Making sense of the Mayhem: A look at all the new additions in Apex Legends eighth season

We're now a few weeks into the latest season of Apex Legends, and while a lot of you have probably spent a bunch of time already playing around on the obliterated Kings Canyon map with the latest Legend Fuse. To catch up everyone who hasn't had a chance to dive into the game just yet, we took some time to create this handy article that covers all the new stuff content has come to the live game. To kick things off, we're starting with Fuse.

New Legend: Fuse

Fuse harkens from Salvo, a brutal homeworld ruled by a rotating collection of savage warlords. Raised alongside his childhood friend Maggie, Fuse lived the majority of his life as a mercenary, before looking to the ring to compete in the Bonecage. After rising through the ranks and becoming Salvo's best, most charismatic and most beloved Gladiator, Fuse felt the call of further glory and challenge, setting his sights on the biggest stage there is - the Apex Games. When opportunities aligned and Fuse had the chance to leave Salvo finally, his friend Maggie wouldn't let him leave without a fight, a fight that cost Fuse his right arm.

Today, Fuse may have a bionic replacement limb, but he never lost his passion for chaos. To accentuate this, the 54-year old - whose real name is Walter Fitzroy - is now part of the Apex Legends line-up with a whole range of exciting abilities, each designed to blow his opposition out of the water, and it all starts with his Passive Ability, Grenadier.

Grenadier allows him to stack more grenades in his lethal and tactical slots, and even allows him to throw them further and more accurately. His Tactical Ability, Knuckle Cluster accentuates his explosive nature further, by using an exploding airburst cluster bomb to concuss or straight up destroy his opponents. The Motherlode - his Ultimate ability - is a bombardment that encircles an area in a wall of flames, making it a great tool for trapping and damaging enemy teams.

Getting a facelift: The obliterated Kings Canyon

Thanks to the spaceship crash - courtesy of Fuse - a whole range of new real estate has opened up in the northwesternmost regions of Kings Canyon. Not only has a whole new area been added to the playable map, but a bunch of older locations have been spruced up to ensure each section of Kings Canyon is just as exciting as the last. Whether that means heading to the chaotic wreckage at the Crash Site, or instead visiting the contaminated waters of Spotted Lakes, the new Kings Canyon has more unique places of interest for you to land and loot.

A bunch of new buildings and locations have also popped up for you to be able to grab some gear and explore different ways to traverse the map. Uncovered Leviathan Bones offer a new pathway to cross between locations, and the Observation Towers present fantastic opportunities to scout the nearby area, in a similar manner to what the Jump Balloons provide, but without the gliding. The Explosive Holds on the other hand are exciting vaults packed with loot to get you on your way, but accessing them will require a little bit of brute force, also known as explosives. If you're willing to part with a Frag Grenade, Thermite, or Arc Star, then you might just be rewarded handsomely - perhaps even with the latest weapon.

Taking up arms: the 30-30 Repeater

Also joining the fray is a new weapon. The 30-30 Repeater is Fuse's homeworld's most popular firearm of choice, and uses a lever-action firing mechanism to dispatch foes with heavy hitting shots. Ideal both at range and when up-close and personal, the 30-30 Repeater is a great tool for accurate Legends who aren't afraid to get down and dirty.

Revitalised and Revamped: The new iteration of Ranked

Competitive Apex fans out there have probably already experienced what the latest Ranked season is offering with a series of changes designed to improve match quality. From creating a healthier top-tier experience by introducing more opportunities to earn Ranked Points, to ensuring a more balanced overall quality for the other tiers, the latest experience is the best way to enjoy ranked Apex Legends. The first split of Season 8 has been taking place on the updated Kings Canyon map, but soon we will be moving onto the second split where Olympus will be the go-to battleground. Either way, be sure to dive in to start progressing your way towards some of the many new rewards on offer.

Skins, Apex Packs, and Holo-Sprays: Another Battle Pass

As with most seasons of Apex Legends, a new Battle Pass has also landed, and with it you'll be delighted to hear a whole range of new gear is once again on offer. Jam-packed with plenty of Legendary Skins, Holo-Sprays, Apex Packs, borders and more, there's a deep variety of unique cosmetics for you to earn over the course of the season to make your Legends and gear stand out from the rest of the pack.

Mayhem on the move: Apex Legends on the Switch

To round out this article is perhaps the most exciting point of all: Apex Legends is arriving on the Nintendo Switch. The battle royale title will be coming to the handheld platform as a ported version by Panic Button (who handled the recent Doom Eternal port to the platform), and will include the full works from the other versions, which means not only a free-to-play game, but also cross-platform play, the latest seasonal content, and all the features from the other versions you could hope for. Players who grab the game on Switch will also get the first 30 tiers of the Battle Pass for free, and will be eligible to earn double XP for the game's first two weeks on the platform, as a means to let Switch players catch up with the other version's Season 8 progress.

With Season 8 - Mayhem now being available to play on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC, and - starting from March 9 - the Nintendo Switch, there's plenty of incredible ways to explore Respawn's premier battle royale title in the year 2021, and all of these points are just the start. So, be sure to head on over to Kings Canyon if you haven't already to check out all these great additions and to bask in the mayhem of Apex Legends.