Apex Legends: Breakout Patch Notes: Full List of Changes in Season 20

Here's the Apex Legends: Breakout patch notes.
Here's the Apex Legends: Breakout patch notes. / Respawn Entertainment

Respawn Entertainment released the early Apex Legends: Breakout patch notes that detail several changes coming in Season 20, including some much-needed Ranked Play improvements.

Apex Legends: Ignite only has one more week until it is replaced with Apex Legends: Breakout. Although the upcoming season does not contain a new Battle Royale map or Legend, it still features many changes that will make Apex Legends feel fresh and more competitive, especially in Ranked Play. Get ready to explore all the updates in the latest season, arriving in just one week.

Here's all the changes coming to Apex Legends: Breakout on Feb. 13, 2024.

Apex Legends: Breakout Patch Notes: Full List of Changes in Season 20

Check out the full list of changes outlined in the Apex Legends: Breakout patch notes to prepare for the release of Apex Legends Season 20, per Respawn Entertainment.

Legend Upgrades

  • A new Legend Upgrade system allows you to adjust your Legend to your play style. The feature restarts with each match so you can try different upgrades.
  • Earning EVO will now level-up your Legend as you play a game, improving your armor tier and unlocking upgrade selections at Levels 2 and 3.
  • Legend Upgrades and EVO changes will be limited to Battle Royale modes with Breakout.

Legend Armor & Shield Cores

  • Body Shields won't be found on the ground in Battle Royale. Instead, all Legends have inherent Legend Armor that increases in capacity permanently as they Level-Up.
  • Legend Armor is fueled by a Shield Core which contains the current shield HP. Shield Cores can be swapped or dropped at any time as with previous armor systems, however, fallen enemies will now drop Shield Cores in their Death Boxes.

Overcharge

  • Picking up a higher level Shield Core will temporarily overcharge your Armor—adding extra shield health that is held for 30 seconds before returning to your Legend Armor’s max capacity.

Earning EVO

Players will earn EVO points from many core actions that help you succeed in the Battle Royale. Some actions also reward EVO to the whole squad. Earn EVO from the following Sources:

  • Damage
  • Knocks and Knock Assists
  • Finishers
  • EVO Cache (Care Packages, Vaults etc.)
  • Squad Wipes
  • Revives
  • Respawns
  • Class Interactions (Survey Beacons, Ring Consoles, etc.)
  • World Interactions (Wildlife, Trials Completions, etc.)
  • EVO Harvesters

EVO Harvesters

  • EVO Harvesters will randomly spawn on every BR map with a delayed activation during the first ring. Any squad member can interact with them to award a large amount of EVO to the whole squad.
  • Legend Upgrades and Armor will only impact Battle Royale modes. Mixtape modes will not have upgrades and will continue to use Body Shields this season.

EVO Caches

  • EVO Caches are a new rare loot item that contains raw EVO and will award a full level when collected. They can be found in the world's more highly contested locations such as vaults and supply drops.

Ranked Reloaded

  • The Level requirement is going back down to 20 and splits will be returning, which means that the season reset will be as well. Each player will start at 1 RP with the launch of Breakout.
  • There’ll also be a quick split reset which will drop your ranking by 6 divisions. Players will receive a Ranked Tier Badge for the highest rank they've achieved at the end of the season across all platforms.

Transparent Scoring

  • A heavier emphasis will be placed on eliminations over placements.
  • Your hidden skill rating will have no influence on either matchmaking or scoring.
  • The bonus system has also been updated to provide more insight and Player Rankings will now be visible.
  • We’ll also be returning to an improved Ranked Point system. 
  • Entry cost will return: 20 RP per Tier starting at Silver.

Elimination Scoring

  • The value of each elimination will increase the higher your team places.
  • There’ll be no hard cap placed on the number of eliminations a player will be scored on nor the amount of points gained from them. Instead, eliminations after the sixth will be worth half of their value.

Bonuses

  • Top 5 Streak Bonus: for maintaining a placement streak of 5th or better. Every time you extend your streak you’ll earn 10RP more than your previous match, up to a maximum of a 40 RP bonus.
  • Challenger Bonus: earn a 50% bonus on an elimination of a higher ranked player when you’ve personally contributed. This bonus is unaffected by the elimination soft cap of 6 kills.

Matchmaking

  • Matchmaking will be based on RP values as closely as possible, and will not be using a tier-based lobby like prior seasons. Premade parties will be matched by the highest Ranked player’s ranking.

Tier Structure

  • Promotional Trials have been removed.
  • Provisional Matches have been removed.
  • Demotion and Demotion Protection will remain the same as Ignite’s Ranked.
  • Ranked Tier RP requirements will have some increases.

New Mixtape Map: Thunderdome

  • Modernized with killer upgrades, this floating sky stadium is inspired by the first arena in Kings Canyon—capturing the essence of its Thunderdome, all while paying homage to the vast history of the Apex Games.

Performance Mode: 120HZ

  • Enable Performance Mode on current-gen consoles for 120Hz output to displays that support it. This new Video Settings option adjusts graphical settings, leveraging recent improvements in the Apex rendering engine to target up to 120 FPS gameplay.

Breakout Rewards

  • Six Legends will be unlocked for everyone throughout the season. Complete challenges with these Legends to earn special Breakout Rewards—including permanent unlocks for the featured Legends, the Reactive Top Tier Flatline, and a matching set of Wraith cosmetics.

Tags & Retirement of Clubs

  • Clubs will be retired in Apex Legends with the launch of the Breakout Season.
  • Tags are a new visual indicator that will appear ahead of your username wherever it is shown. Tags are 3-4 characters long, are limited to alphanumeric characters, and can be updated as often as you’d like via the Social page.