[Update]: Apex Legends' newest character Valkyrie will be launching alongside Season 9 in May, 2021.
To help us pass the time before the massive Season 9 content update arrives, Apex Legends has now unleashed a brand new patch. However, instead of adding new locations or tons of balance changes, the newly launched War Games update is all about messing around with a variety of new limited-time events.
There are five of these events in total, each of which will run for three days before being replaced. As for what exactly the events have to offer, as well as which dates they'll be live on, that you can find out through the brief description below:
SECOND CHANCE (April 13-15)
In this modifier, each Legend is granted one free respawn per match. Once a Legend is killed, their Respawn Token is consumed as they rise again from their current location retaining all their weapons and gear. After a short duration, the player respawns high in the air to skydive back into the action.
ULTRA ZONES (April 15-19)
Ultra Zones introduce the concept of multiple Hot Zones within a single map. More epic loot, more gold items! But wait, there’s more! Each Hot Zone is enveloped in a Flash Point—a returning feature from a Season 6 LTM. For those who don’t already know, Flash Points are enormous, glowing bubbles that replenish your HP and shields when you stand in them. In this mode, consumable items are still available as normal throughout the loot pool.
AUTO BANNERS (April 19-21)
In this modifier we’ve made a rather small but spicy change to squadmate respawning. Your Squadmates Banner Cards are automatically retrieved! No need to loot their death box to retrieve their Banner Cards, just head straight to a respawn beacon. The loot pool has been altered to contain more Mobile Respawn Beacons too.
KILLING TIME (April 21-23)
This event speeds up the match as Legends fall. During a round, whenever a Legend dies, the round time is reduced. If any given round is a massacre, you can bet that ring will be closing real quick! Keep an eye on the round timer and the ring in this modifier.
ARMOR REGEN (April 23-27)
Your armor regenerates over time at a rate of 12 points per second. Whenever you take damage, your armor will begin regenerating after an 8-second delay. This delay is doubled to 16 seconds if your armor gets cracked. One last thing for this mode: there are no Shield Cells in the loot pool!
The final thing worth mentioning is that the War Games event has also brought in numerous new cosmetics to collect, both free and paid ones. You can check out what they look like in action through the recently posted launch trailer. Have a peek:
As for the future, very little about Season 9 has been announced just yet, but Respawn has at least confirmed that Lifeline will be getting another rework. Her resurrection shield will be going away, while both her healing drone and ultimate will be getting some serious improvements. Whether it'll be enough to make Lifeline a truly competitive Legend, however, that still remains to be seen.
Once the Season 9 update goes live I'll make sure to let you know. Until then, enjoy the War Games event!