Apex Legends' ranked mode changes make me feel like a pro player

As with every new season of every new live-service game, Apex Legends has seen myriad changes in Season 26. There's no new character or weapon, but developer Respawn has mixed things up in other ways. The E-District map can be seen in the daytime for the first time, the RE-45 has gone from a useless sidearm, left discarded as soon as you find a decent SMG, to one of the best weapons in the game. But it's Respawn's changes to ranked mode that have made the most impact on my matches and, thankfully, it's patched some of those changes in response to player feedback.

Respawn made some pretty drastic changes to Apex Legends' ranked mode in Season 26. Players weren't sure about eliminating the dropship in favor of predetermined landing spots, but took to it quickly. Instead of jumping from the dropship whenever you wanted, leading to 30-player firefights at central locations and nobody playing edge, you now have a predetermined drop location and can't really go anywhere else.

It was a great idea, but the execution left something to be desired. As a fixure on our roundup of the top battle royale games, players expect the best from Apex. And, thanks to the height of the dropship, players could swoop into other drop locations, disrupting the rhythm of the game and increasing those annoying early third-parties that the system was implemented to avoid.

Luckily, Respawn has stayed on top of feedback and is dropping the dropships. Not cutting them, but literally dropping them lower to the POIs they hover above. This means that you get into the match quicker, and third parties eager for that early fight will actually have to rotate through a choke point rather than surprise land on your head before you've even looted up.

Apex Legends implemented a similar system in the ALGS, the game's core esports system. Pros were initially skeptical of the change, but many have since grown to appreciate its benefits. For a competitive mode like ranked, I'm enjoying the system, too. Are my ranked performances improving thanks to it? Definitely not. Maybe I'll have to call up that witch again.

If you're missing the Titanfall-infused lore of early Apex seasons, check out some other space games for good, old-fashioned stories. Alternatively, if it's shooting you're after, the best FPS games will have you covered. Just don't expect wallruns and power slides in all of them.

If you've got strong thoughts about Titanfall, dropships, or Apex Legends esports, why not head over to our community Discord server to discuss them with readers and staff alike?