Season 1 of Apex Legends, dubbed The Wild Frontier, just landed alongside the game's the long-awaited Battle Pass.
For players of Fortnite and other battle royale titles, you may be familiar with the Battle Pass concept and you’ll want to know all the ways it compares to the Fortnite offering before you plunk down any cash. If you’re not quite sure what all the fuss is about, we’ll break it down for you and get you up to speed.
What is a Battle Pass?
A Battle Pass is a feature Fortnite made popular and has since been added to other battle royales like PUBG. It’s a way of giving players something extra to work toward outside of matches. The Apex Legends Battle Pass will reward you with experience points based on how you do in each match. It’ll keep track of every action you take -- every bullet fired, every hour logged, every player you take down-- and the points you earn will go toward ranking up your Battle Pass. With each rank, you’ll earn a new set of rewards.
How much does the Apex Legends Battle Pass cost?
You will earn ranks and progress through the Battle Pass without having to do or pay anything, but that will only get you some of the rewards along the way. To get the rewards at every rank you will need to spend 950 Apex Coins (one Coin equals a penny, so $9.50) to unlock access to the entire Season 1 Battle Pass.
There’s also an option to buy the Battle Pass Bundle for 2,800 Apex Coins (which would be $28 worth) to start yourself out at rank 25 with all the rewards unlocked up to that point.
If you choose to spend no money on the Battle Pass, you’ll be able to unlock 24 of the Season 1 Pass’s 129 rewards.
If you choose to buy the pass later on during the season, you’ll then retroactively earn whatever rewards you are entitled at your current rank.
What kind of rewards are included? Is a new character one of them?
Early rumors about Season 1 included talk of a new playable character named Octane and that he would be unlockable through the Battle Pass. It turned out half of that was true. Octane is real, but he is not part of the Battle Pass. Just like Mirage and Caustic, you can get Octane for either 750 Apex Coins or 12,000 Legend Tokens (that you earn by playing the game).
What the Battle Pass actually contains are several cosmetic rewards, much like the Fortnite Battle Pass. You’ll get character and weapon skins, taunts, gun decals, portrait frames and poses, voice clips, badges and loot packs.
The free rewards are limited to 5 loot packs, 18 character- and season-specific trackers (stats that get displayed on your portrait before a match) and one alternate skin for Octane as the highest-rank free reward.
How many ranks are there? What’s the best stuff to look for?
In total there are 110 ranks, with most ranks containing more than one reward. The best items include Battle Point boosters earned at later ranks that multiply the points you earn for the Battle Pass and a total of 1000 Apex Coins if you reach rank 97. If you’re doing the math, that means avid Apex players will be given $10 worth of in-game currency for ranking up in a Battle Pass that cost $9.50 to access.
The last few ranks offer up a some very unique transforming gun skins that change based on how many kills you earn in a match.
When does Season 1 end and what does that mean for the Battle Pass?
The seasonal Battle Pass system means you only have a limited amount of time to buy in and earn all the rewards offered during that season. From start to finish, Season 1 in Apex Legends will last 91 days (13 weeks), which puts the end date at June 18th 2019.
When that day rolls around you’ll lose access to the Season 1 Battle Pass and the ability to keep making progress, but you will keep all previously earned rewards. And presumably a new Season 2 Battle Pass will begin with its own rewards and its own 950 Apex Coin buy-in.
It’ll take some serious skill and some serious play time to finish out the entire Season 1 Battle Pass, as the top rewards are meant to showcase a player’s dedication to the game more than anything else. Fast-tracking the first 25 ranks with the Bundle Pass will help, if you want to spend that kind of money, but most players won’t be expected to get every reward on offer. That just means we think you’re extra cool if you do!
Credit: EA
