Following longstanding rumors, last week it was confirmed that Apex Legends Season 17, entitled “Arsenal,” would feature the debut of new Legend Ballistic, a revamp for World’s Edge, a new Weapon Mastery system, and more. That said, that initial announcement left a lot of things mysterious. Thankfully, press were recently given the full rundown on what Respawn/Respawn Vancouver have cooked up for Arsenal. You can check out a gameplay trailer for Arsenal, below.
As befitting his status as one of the stars of the original Apex Games (before they were even called the Apex Games), Ballistic looks to be a real leader, with the ability to initialize, single out targets, and boost his team. His abilities include the option to carry a third weapon, overheat opponent’s weapons, and provide powerful buffs to teammates in his vicinity. Here’s the full rundown of Ballistic’s moves…
- Sling (Passive) – Store a third weapon in the Sling. Access via inventory or character utility action. The Sling weapon cannot take attachments.
- Whistler (Tactical) – Shoots a projectile that heats up an enemy’s gun as they shoot. Overheating causes damage. Hold the tactical to lock on.
- Tempest (Ultimate) – Nearby teammates get faster reloads, faster armed move speed, and infinite ammo. The sling weapon will be upgraded to Gold.
Not a bad suite of abilities. Tempest in particular sounds quite powerful (perhaps a little too powerful and potentially subject to future nerfs). Add an interesting backstory to the mix, and I think Ballistic could be one of Apex’s more popular additions in a while.
Of course, the new Legend is just one of the things included in Apex Legends Arsenal. The World’s Edge map is receiving a number of tweaks, with overall map health being the focus. The headline new point of interest is Monument, a museum dedicated to the history of the Apex Games (which will include some relics from the game’s development).
A new Weapon Mastery system will allow players to earn XP by using weapons and eventually tackle weapon-specific trials that will unlock a variety of goodies. Respawn promises Weapon Mastery is a long-term progression system, meaning it won’t be reset when a new season starts. But that’s not all! Players can also look forward to updates to the Firing Range, the ability to ping new things, and a major Ranked Play overhaul (although I’m not allowed to talk about the latter just yet).
Apex Legends can be played on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch. The Arsenal season kicks off on May 9.
