Apex Legends: Ignite – all the Ranked changes for next season

Big changes are coming to Ranked with Promotional Trials

The current season of Apex Legends saw the biggest overhaul to Ranked since the game launched. It’s been much harder to climb, and games have been more competitive, which was Respawn’s aim from the start.

But in reacting to how easy it was to climb in the previous season, did Respawn course correct a little too much?

The current season of Ranked put very little emphasis on getting kills and fighting in engagements, and it was still possible to climb in the ranks without even pulling the trigger. That’s all about to change with Promotional Trials.

Apex Legends Promotional Trials

Once you hit the top of a rank, you will have five games to complete one of three trials. These trials can be different per rank, but the examples I was shown included either getting a win, placing in the top ten at least three times, or getting three kills or assists.

Should you fail to do the trial, you have to climb back to the top of that rank and try again. Each time you retry, you get an extra game to complete the challenges, up to a maximum of ten.

There’s a new tracker that appears in the lobby, allowing you to track your progress in these Promotional Trials.

These trials are a direct response to rats, who will now be forced to take fights if they want a promotion. Ladder Points in general will be more generous, allowing you to get back to the trials more quickly than you could climb in the current season.

The higher your rank, the harder the trials. You will also lose more LP the further away from completing a trial you are when you fail.

Apex Legends Ranked party restrictions removed

Other changes to Ranked include removing skydive trails and replacing them with banner frames – and, yes, you can keep the frames forever. On top of that, you’ll be able to join your friends who no-life Apex while you’re at work because Ranked party restrictions are being removed completely. 

Ignite, which arrives October 31, is also bringing a new legend, Conduit, as well as weapon and legend changes, a revamped Storm Point map, and finally cross-progression in Apex Legends.