Apex Legends just launched on the Nintendo Switch yesterday, and with it came a slew of patch notes. We wanted to take some of the changes for a spin, including the new Heat Shield that fits in a new Survival Slot to protect you from the Ring, should you get caught and need to heal. There’s plenty more that’s changed, so keep reading to find out what’s new in the latest Apex Legends Chaos Theory Season 8 update.
New Heat Shield and Survival Slot can boost your team’s survival chance
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played Apex Legends, only to get caught in a firefight inside the ring. Normally, you need to have a ton of health items on you to survive, but now, you’ll have the ability to pick up and use a new item: Heat Shield. This comes in addition to a new Survival Slot that can hold said Heat Shield or a Mobile Respawn Beacon, ensuring that you have one more free inventory slot.
After a few rounds, the Heat Shield proved much more beneficial than I initially gave it credit for. There were multiple times when my team was caught in a firefight inside of a building when the ring started to close. We were able to deploy the Heat Shield and heal up with ease, only then running toward the next ring. The big benefit was we left that fight with full health since we healed up prior to entering the ring, allowing us to have better odds of making it to a late-game scenario.
No Fill queues allow you to solo drop… with squads
While Respawn has tried a solo mode before, this time it’s a bit different. Instead of you fighting a bunch of other solo Legends, you’re fighting other squads. Or solo players, it’s hard to tell. Essentially, to give players the ability to drop solo, Respawn has built-in a toggle to “fill” your lobby before heading into a game. This will, in turn, drop you by yourself into a match filled with other squads and solo players alike, making for interesting battles. This can be great if you’re someone who hates the idea of potentially getting teamed up with a lower-tiered squad, but equally dislike the option of playing ranked. I’ve yet to dive into a public match solo, but I can only imagine the chaos that will ensue here.
Caustic takes over Water Treatment as it’s renamed to Caustic Treatment
It’s time for Caustic to take over his section of the map, and with it comes Caustic Treatment. Standing where Water Treatment once stood, this new area was “constructed to prevent the Crash Site fuel spill from reaching the ocean.” Though, we’re not sure if that’s exactly why Caustic built the area.
His experiment requires “test subjects” to drain the toxic liquid from the center of the area. While this temporarily grants access to four gold loot items that are locked in cages, you’ll have to be quick, as lingering can cost you dearly.
Ring Fury Escalation Takeover event offers a new experience
While we already looked at Heat Shield, it’s time to see why they were introduced in the first place. The Ring Fury Escalation Takeover is the new public matchmaking game mode, and it offers some unique twists on a standard battle royale game.
Each round, one or more Ring Flares will appear on the map inside of the current ring. Essentially, a Ring Flare is a slowly expanding Ring inside of the arena. If you’re caught inside of one, you’ll take the same amount of damage as being inside the Ring would cause. The best way to deal with Ring Flares is to just not get caught in one. But, if that happens, hopefully you have a Heat Shield equipped to keep your team safe.
9to5Toys’ Take
I still love Apex Legends years later. I remember when a friend of mine first got me to try the game back in 2018. I wasn’t a huge fan back then, but after a few matches, I was hooked. Combined, I now have hundreds of hours in-game across PlayStation, Xbox, Origin, and Steam, and it’s my go-to whenever I’m wanting to kick back and just play something fun that doesn’t have a story or progression attached to it.
I’m loving the new changes that came with yesterday’s patch, and the Heat Shield is by far my favorite. Of course, some won’t like the nerfs that Caustic himself took this time around, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. You’ve got until March 23 to take advantage of the Chaos Theory Collection Event and win unique rewards. I’ll be diving into the ring as Bangalore, what about you?
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