Battle Royale shooter Apex Legends is making some major changes to the way it handles progression, according to a blog post from publisher EA. The level cap is being raised and the rewards system is being overhauled. But these are only the first of fixes being made to Apex Legends in the upcoming December 3 update.
This news comes hot on the heels of a big month for Apex. The game started a brand new season with a new map, briefly added a duos mode, made some not-so-significant nerfs to the best shotgun in the game. A lot is changing in Apex Legends and this is the first major overhaul the game has made to progression since it surprise launched in early 2019.
The change the EA blog post leads with is that the player level cap will be increased from 100 to 500. To make this change, the game had to reduce the XP required to hit level 100 by approximately 5%. There are many smaller changes to the leveling system that are detailed in the post that are intended to smooth out the leveling curve and account for these changes.
Now, players in Apex Legends will be able to earn a total of 199 Apex Packs The breakdown is as follows. From level 2 to 20, players earn one pack every level, from level 22 to 300, they earn one pack every two levels, and from level 305 to 500, they earn one pack every five levels The updated total is 199. Players will also earn new badges for every 10 levels they rank up between levels 110 and 500.
Respawn is also adding 36 new gun charms as a new earnable cosmetic item. According to EA , they will be available in Epic and Legendary tiers and will rotate through the digital shop. These include character charms, like the adorable Bangalore one that was shared on the site, and objects from the game like grenades. Players will also earn level gun charms every 100 levels.
These charms are the first new cosmetic item that Respawn has added to Apex Legends. They aren't much, but it is a nice bonus for players who have been putting in the hours. But what about those exact players? Will they get retroactive rewards for the time they have put since they hit the level cap? This doesn't appear to quite be the case as players won't be earning levels retroactively, but the post stated that "all players will be retroactively awarded any Apex Packs they should have received under this new system."
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
MORE: Apex Legends: 5 Things Season 3 Is Doing Right (& 5 Things It's Doing Wrong)
Source: EA