Everything you need to know about Apex Legends season 4

The wait is finally over for Apex Legends season 4. Coinciding with the game's first anniversary, the new season has officially launched.     

After a number of developments in the Apex lore, Assimilation introduces a brand new legend, a new sniper rifle, major changes to the World's Edge map, and tweaks to ranked matches. There are even some free rewards for players to get their hands on. Here's everything you need to know about Apex Legends season 4.   

Apex Legends season 4 release date

Apex Legends season 4 is available to play now.

Apex Legends season 4 trailer: what's going on with Revenant and Forge?

Revenant is the newest addition to the Apex Legends roster and is now available to play. The new legend can be purchased for 12,000 Legend Tokens or 750 Apex Coins. 

Before Assimilation launched, fans were briefly introduced to James ‘Jimmie’ McCormick, also known as Forge. The "five-time Hyperfighting Federation champion" was the first legend to have a corporate sponsor—Hammond Robotics—which Titanfall fans may recognise. Apex Legends and Titanfall share the same universe, after all, so the huge Titan manufacturer was bound to rear its head at some point.

The 'Up Close and Personal' clip below, posted on the official Apex Legends YouTube channel, depicts Forge in an interview before Revenant shows up. Then we see Revenant sneak up behind Forge before the shot snaps to the interviewer’s face, who's splattered with blood.

Forge’s image was briefly greyed out on EA's website with "RIP JIMMIE ‘FORGE’ MCCORMICK" written beneath. Furthering suspicions that Forge has truly been murdered by Revenant, his death box surfaced in the game: players can still retrieve the ‘Steel Cut’ Commemorative charm from Forge’s death box in the Sorting Factory. 

Some fans believe that Forge will return later on in season 4, but Respawn's Senior Animator, Moy Parra, has made a very clear statement about it on Twitter:

Apex Legends season 4 new weapon

Players have kicked off season 4 with a new bolt-action sniper rifle, The Sentinel. This weapon is suited to medium and long range combat. It also features an additional mode which players can use if they have a shield battery in their inventory. Press 'fire select' to charge the weapon, and fire shots that deal increased damage to shields. The charge reduces over time and depletes faster if more shots are fired. 

Apex Legends season 4 World's Edge map changes

Capitol City

World's Edge has undergone several changes. Hammond Robotics has made their mark, but it's at the cost of leaving one of the map's hotspots in ruins. The Titan manufacturer has set up a Planet Harvester: a giant structure at the heart of the map. The invasion of this vast metal beast mining for precious materials has split Capitol City into two zones: Fragment East and Fragment West. The molten crevice between the two areas can be crossed via a fallen skyscraper and a zipline, or by using certain abilities.

Surprisingly, players who happen to jump into the magma-filled fissure will not die instantly. Respawn has added pressurized air called 'The Updraft' to whisk players away to safety. Upon impact, players take 25 damage and then float upwards in the third-person perspective until they reach ground level. Opponents can attack players during their ascent, so this is still a risk you should avoid taking with other squads nearby.

Survey Camp & weapon racks

Survey Camp marks a new site, located between Skyhook and the Epicenter on World's Edge. Despite its modest size, it introduces another new feature: weapon racks. The weapons that appear here are guaranteed for every match. In their season 4 map updates post, Respawn outlined that "this should give players who prioritise a good weapon over a premier drop location a new decision to make". 

Apex Legends season 4 battle pass

A new season means a new battle pass with lots of loot. Assimilation features over 100 items spanning music packs to legendary skins.

The Apex Legends season 4 battle pass can be purchased in-game for 950 Apex Coins. The battle pass bundle—which unlocks the first 25 levels—costs 2,800 Apex Coins. 

Apex Legends season 4 ranked changes

Ranked will be split 

Respawn has confirmed a number of changes to ranked leagues for Season 4. Most notably, Series 3 will run for three months, but will be split in two parts, each played on different maps with a soft reset. The first half will have players taking to the World’s Edge map and the second returning to King’s Canyon.

