Apex Legends Season 9, otherwise known as Legacy, is its biggest update yet. Apex usually introduces a new Legend, a new weapon, and sometimes map changes in an update, but in Legacy, we’re getting all of these and a permanent new game mode called Arenas. Let’s dig in. Valkyrie
Valkyrie, aka Kairi Imahara, is Apex’s latest legend. She’s the daughter of Viper, a Titan Pilot from Titanfall 2 who was also a member of Blisk’s Apex Predators mercenary group (if you want the full breakdown on Valkyrie’s past, check out my lore video) Valkyrie enters the Apex Games with an altered Northstar Titan kit that grants her more horizontal movement. She has more than one passive: there are her Vtol Jets which allow her to jump in the air and maneuver around, and there’s her ability to scan enemies in the air when deploying or redeploying.
Valk’s Tactical Ability is a Missile Swarm that targets a small area with rockets that will stun and slow enemies on hits. Her Ultimate Skyward Dive allows her and her teammates to launch into the air and redeploy, which also reactivates her passive to scan enemies from the air.
Arena Game Mode
Have you played Apex Legends?
Speaking of preserving legacies, Ash is back in the Apex Games as the overseer of the Arena game mode. After witnessing the Apex Games in its current state, Ash deemed the games soft and believes the Legends are in it for the glamor and fame. Her solution? The Arena game mode, designed to test Legends’ true combat skills.
Arena is a permanent 3v3 mode where the first team to win 3 rounds and win the match point will be the victor. Its format is completely different from the Apex Battle Royale: two teams of three are pitted against each other and the objective is to eliminate the other. If you’re downed in this mode you can be revived, but you cannot be respawned back if you fully die (you can be brought back in the next round if this occurs).
The maps in Arena are smaller and contain two new custom maps called Party Crasher (the area where Mirage Voyage has crashed) and Phase Runner (an abandoned construction site on Talos). Arenas maps also include three existing Battle Royale map locations Thermal Station from World’s Edge, Golden Gardens from Olympus, and Artillery from Kings Canyon.
In the start of Arenas, you pick your Legend as usual, but before every round there is a buy phase where you can choose your guns, equipment, and ability charges (think Counterstrike/Valorant/Rogue Company). Unlike the Battle Royale, your abilities and ultimate do not recharge over time and you have to buy “charges” for use of your abilities and ultimate. Within the buy phase, you can upgrade your weapons and customize your gun’s sights to your desire (if you have enough materials).
