Apex Legends Season 22, Shockwave, ran from August 6 to November 4, 2024. Its headline additions were the E-District map, Revival respawns, Akimbo pistols and shotguns, Battle Sense, and Bot Royale. This is a historical guide to the launch update, not a description of the current live rotation or balance.
When did Apex Legends: Shockwave run?
Electronic Arts lists Shockwave as Season 22, running August 6–November 4, 2024, in its season chronology. The season has since concluded; its launch map windows and mechanics should not be assumed to describe the current game.
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| 1 |
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Apex Legends: The Board Game Solo & Cooperative Mode Expansion | $36.82 | Buy on Amazon |
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Apex Legends: The Board Game Squad Expansion | $68.47 | Buy on Amazon |
What were the biggest Shockwave additions?
| Update | What changed | Player decision it affected |
|---|---|---|
| E-District | New urban map on Gaea with 17 points of interest. | Vertical navigation, building fights, and close-range positioning. |
| Revival | In its featured modes, surviving squadmates could bring eliminated players back without the usual banner-and-beacon sequence. | Whether a squad could recover and continue fighting. |
| Akimbo | Allowed two P2020s or two Mozambiques to be wielded together. | More firepower and ammunition capacity in exchange for optics and longer reloads. |
| Battle Sense | Added temporary enemy health bars and red highlights after dealing damage. | Reading damage and tracking opponents during an engagement. |
| Bot Royale | Added a condensed Battle Royale practice mode against bot squads. | Practicing without treating the match as a standard live-player lobby. |
These changes were presented in EA’s Shockwave patch notes and Shockwave announcement.
What was E-District, and when was it available?
E-District was an urban island district on Gaea, built around dense buildings and vertical routes. EA’s patch notes list 17 POIs and describe a map intended to create varied fights and end-ring locations. Its season-launch exclusivity applied only to the opening rotation: Pubs featured it August 6–12, 2024, and Ranked featured it August 6–9, 2024. Those dates are launch windows, not a statement about its present availability. See EA’s map notes and launch overview.
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How did Revival respawns work?
Revival replaced the standard banner-and-respawn-beacon recovery loop in its featured mode. An eliminated player automatically returned near surviving teammates as long as at least one squadmate remained alive. The mechanic therefore gave a team a comeback opportunity, but it did not make survival irrelevant: the surviving player still had to stay alive long enough for the timer to complete.
- Respawn timers grew longer as rounds passed and as squadmates died.
- Dealing damage, getting knocks or kills, and performing executions reduced the timer.
- Eliminating an enemy briefly revealed that enemy’s teammates.
- Respawns ended at a mode-specific round; Trios Revival and Straight Shot Revival had separate cutoffs in the notes.
EA’s Shockwave announcement summarizes the feature as “a new twist on respawning without banners or respawn beacons.” The exact round cutoffs differed by mode, so Revival should not be read as an unlimited respawn rule.
How did Akimbo weapons work?
Shockwave let players pair two P2020s or two Mozambiques. The pairing had to be two of the same weapon; mixing a P2020 with a Mozambique was not supported. While dual-wielding, the second gun mirrored the first gun’s attachments, firing became automatic at a higher rate, and magazine capacity doubled.
- Optics were disabled while the weapons were paired.
- Reloads took longer, balancing the larger combined magazine.
- Toggling select fire returned to a single weapon and restored its optic.
These are the Akimbo mechanics documented in EA’s patch notes.
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What did Battle Sense and Bot Royale add?
Battle Sense
Battle Sense briefly showed enemy health bars and red highlights while a player was dealing damage. The health bar disappeared when line of sight was lost, making the feature a short-term combat-readability aid rather than persistent tracking.
Bot Royale
Bot Royale was a shortened Battle Royale practice experience with a smaller lobby of enemy bot squads. Players could practice with bot squadmates or bring human friends. EA described it as practice; it should not be treated as a substitute for the behavior or competitive conditions of a normal live-player match. Both features are covered in EA’s Shockwave update overview.
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What changed for Controller and Recon classes?
Shockwave introduced class passives for Controller and Recon. The most specific numerical change called out in the notes was Controller’s Zone Overcharge: a Controller Legend gained 25 extra shield capacity while inside the safe zone. The extra capacity remained while in zone, could be healed there, and was lost after the Legend stayed outside the zone for five seconds. This rewarded holding safe-zone positions while making a rotation out of zone a meaningful trade-off. Details are in EA’s class and gameplay patch notes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which Legends were adjusted in Shockwave?
The patch notes also included individual Legend changes, including updates to Crypto’s drone and upgrades, Rampart’s Sheila, Seer’s sensor and tactical ability, and Vantage. These are examples rather than a complete roster or a ranking of who became strongest. For the full list of individual ability and upgrade adjustments, use the Legend sections of EA’s official Shockwave patch notes.
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