First and foremost: the basic details about the update itself.
The season two update to "Apex Legends" started rolling out around 1:00 PM ET on July 2, and the download is sizeable: somewhere around 20 GB on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and somewhere around 18 GB on PC.
The reason behind the massive file size is simple: it's a new "build" of the game. You're basically re-downloading the whole game.
"Periodically we make a fresh build of the game, with outdated content removed," Respawn Entertainment community manager Jay Frechette said on Reddit. "So the game is faster for new players to download, more efficient, and takes up less hard drive space for everybody."
1. Dinosaurs! Er, well, they're called "Leviathans."
The largest addition to "Apex Legends" — in the literal sense — is Leviathans: massive, hulking dinosaur-like creatures that roam the landscape of Kings Canyon.
"The Leviathans have breached Kings Canyon and it'll never be the same!" the patch notes for the game say. "Many areas have been affected by our new guests."
It's unclear how interacting with Leviathans will go, but we do have one clue: In a trailer for the new season, a massive Leviathan foot crushes one of the game's characters, Mirage, in the middle of a fight.
Ouch!
2. A new character, named Wattson.
Wattson is the latest addition to "Apex Legends" — the ninth "Legend" to be added to the game's roster.
Like previously added characters Caustic, Mirage, and Octane, Wattson can either be purchased directly with cash for $7.50, or you can earn in-game currency to get her for free (12,000 Legend Tokens).
So, what can she do? A few things:
- Perimeter Security: Wattson's primary special ability is erecting electric fences. When passed through by enemies, the fences act like an Arc Star — electrifying and damaging the opponent, as well as slowing them down considerably.
- Spark of Genius: Wattson's passive ability is pretty amazing: She can fully charge her Ultimate ability with a single Ultimate Accelerant. Finally, a reason for someone other than Lifeline to pick up Ultimate Accelerants!
- Interception Pylon: And finally, Wattson's Ultimate is a large machine that outright deflects air strikes (like the ones dropped by Gibraltar and Bangalore) and sets up a protective fence. Moreover, any of your teammates inside the perimeter of the ultimate will have their shields charged.
3. An entirely new weapon: the L-Star.
Alongside the Kraber and the Mastiff, the L-Star is the newest addition to the "Gold" tier of weapons in "Apex Legends" that only land in care packages and only appear rarely. It's a rapid-fire weapon that shoots large projectiles — it's particularly effective at melting down shields, according to the game's developers.
There's no unlock involved here — the L-Star is simply a new addition to the overall game.
4. Major map changes.
Another major change coming to all players of "Apex Legends": huge additions or alterations to the existing map, Kings Canyon.
As you can see above, the tower at Repulsor has been destroyed. In a previous image, there were a bunch of dragon-like creatures sitting on top of buildings not so far from Repulsor.
These are assuredly just a taste of the major structural changes happening to Kings Canyon.
5. New stuff to unlock, new challenges to complete, and a stats page (!!).
Yes: With Tuesday's update, new skins for characters and weapons are coming to "Apex Legends."
But in addition to that stuff, there are some entirely new unlockable baubles. Starting Tuesday, you can unlock music packs (for the music that plays while you're dropping to the island), emotes for characters as they descend from the sky, and loading screens while you're, uh, waiting for the game to load.
Perhaps most importantly, there's finally a stats screen that will just tell you how well you're doing with any given character.
But let's be real: There are tons of changes in the new update, and if you want to dig all the way you should check out the patch notes right here.
