Apex Legends Sun Squad Collection event patch notes: Heatwave mode, Ash heirloom, new skins

The next in-game event for Apex Legends Season 16, the Sun Squad Collection Event, has been revealed, bringing a new Heatwave LTM, an Heirloom for Ash, and new cosmetics.

Respawn has been keeping the events rolling in Season 16, and immediately following the Imperial Guard event, we are getting another collection event, Sun Squad.

With a focus on the hot weather, Apex is getting prepared for the summer months a bit early, with a new Heatwave game mode.

Ash mains will be happy to see her heirloom is finally in-game – although it may come as a disappointment to some other players with their favorite character skipped over.

Apex Legends Sun Squad Collection Event release date

The Sun Squad collection event will release on Tuesday, March 28.

The exact update time should be 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT, based on the update times of previous events.

New game mode: Heatwave

Most Collection Events now release with a brand new limited-time kmode to try out, and for Sun Squad, it’s going to get hot.

The heatwave mode will add “periodic heat waves” that damage any players who are outdoors.”

You can see the new mode in action in the event trailer:

“When the heats on, you’ll need to avoid taking damage from the sun by taking cover indoors or under objects,” Respawn explains.

“If you’re caught out in the open, only sliding cools you down if you want to avoid Heatwave damage on the move. Lastly, Heatshields have increased in size and protect you in a large area from the sun for those moments when you’re caught outdoors and need to beat the heat quickly. Take care when using Heatshields though, they will be destroyed quickly when deployed outside the Ring.”

Ash Heirloom: Strongest Link

As with every collection event, the main attraction is the new heirloom, which you can unlock by ‘completing’ the collection – by unlocking all of the skins in the event.

This time, the heirloom is for Ash, named ‘Strongest Link’. it appears these are electrically charged nunchucks.

New skins

The skins you’ll need to unlock to get the heirloom all have a beachy theme, and the long-awaited ‘swimsuit skin’ for Loba is among them.

There are also new beach-themed skins for Mirage, Fuse, and more.

Reward track

You can earn up to 1,600 points a day throughout the event, and unlock the following rewards:

Respawn Entertainment

Sun Squad Collection Event patch notes

There are also some crafting changes, buffs to Ash, and bug fixes. Check out the full patch notes from Respawn below:

WEAPON CRAFTING

• EVA-8 enters the replicator
• 30-30 Repeater enters the replicator
• Longbow DMR returns to the floor
• Volt SMG returns to the floor

LEGENDS UPDATE

Ash – Arc Snare

• Cooldown decreased from 25s to 20s
• Travel speed increased from 700 to 1200
• Tether activation delay and snare grow time decreased by about 50% (The Arc Snare will more reliably hit intended targets)

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Hide in-world item UI’s when aiming down the sight
• Hide in-world crafting UI’s in the center of the screen when aiming down the sight 

BUG FIXES

• [Perks] Extended Supply Bins will more reliably give survival items in some cases when they are needed.
• [Perks] Weapon Supply Bins will more reliably give attachments to teammates in specific edge cases.
• [Perks]  Both Weapon and Extended Supply Bins no longer spawn in close proximity to Bins of the same type. 
• Fixed a bug where re-rolling Daily Challenges would not produce the intended result of providing a non-mode dependent challenge.
• Fixed issue with players experiencing a loud start-up noise when starting a Team Deathmatch game with reactive weapon skin equipped.
• [Seer] Fixed bug where Seer could always see enemies with his passive since the UI updates to the minimap.
• [Octane] Fixed the bug where players could not cycle their weapons when using the Stim tactical while on a zipline.
• [Pathfinder ] fix for cases when landing onto a Jump Pad after using any length grappling hook will cause it to go extended cooldown.
• Fix for cases where players could not reload their gun when standing close to Wattson’s Pylon and aiming at it.
• [Xbox Series X Only] Fixed a bug with chat messages where the first message would not be received by the other party member who is on Xbox.
• Reduced the smoke VFX for Peacekeeper’s “Frostbite” reactive skin for better visibility in low-light areas.
• [DX12] Fixed bug where the player’s crosshairs would be disabled when Anti-Aliasing is set to ‘None’ and Aspect Ratio is not native.
• [DX12] Game no longer letterboxes when the aspect ratio is greater than 16:0 (in DX12, windowed)
• Fix for cases where the minimap would show a completely different location for Crypto when using the drone.