The new Apex Legends season strips out modes, and players already miss Mixtape

Season 23 lets you play the original Apex Legends as it was at launch, but that means no Mixtape or standard Duos and Trios outside ranked.

Apex Legends Season 23 is taking a cue from the success of Fortnite OG and bringing back the original format for the free-to-play battle royale game to tickle your nostalgia. There’s just one key problem: that means you can’t play the standard Duos and Trios modes right now, and Mixtape is gone too, meaning you’re forced into ranked if you want to try the newer Legends’ changes. The latest Apex Legends patch notes are fantastic news for supports, however, with the likes of Lifeline, Gibraltar, and Newcastle among the big winners this time.

The arrival of new Apex Legends patch notes means an incredible amount of balance tweaks to pore over. If you’re planning to drop into the free Steam game and play casually this week, however, you won’t be able to just jump into regular, modern pub matches. For now, at least, you’ll need to queue into the new Apex Legends Launch Royale mode that strips the game back to the basic set of Legends and weapon loadouts. No EVO armor, no ability upgrades, just old-school action – unless you play ranked.

While it’s nice to get that nostalgia hit, many players are already lamenting the loss of the modern systems and how much the original loadouts were reliant on the random luck of where you dropped. Indeed, some of the most-upvoted comments on the game’s subreddit remark that the new-old mode feels like it’s Respawn’s attempt to remind the player base how far the game has come in a positive direction. “This is probably what they were hoping for,” one writes.

As for the patch notes in general, supports have come out the biggest winners, with new class perks giving them faster revives and health regen to the ally when you get them back up. Left alone, it’s enough to restore them to full health, although taking damage will cancel it. Supports can also move at full walk speed while healing, and get double the bonus from small meds.

Lifeline’s full-scale overhaul already feels strong, allowing her to glide, teleport DOC to allies, and deploy an indestructible force field that amps your team’s healing. Gibraltar gets a big boost from a dramatic cooldown reduction on his Dome of Protection, which also no longer gets destroyed by Crypto’s EMP or Maggie’s Wrecking Ball, making it a lot safer. Newcastle players are also rejoicing as his ultimate gets stronger with a new shield regen effect for nearby allies, combined with the fact that his Mobile Shield no longer takes damage.

So when can you play Apex Legends Mixtape again? The good news is that we won’t be waiting too long, as the patch notes reveal it’s making a return on Tuesday November 12. The first Mixtape rotation runs until Monday December 16, and that’s followed immediately by another set lasting until Monday January 6. So don’t fear too much if your favorite Apex Legends game mode is gone.

If you can’t wait until then, here are the best battle royale games on PC right now. Or put your skills to the test against the rest of the world with the best multiplayer games in 2024.

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