Here's everything new in Apex Legends Season 19 — is it worth playing again?

What is Apex Legends?

I have played Apex Legends religiously for the past five or six seasons, and it's a game that has a special place in my heart because it is the game that brought me and my partner together. Anyone who knows me knows how much I struggle returning to games I have previously played, but I find myself constantly drawn to Apex. Why? Because, in my opinion, it offers something that no other Battle Royale game does – engaging, competitive and fun gameplay. 

Releasing in early 2019, Apex has had great success and still continues to have great success with an ever-increasing player base. Sure, Fortnite still holds the top spot in the Battle Royale world, but Apex comes in at a very close second, and that's okay. 

Each season, Respawn Entertainment has listened to the players and implemented all sorts of changes in order to keep Apex Legends relevant, and the most crucial part of this is bringing fun and exciting characters to players to learn to love. It started with just eight legends when it was released and now has 24 legends for players to choose from. Each of these offers different abilities and personalities. 

Apex Legends is a challenging game to jump into if you're not used to the genre because of how competitive and complex it is. Fortnite is quite simple in its approach: keep your shields and your health full and pick up whatever loadout of weapons works for you. Apex differs as it has different levels of shields that offer more or less protection, and each weapon has its own set of attachments, so you could say it has a steep learning curve. 

That being said, if you're itching to give it a try, jump in, grab a weapon, and let's get those dubs. After all, it is the perfect season to do so. 

Apex Legends: Season 19 changes

With each new season of Apex Legends comes many changes, both good and bad, and while past seasons of the Battle Royale game haven't been the best, Season 19 has some of the best changes and asked-for features that players have wanted for a very long time. 

Let's take a look, shall we?

Apex Legends: Cross Progression

The main talking point that Season 19 of Apex Legends brings is the addition of cross-progression to the game. This is something that players have asked for from day one, and it seemingly hasn't really been a priority for Respawn, but that changes now... sort of. 

Apex Legends is available on every current console, including the Nintendo Switch, so the fact that you were required to pick a 'main' console for your account was a little silly. Surely, it makes more sense to pick up exactly where you left off on various consoles, whether moving from your PC to your Xbox or vice versa. 

Nevertheless, cross-progression is being implemented in the current season, but Respawn Entertainment has stated that this is an ongoing process and will be a slow one. The way this will work is the game will merge multiple accounts, making the most-used account the primary one, transferring all the players' cosmetic items, purchased legends, and stats into one account. The only exception here is that console-exclusive items will still be exclusive to that specific console. 

So, if you haven't had the prompt to merge your accounts yet, don't worry. It's coming.  

Apex Legends: Changes to respawning

Perhaps the most significant game-altering change in the latest season of Apex Legends is how the respawning system works. Previously, if a member of your team died, then you could respawn them at respawn beacons that are spread across the map after having either collected your teammate's banner(s) or by crafting them. The player, or players, would then jump back in, fresh as a daisy, with no armor or weapons. Only two syringes and two shield cells to comfort them. Annoyingly, this would make you a target for any nearby squads as they can see you respawning and would know that you're at a disadvantage. Luckily, this is no longer the case. 

In season 19, this all changes. Players will still be able to respawn their fallen squaddies at respawn beacons, but now they will respawn with their armor and weapons, giving you a fighting chance should another team try to catch you off guard. 

There is a slight catch, though. Any weapon attachments you had equipped will no longer be present, and you won't spawn with everything you had in your backpack at the time of death – only the essentials. So you will still have to return to your death box if you want to retrieve that shiny gold extended light magazine. 

Apex Legends: Storm Point update

One of Apex Legends' least-loved maps, Storm Point, has received a complete overhaul, and it's helped to create one of the best maps in the game. 

Known for its more predictable pacing with the competitive community, Storm Point, was lacking in the action side when playing in casual play, leaving many teams not seeing any fights until the very end. 

Respawn looked at combatting this by making the map smaller, and adding more points of interest designed to give players who want to jump straight into the action a place to go.

One thing I love about Apex is the fact that there is a rotation of maps, meaning you're not going to get bored of the same scenery, and it's something I believe that has an advantage over the likes of Fortnite. After a certain amount of time the map will change, with each season choosing a rotation of three out of the five available maps. 

In season 19 the current map rotation is Olympus, Storm Point and Broken Moon. 

Apex Legends: New legend, Conduit

Season 19 introduces a new support legend to the roster, a character type that many players believed they needed more of. Her name is Conduit, and she's probably the best legend we have seen added to the game in a good while. 

With abilities that focus on buffing your team's shields and your own, Conduit is an enjoyable all-rounded character to play as and has actually gone on to become my second main. 

Her passive ability allows her movement speed to be faster if she is a certain distance away from her teammates. This is great for those moments when your team is in a bit of a jam and you need to get somewhere quickly to offer help. 

Her tactical ability allows her to give her armor a boost, as well as one other teammate, which is really handy when you're in the middle of a battle and your armor has broken. This could potentially win that particular battle for you; believe me, it does. 

Conduit's ultimate is an interesting one. Conduit deploys an array of shield-jamming devices that both damages and slows down enemies that find themselves in their vicinity. The really interesting thing about this is it deploys differently depending on what area you are in. If you are in a vast open space, they will deploy in a straight line. If you are in a building, they will deploy in a circular motion. It's fantastic for keeping enemy squads at a distance; if they decide to push, they will get a not-so-nice surprise. 

Conduit's abilities and current popularity could see her becoming one of the top picks in casual and competitive play, and it's fully deserved. 

The future of Apex Legends

It's clear that the future is bright for Apex Legends, with the game improving significantly each season. We don't know what's next for the game, but it's reassuring to know that Respawn is actively listening to the players and their wants. 

Season 19 is shaping up to be a fantastic season, one that is great for returning players and new ones purely because of the changes made – cross-progression especially, as this was very much needed. 

With the addition of the season's very first event (and the biggest collaboration they've done yet) with the Post Malone event and the rumors of Loba's prestige skin likely arriving this season, it's an excellent time to play Apex Legends.