Apex Legends Season 9: The Changes of Olympus

Respawn Entertainment continues to make announcements about Apex Legends Season 9 in full swing. They announced a new game mode would come with the new season, which begins on May 4. In this mode called Arena War, two teams of three will clash in a tactical FPS genre. But that’s not the only change that will come to Apex Legends with Season 9. Olympus, the game’s newest map, will change as other maps have changed before.

Dave Osei, the game’s lead level designer, explained the changes in Olympus on the official website. Some players liked these changes, while others thought the new one would never be better.

Why Does Olympus Change?

In fact, as Apex Legends players, we warmed to map changes at the beginning of the season. We first saw these changes in Season 2. Our only Kings Canyon remained the same for two seasons, including Season 0. Since then, we’ve become accustomed to Respawn making changes to the maps. Of course, these changes attract different reactions from the players. Some complain that the map they are used to is changing, while others think the change keeps the game alive. Therefore, the change of Olympus did not attract much attention.

Our map updates have always allowed our designers to shake up current rotations and give you new, exciting combat spaces to learn, master, and (hopefully) outplay your opponents.

For this latest season, our first step was to identify what we wanted to change and how. We knew Olympus launched with fewer points of interest (POIs) than our previous maps, so we wanted to tackle that first and lay the seeds for future content. We have grand ambitions for the future of Olympus and this season you’ll begin to see those ideas take root—literally.

Dave Osei

The term “root” really suits here, because Olympus will be exposed to an infection that will cause a lot of plants to grow. We have to be prepared to see strange plants, even in the most unlikely places.

The Icarus

With this update, a new ship will land on Olympus. The Icarus will harbor a lot of these parasitic plants. It’s unclear where it came from, but it will really change the atmosphere of the map.

The Icarus’ location is exactly southeast of the Solar Array, between Orbital Cannon and Bonsai Plaza. This decrepit spaceship, which has four rooms, will also offer beautiful loots. We can definitely say this is going to be a new landing spot. That’s why we can see a lot of fighting here

Before the ship docked, Crossroads was a sniper’s paradise with long lines of sight from Bonsai Hillside all the way across to Orbital Cannon. The Icarus blocks most sightlines, and while squads can still take advantage of the steep advantage from Bonsai, they’ll need to be wary when pushing into the vessel.

Dave Osei

Icarus Bridge

While The Icarus was in space, unfortunately, it was where many scientists took their last breaths. The bodies that landed on Olympus with the ship carry a special keycard for a bridge. While it’s a little sad to take the belongings of these people who have worked in science, without permission, these cards will give us good advantages.

If you find the keycard, rush to the front of the ship to gain access to the best loot aboard The Icarus. Inside, players can also take advantage of the view to plan their next route. Be careful you don’t get ambushed, as other players can steal the keycard from your deathbox.

Dave Osei

Small Tweaks

New settlements and parasitic plants are not the only changes on the map. Olympus will undergo a few more changes that seem small in general. Apex Legends players will see this change when Season 9 begins.

Say Goodbye To Two Redeploy Balloons

Before releasing Olympus, we tested a version of the map with no redeploy balloons. At the time, we felt that Tridents were powerful rotational tools on their own, but we weren’t confident in that decision, so we left redeploy balloons in. 

Dave Osei

Even Osei’s words indicate that there will actually be a few changes in the balloons. Balloons are good, and we all love them. It provides fast access from one end of the map to the other. As long as it’s not close to the landing site, we don’t make much noise when we’re floating in the air. Until Trident arrived, we thought the most powerful sound in the game was the charged Sentinel. But Trident sounds like the sound of an empty shampoo box falling to the ground.

Now that the map has been live for a while, we feel more confident in how Tridents are being used to facilitate rotations players are taking, so we’re removing two redeploy balloons. In short, we’re doing this to push players to better plan their routes. But a change like this begs explanation, so let’s dig into the details. 

Dave Osei

In high-elo games, the players don’t prefer to use Trident that much because it’s too loud and it’s exposing your position. We’ll see how the removal of two balloons from Olympus will change things in high-elo and professional matches.

“The Balloon Outside Golden Gardens Was Perfect”

The redeploy balloon outside Golden Gardens was perfect for dropping onto unsuspecting players in many zones close by, exacerbating the “third-partying issue” many players find frustrating. With the height of the zone and the position of the balloon, players could land on top of squads in Grow Towers, Energy Depot, Hammond Labs, and the infamous choke at Phase Gateway Central. We believe it was too powerful of a rotation option with very few drawbacks. 

Dave Osei

The balloon in the Golden Gardens itself made the place an ideal landing spot. As soon as you found powerful equipment, you could go straight to the balloon and jump into battles. That’s why this change doesn’t seem to be so bad.

While we considered simply lowering the balloon, we realized we’d have to make significant reductions in height to reduce its rotation strength, so we decided it would simply be better to remove it. Players can still move forward to the Energy Depot redeploy balloon for just as much power in rotations, but with a little more risk of entering the zone.

Dave Osei

Icarus In, The Balloon Outside Orbital Cannon Out

Another removed balloon is the one outside Orbital Cannon. Osei explained why they removed this balloon.

The redeploy balloon outside Orbital Cannon wasn’t a potential issue when Crossroads was an open, grassy field. With The Icarus now replacing Crossroads, the potential for third-partying has increased. This is because The Icarus is a large zone with many sightline-blocking geo and chokepoints along with both the interior and exterior. In Apex Legends, it’s important we keep awareness of threats as predictable as possible, so this redeploy balloon was also cut. But keep in mind that there are two Tridents in this zone for players who prefer to land far outside the circle.

Dave Osei

This explanation also made the players satisfied. Right now, as ordinary players, we can’t say anything because we didn’t participate in the test plays. However, we understand that as a result of the tests, The Icarus will be a chokepoint. If they minimalize the “third party” issue, I think any change that developers make is appropriate.

Similarly, some of the highest redeploy balloons (like at Solar Array and Energy Depot) have been slightly reduced in height. The goals here are the same: reducing third-partying, and demanding more intentional planning for your rotations. This will not impact shorter rotations directly over the Phase Runner.

Dave Osei

In addition to these images, they shared the before/after photos of Bonsai Plaza. We can see that the place is filled with parasitic plants.

After last season’s Kings Canyon changes, these changes don’t seem like much to me personally. In the coming seasons, Olympus will inevitably undergo a series of changes, like the evolution of Kings Canyon. But with Season 9, that’s all the changes Apex Legends players will see on Olympus for now.