Every season, Apex Legends introduces a slew of changes from weapon and character buffs/nerfs to the maps themselves. A lot remains to be said about Apex Legends season 13, but the latest gameplay trailer really dives into what makes this season different. Of course, there’s the new legend Newcastle, but Storm Point itself is getting a pretty intense facelift.
Respawn has said it a dozen times in the past, but it never really considers itself down with a character or a map. Anything and everything can be changed from season to season, but thematically speaking, Storm Point’s evolution in Apex Legends season 13 is perhaps the most unique thus far due to its new POI: The Downed Beast.
There have been giant creatures in the game before, such as the Leviathans on Kings Canyon, and there are plenty of spiders and prowlers to contend with on Storm Point. But the latest POI is known as the Downed Beast, which Respawn Entertainment discussed during a recent developer panel (attended by Game ZXC).
Apex Legends: Where the Downed Beast Comes From
Apex Legends likes to keep things simple sometimes, so simply put, no one has any idea where the beast came from or why. However, the legends had to put their grievances aside and work together—as led by Newcastle—to put this beast down. It has fallen onto the map, essentially between Checkpoint and the Mill adding in a new way to rotate. This means no POI has been extensively changed this season (though there could be a tweak or two, of course), as the Downed Beast POI simply adds a new one to the map.
Apex Legends Season 13: Downed Beast POI
The Downed Beast POI is an interesting and unique location. Not only does it add the new rotation as aforementioned, but it also allows players to go inside and get on top of the beast. This adds a nice vertical slice to the location, and because it is a high-tier loot location, it could very well become a popular drop. Flyers also circle overhead, adding another layer of loot to the area. The beast itself is inviting enough, but as everything else highlights, loot is obviously the name of the game in Apex Legends.
One big design of Downed Beast is also to pull some heat away from Barometer as well, likely meaning it’s going to have some good loot. But its arrival also brings in other changes to Apex Legends’ Storm Point map.
Apex Legends Season 13: Other Map Changes
Respawn mentioned that there will be some changes to the spiders and prowlers of Storm Point, specifically that there will be new and changed nests in some form. The biggest change, of course, is the addition of IMC Armories. These relics of the Frontier War rose when the Downed Beast attacked and offers players new loot/PvE experiences.
In short, players who enter IMC Armories will be locked in—so they can’t be third-partied. They’ll then need to face off against waves of Spectres, and the more players defeat, the more loot they can get. Players are able to walk right in and quickly get a decent kit, but the IMC Armories also feature smart loot targeted at a player’s kit—meaning upgrades. This makes the IMC Armories a pseudo-safe way to improve gear in the early, mid, and late games of a match. It remains to be seen how well they work in the game, but on paper, they sound like an intriguing addition.
Apex Legends players will be able to check out all these changes to Storm Point in Ranked and public matches, as Storm Point will be the first half of the ranked split in season 13.
There will be other quality of life changes seen throughout Storm Point, but players will just have to wait until they can dive in.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Mobile will release worldwide sometime in May.