Don’t be concerned about your ranked rewards, though: you’ll gain rewards based on the highest tier you’ve achieved in either split of Series 3. Exclusive badges will only be granted if you achieve the same tier in both splits however, so the pressure is still on to perform. 

Dive trails now operate on a seasonal reward model, but players who earned dive trails in Series 1 and 2 keep them forever. Respawn is planning to rotate a set of four dive trails across each year. 

Players cannot abuse the loss-forgiveness system

With any competitive shooter, there are always times when you just have to leave a match early. Respawn understands these one-offs sometimes just cannot be helped and has opted to limit the penalties if you abandon a match. However, repeating this three times across the ranked series, will lead to penalties.

New Master tier

Perhaps too many players have proven themselves to be ferocious Apex Predators: Respawn is adding a new ranked tier, Master. Resting between the Diamond and Apex Predator tiers, you’ll have to break 10,000 RP to become a master. The Apex Predator title is now exclusively reserved for the top 500 players, per platform. 

Party restrictions will also come into play for players in the Platinum tier (4800 RP) onwards. Those of higher skill level will only be able to team up with others one tier above or below them to keep matches fair. 

Assist credit adjustments

A fix has been recently applied to healing items which previously cleared assist credit. The Assist timer has also been increased from 5 to 7.5 seconds. As a result, Crypto’s EMP, Mirage's Decoy Trigger, and Pathfinder's Grapple grant assist credit, regardless of damage dealt. Crypto’s Passive ability and Bloodhound’s Scan award assist credit if a player dies while their status effect remains active. Revenant's tactical ability also scores assist credits.

More Apex Legends season 4 changes

Now, let's take a look at some of the other important changes added in season 4. 

Sniper ammo and attachments

The introduction of the Sentinel sniper rifle has ushered in changes to a few other snipers too. The Sentinel, Triple Take, Longbow, and Charge Rifle now require Sniper Ammo. This new category of ammo can be found in piles of 10. The Charge Rifle has been adjusted so that it's magazine holds 4 shots, spending 1 ammo per shot. An extended magazine has been added for Snipers too. 

Energy ammo

Energy ammo has seen a slight buff. Players now receive 30 ammo per pickup, compared to the previous 20. 

Removed loot

The following items have been removed from the game:

• Turbocharger hop-up
• Extended magazines for Energy ammo (this was rolled out in the last update but is especially important now that season 4 has begun)

The Gold Backpack has also undergone a UI update to clearly show when its perk is being used.

Weapon updates 

Iron sights reticles were inaccurate on weapons. Most of the weapons in Apex Legends season 4 have already been updated to ensure that iron sights remain centered when shooting and the rest will be fixed as the season progresses.

A handful of weapons have also received changes. Most notably, the G7 Scout has switched classes: from Sniper to Assault Rifle. The L-Star can now be found across the map and has been removed from crates. Consequently, the Devotion has been rotated into crates. With the removal of the Turbocharger, the Havoc received a buff to improve its rate of fire while using the Select Fire hop-up. Further adjustments have also been made to the R-99, Wingman, EVA-8 Auto, Mastiff, Hemlok and Prowler.  

Gold weapons

Assimilation features the following gold weapons:

• P2020
• R-301
• Prowler
• Havoc
• Sentinel 

Legend balance adjustments

Two legends have received balance adjustments for Assimilation. Downing a player (not killing) while using Bloodhound's ultimate now adds five seconds to the timer. It's possible for players to exceed the starting time if they manage to score enough kills. 

Crypto's EMP has been tweaked to stop it destroying friendly Gibraltar Dome Shields. These don't stick to the drone anymore, either.  

New Town Takeover event

Town Takeovers are events that take inspiration from a particular legend's abilities and implement them in a specific area on the map. Past events have focused on Octane, Mirage and Wraith. Respawn has confirmed that another takeover event is scheduled for later on in season 4.  

How to claim Apex Legends season 4 free rewards

During the first week of Assimilation (Feb 4 - Feb 11 2020) log in to receive the Anniversary Gift, which contains:

• Year 1 loyalty badge (three colour variants dependent on when you started playing)
• Year 1 Origami Flyer charm 
• 10K XP for your first match each day (available all week)