Apex Legends Season 5: Mid-Season Map Changes, New Loot Bunkers And More

Respawn Entertainment is changing up the landscape of King's Canyon with some new loot bunkers that will start opening this month.

More people than ever are playing Apex Legends Season 5, and changing up the map mid-season could shake up the meta and create some new hot drop spots for players to try their luck at.

This is a little bit of a risk - Respawn hasn't tried mid-season map changes before, so we'll see how players react to the loot bunkers.

New Loot Bunkers

Image courtesy of Shrugtal.

Dataminer Shrugtal found the bunkers' positions in the game code and released the locations, loot, and opening date for each of them.

• The first bunker, Terminal Station F-85, is due to start to open on June 16, and players will be able to get inside on June 23.
  • Players will be rewarded with a plethora of randomised loot, as well as a Legendary Knockdown Shield - which will come in handy with the number of players likely to be dropping here.
• The second bunker, Terminal Station W-73, will start to open on June 23 and will be lootable from June 30.
  • As well as the randomised loot, a fully-kitted out Legendary Prowler can be found inside. This will shred opponents, so could be worth the risks of dropping so hot.
• The third bunker is Terminal Station O-240, which opens on June 30 and players can get inside from July 7.
  • The Legendary item here is a (slightly underwhelming) kitted-out Sentinel.
• Last, but by no means least, Terminal Station L-19 starts to open on July 7 and is accessible from July 14.
  • Inside, you'll find the brutal Legendary Havoc, which could single-handedly change your game if you get your hands on it.

It's likely that the first date for each bunker will just be a visual "opening", seeing as players won't be able to access the goods inside until the week after.

We don't know whether Loba's Black Market Boutique will be able to circumvent this, like she can steal one item from a locked Vault before setting off the alarms, but players will certainly try it.

One final note is that this event was likely set to be announced at the EA play event on June 11. This event has been postponed by a week, so it seems feasible that we could see all of the dates pushed back by a week as well.

Read more: Apex Legends Season 5: Broken Ghost Season Quest - How To Unlock And Week 3 Hunt Tips

Best Loot Choices

The best Legendary loot you'll find in these Terminal Stations is subjective of course, but we've put together a little tier list for you, so you can decide whether each item is worth the hot drop:

• S-Tier: Prowler
  • The Prowler is a fantastic rapid-fire weapon, so it's no surprise that picking up a fully-kitted out option in the early game will be devastating.
  • Look out for yourself on Kill Leader billboards across King's Canyon, as you'll be shredding early game unshielded opponents who have also dropped hot in the bunker.
  • However, watch out in case someone else picks it up ahead of you - you're in for a bad time.
• S-Tier: Havoc Rifle
  • Similar to above, the Havoc is a cracking weapon in Apex Legends Season 5, so picking up a Legendary one right away will put you in good stead for the rest of the game.
  • The Havoc will also provide utility after you leave the bunker, as it fires better at mid-range than the Prowler.
• A-Tier: Knockdown Shield
  • Hey, you can't say a Golden Knockdown Shield isn't handy, right? That self-revive can prove clutch in many situations.
  • We recommend, if you're going for this, swooping in and getting out of the bunker immediately. You don't want to waste that resurrection too early, so don't get downed in the bunker.
• B-Tier: Sentinel
  • The Sentinel isn't the best Sniper in the game. There's a huge recoil and it's pretty slow to fire. Unfortunately, the Legendary attachments do little to change this.
  • The long-range Digital Threat is handy, sure, but worth the hot drop and mad scramble for loot? Unlikely.

Read more: Apex Legends Season 5: New info for Season 5 surfaces in new interview

Season Quest Spoilers

It is likely that these bunkers will open alongside story points to keep telling the story of Season 5. Whether these will tie in with the Season Quest or not remains to be seen, but there is another bunker that we know directly ties into the Quest.

In their tweet, Shrugtal confirms this Quest-related bunker but does not give any spoilers. It seems likely that it will open after all four of these Terminal Stations, maybe coinciding with the end of the Season Quest or holding Loba's completed Artifact?

We're just speculating, but we can't wait to see what's inside!