Respawn has officially announced Apex Legends Season 9, titled Legacy, and is set to launch on May 4. With the announcement, we got a glimpse into everything new coming to Apex Legends next season, including the new Legend, weapon, and changes to the Olympus map.
New legend – Valkyrie
The newest entry into the Apex Legends playable roster is Valkyrie, a young, brash, and undeniably talented pilot with a deep narrative connection to the Titanfall universe. While Valkyrie’s abilities have not been officially showcased yet, many of them have been made manifest through her appearance in trailers. Valkyrie will be able to fly and shower enemies with micro rockets using a rig made from her father’s salvaged Northstar.
Before you think she will play like a Titan, you should remember this is Apex Legends, and gameplay revolves almost exclusively around gunplay. Her abilities, while powerful and flashy on paper, are secondary to her hitbox, which appears to be rather small. For that reason alone, we expect Valkyrie to be a strong legend right out of the gate.
New weapon – Bocek Bow
Season 9 of Apex Legends will introduce the game’s first bow: the Bocek Bow. According to Respawn’s official description, this high-tech compound bow will be tremendously powerful at medium range and require a degree of skill to use. We don’t know what weapon class the Bocek Bow will fit under, but we can already see it has a mount for optics.
If we had to guess, we would expect this to be a floor weapon that uses sniper ammo, although it’s just as likely that Respawn puts this one in the Care Package, and restores the Prowler to the regular loot pool.
Map changes – Infested Olympus
One of the biggest shake-ups we get in every Apex Legends season is the map changes. Respawn either introduces brand new maps or rework an existing map, which is the case with Season 9. Legacy will see Olympus, the most beautiful and unique Apex Legends arena, undergo a big transformation, as its futuristic architecture gives way to floral infestation.
Infested Olympus will see its cityscape taken over by invasive overgrowth, with roots and vegetation blocking off some areas, opening up others for new rotation routes, and changing the way players approach combat on this Apex Legends map.