Nine-versus-nine, unlimited respawn, objective-based Apex Legends? Sounds a hoot. The new Control limited-time mode that is coming on February 8 with the Apex Season 12 Defiance update has really intrigued players, and while a blog post outlined most of the details about it, there were still some questions left unanswered.
However, at a media event, the masterminds behind Control went in even deeper on this chaotic LTM to reveal even more interesting details. We won’t bore you with all the stuff you’ve probably read in the blog post already, but here are all the new bits of info we got from game directors David Swieczko and Mark Yampolsky.
As this is a casual “playground” mode, the devs have taken an equally laid back approach to things like ammo and healing. In Control, your loadout weapons will have unlimited ammo, so you can keep blasting away to your heart’s content. The only exception to the rule are the powerful crate weapons that can be obtained through Airdrop events that happen throughout the match.
Players will also have Evo Shield regeneration and faster healing. There is also no bleed out state.
What else did we learn? Well, those of you with eight Apex-loving pals would have likely got very excited at the prospect of all nine of you squadding up together in Control. However, it was confirmed during the event that you’ll still only be able to enter as a squad of three, as each team is essentially formed out of three sets of trios.
Swiezcko explains that facilitating parties of more than three would be a “huge task”, but that it’s something Respawn could explore for the future if big-team modes like Control return.
Screenshots and footage from the Defiance trailer also appear to show more than one of the same legend on a team. While we’re guessing the maximum is three (one for each of the three squads that make up a Control team), we’ve reached out to Respawn for further clarification on this. We’ll update you when we can.
Swiezcko also gave a handy tip for those looking to gain their ultimates quickly in Control. Your ultimate charge is determined by your Ratings score, which naturally means that racking up kills or capturing objectives will help charge it up. However, if you’ve just died and have a lot of points to go until your next Ratings tier, you can gain up to 75% of the progress towards the next tier by spawning at your Home Base.
While spawning at Home Base does mean you’re at the “furthest point from the objectives”, it is handy to spawn there if you know a devastating ult could turn the tide of a game.
Finally, we also learned that for almost all legends, their ultimates will behave exactly the same in Control as they would in battle royale – with just one exception. Lifeline has had her care package tweaked ever so slightly to be more useful in Control. While it can still be summoned in the same way, the contents will differ slightly.
“She is basically the main source for better armour and helmets in Control,” Swiezcko explains. “If she is purple [Ratings] tier, for example, she’ll get a guaranteed drop of purple armour and helmets. But there’s a chance of [getting] gold equipment in one of the slots of her care package.”
So that’s everything we learned that the blog post didn’t tell you about Apex Legends’ Control LTM. Infinite ammo, multiple legends on the same team – it’s all sounding rather barmy, and we can’t wait to get our hands on it.