Apex Legends, an FPS released by EA and developed by Respawn Entertainment with no frivolous marketing or flair that grew to become one of the biggest battle royales online. The game is well into Season 7 right now and will be entering Season 8 soon enough.

With a cross-platform play released last year in October and a Nintendo Switch version of the game coming on February 2nd this year, Apex Legends doesn’t show signs of slowing down anytime soon. That’s good news for fans and gamers of the franchise, but we hope that they don’t overdo it and ruin the whole thing as most developers have a tendency to do.

Since the game is coming out on the Nintendo Switch soon, make sure to get your Nintendo e-Shop Cards to equip yourself better in-game!

Now, without further ado, let’s get into what Season 8 has in store for us! With a little recap of the previous season of course.

Recap of Season 7

Season 7 known as ‘Ascension’ released on the 4th of November, and brought with it a new map as well as a new legend for us to explore and conquer. The new map ‘Olympus’ is set on a floating utopia befitting of its name with Trident hovercars and a massive Phaserunner Tunnel for players to teleport faster from one point to another.

We also see the inclusion of a new legend: Horizon, a gravitational manipulator. Her gravity themed abilities are unique and are movement-based. She is one of the best characters to control when climbing or in the air. 

An astrophysicist that was betrayed and launched into the black hole, she somehow traveled forward in time. To get back to her own timeline, she needs funds – and that’s the story of how she ended up joining the Apex Games.

When is Season 8?

Soon enough, Season 8 titled ‘Mayhem’ will be coming to Apex Legends on the 2nd of February 2021 as the Season 7 battle pass ends. This is also two days before the game’s 2nd anniversary and the release of the game on the Nintendo Switch for on the go players. A lot seems to be happening with the coming of this season, which makes it all the more exciting.

What’s New?

New Legend

Season 8 will see the emergence of Apex Legend’s 16th Legend – Fuse. A demolitionist and freedom fighter of Salvo with a love for explosives that was founded during the many missions and quests with his childhood friend. 

According to lore, Fuse became engrossed with fighting pits which caused his friendship with his childhood friend to turn sour. As he decides to join the Apex Games, a fight broke out between the two which ends with a golden grenade explosion that tore out his right arm.

His rumored Ultimate ability ‘The Motherlode’ launches a missile from his back that deals heavy damage and will have a flammable effect. His rumored Tactical ability ‘Airburst Grenade’ will fire a grenade from his mechanical arm that will explode in mid-air to deal AoE damage. Overall, Fuse is an explosive character and his abilities will certainly reflect that.

New Map Changes

It is unlikely that Apex is going to release a new map for this season as they did previously but map changes are guaranteed. A huge overhaul to the King’s Canyon Map will be done to welcome the new Legend. After all, they did let some bombs fall from the sky as a teaser for Fuse coming in Season 8.

What these changes are, we’ll just have to find out when the season drops.

New Weapon

Multiple new weapons are being brought into the game for this coming season but only one has been officially confirmed – the 30-30 Repeater. A lever-action rifle designed for mid – long-range combat. It is Salvo’s most popular weapon, an ode to Fuse’s heritage.

Battle Pass

As usual, with a new season comes a new battle pass that allows players to climb to level 100 and unlock a lot of rewards along the way. The Season 8 battle pass includes Legendary Skins, Apex Packs, Holo Sprays, and 4,700 Apex Coins (for the Premium Battle Pass). It is also safe to assume that the battle pass will cost about 950 Apex Coins, as it was for previous passes.

The Battle Pass Bundle will probably be 2,800 Apex Coins. As 1,000 Apex Coins costs USD 9.90, the Battle Pass would be around USD 9.50 to purchase.

Some Nerfs & Buffs

As with all games when it comes to releasing new seasons, some nerfs have to be done to not overpower the new characters/additions. Some characters that are said to be nerfed would be Horizon, Wattson, and Wraith. 

Although a decent new Legend in the Apex Legends world, Horizon is about to get another nerf as she is still too overpowered. She is noted to have the highest trio win rate in the game, so something has to be done about it. Apparently the previous nerf on her ‘Gravity Lift’ was not enough to subdue her.

For Wattson, she has always had a “very high win rate, one that climbs aggressively with skill,” as noted by lead game designer Daniel Klein. So we will expect a huge nerf coming for her character.

As for Wraith, Respawn has noted wanting to get her character under control earlier in November, and their approach is going to be similar to what they did with Pathfinder in previous nerfs.

In an attempt at balance, some characters will finally get the Buff they deserve such as Revenant and Rampart. For Revenant, the game designers are in discussion to reverse some of his hitbox changes. For Rampart, a buff is coming for her Tactical by adding 45 Health to her ‘Amped Walls’.

Summary

Well, we can’t wait for Season 8 to officially drop to finally find out what else EA and Respawn have in store for us. Do let us know what you think of this upcoming season and the decisions made to nerf certain characters in the comments section below. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

As always, thanks for reading. Stay Gritty, Gamers!

This is a guest post by Ramesh. Check out his Facebook page here.