options for bots. They can shoot back now.
Doors have always been a huge part of play in Apex Legends and you’ll also be able to sharpen your skills around those in the new Firing Range, thanks to a town-style POI.
There’s also a dueling pit so you can fight your friends. To encourage that kind of training, you’ll also jump straight into any Firing Range that’s in progress when you join a party.
