Apex Legends is one of the most satisfying battle royale experiences out there, thanks to its delectable movement and gunplay. Another thing that sets it apart is the legends that all have unique abilities and make for some amazing plays. With the game turning 5 years old this year, developer Respawn Entertainment looked into this very aspect to change the game in new ways and make it feel fresh. Thus, the new legend upgrades (perks) system is here with Apex Legends Season 20.
With the new “Legend Upgrades” system, which is an in-game progression system, each legend has four perks that you can unlock twice during an ongoing match. More than 100 perks have been added to the game with this, putting forth more decisions on your plate.
Hence, if you are confused about what perks you should unlock for each legend in Apex Legends and how it will benefit you in-game, look no further.
You are not “required” to choose the perks the moment they are unlocked with the Evo Shield upgrade. You can sit on the upgrade and select the desired one later in the game, depending on the scenario or play you wish to make next.
Below, we list the perk choices available to you at Level 2 and Level 3 Evo upgrades for each legend. We also bold the perks that you should pick while explaining why. So, let’s not waste any more time and get cracking!
Ash
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Murder Machine: After a squad wipe, call out the number of squads within 150 meters ❌
- One Minute to Live: Using passive to track enemy position on the map for 60 seconds ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Greedy Snare: Your Arc Snare (Tactical) remains in play for 24 seconds when thrown and can attack multiple people ✅
- Twin Snares: Gain an extra Arc Snare charge, so basically you have two tactical charges ❌
What Perks to Choose: One Minute to Live & Greedy Snare
Ash has been out of meta for a long time but her perks could make her viable again. Her Level 2 perks are good both and cater to different playstyles. If you’re a defensive player and are weary of third parties, then pick the Murder Machine perk. However, I’d suggest picking the latter as you could run after enemies by scanning death boxes.
As for the Level 3 upgrade, I believe Greedy Snare is the better of the two for obvious reasons. An Arc Snare being active on the ground for 24 seconds can help you hold out teams on rotations, damage multiple players in one go, and other such scenarios.
Having two Arc Snares is not bad either, but you’ll likely never need to stop two different players in their tracks at the same time.
Ballistic
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Ammuvision: See relevant ammo types you need in death boxes ✅
- Care Package Insight: You can now see the most valuable item in care packages ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Extra Bullet: Gain a Smart Bullet charge (+1 Tactical) ✅
- Lasting Bullet: Triples (~24 seconds) the duration of the Smart Bullet ❌
What Perks to Choose: Ammuvision & Extra Bullet
You got a third weapon in a sling, which is great and all, but Ballistic’s perks are mid. His Level 2 perks are both poorly thought out; he got the Skirmisher perk to reveal the most valuable care package contents. Why? I suggest you choose the Ammuvision upgrade to see the ammo you need in a jiffy.
Pair this with an extra Smart Bullet instead of an extended duration on the ground.
Bangalore
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Big Bang: See ordnance through walls and in enemy death boxes ❌
- Ultimate Cooldown+: As the name reveals, it reduces the cooldown from 4 minutes to 3 minutes ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Cover Me: Bangalore auto-pings enemies who trigger her passive, Double Time ✅
- Refuge: Regenerate health while you are inside Smoke ❌
What Perks to Choose: Ultimate Cooldown+ & Cover Me
Don’t think twice about what upgrades for Bangalore you should pick. Go with our choices with your eyes closed!
For Level 2, you should go for Ult cooldown reduction without second thoughts. A world of hurt in only three minutes is all I need. As for Level 3, you might be tempted to pick smoke healing, but it’s very scenario-specific and might not be useful in fights.
For fights, I would recommend choosing the ability to ping enemies when Double Time is triggered. It will be so much more useful in intense fights, especially in smokes.
Bloodhound
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Raven’s Blessing: White Ravens charge Ultimate by 25% when activated ❌
- Tac Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 5 seconds (25 seconds -> 20 seconds) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Odin’s Glare: Duration of their Tactical’s full-body highlight is doubled ✅
- Taste of Blood: Gain 25 HP on knocks while using Ultimate ❌
What Perks to Choose: Tac Cooldown & Odin’s Glare
For Level 2, Raven’s Blessing had me hyped when I first read about it but after giving it some thought, I realized it’s not worth it. Bloodhound’s Ravens got nerfed in Season 20, you have to wait for Ravens to spawn, and they don’t spawn outside the zone. So, you should choose to reduce your tactical cooldown.
With an updated cooldown on your Tactical, I recommend choosing Odin’s Glare to get an extended full-body scan to get a better idea of your enemies’ movement during a fight.
Catalyst
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Long Cast: Increase the Spike throw range by 40% ❌
- Sister Spikes: Increase the maximum number of active Spikes by one (total 3) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Long Veil: Increase Ultimate length by 15 meters ❌
- Resilient Veil: Increase Ultimate lifetime by 5 seconds ✅
What Perks to Choose: Sister Spikes and Resilient Veil
With around an 80% pick rate in ALGS, Catalyst became commonplace in team comps in the last year. However, Respawn has been trying to clamp down on her power with nerfs, and it seems like Season 20 is it.
Catalyst’s dark veil length and duration have been nerfed this season, which when paired with throw distance and active spike nerfs from past seasons, make her less desirable in top-level play.
However, if you still wish to play her, I suggest you add some of that power back to her kit with an additional active spike and increased veil lifetime. Why lifetime over length? As per ALGS-winning coach TSM Raven, you don’t want to be prone to damage when you are the only one choosing length over lifetime. Other teams’ walls will stay up longer, making you an easy target.
Caustic
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Parabolic Force: Increase Tactical throw range by 75% ❌
- Particle Diffuser: Increase your Ultimate’s area of effect by 50% ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Breathe It In: Regenerate HP while you are in your Nox Gas ✅
- Residual Toxins: Nox Vision passive persists for a longer time ❌
What Perks to Choose: Particle Diffuser & Breathe It In
The stinkiest legend of the lot gains some significant buffs with his perks. For Caustic, it’s a no-brainer that you should increase the Gas Grenade AOE to deal damage over a larger area. Pair this with healing in your gas for an added advantage.
You don’t need to throw barrels insane distances, nor do you need extended time for Nox Vision. They aren’t as essential in my experience.
Conduit
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Battery Collection: Shows the battery count above enemy death boxes ❌
- Radiant Transfer: Increase Tactical range by 10 meters ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Bigger Jam: Each Ultimate jammer’s damage radius increased by 10% ❌
- Split Charge: Gain a Tactical charge (2 Tac) but halve shield regen duration ✅
What Perks to Choose: Radiant Transfer & Split Charge
Apex Legends Season 19 saw the addition of Conduit to the roster and her shield healing abilities have been loved (albeit a bit annoying) by pros and casuals alike. However, there is no denying the fact that her kit was over-tuned and powerful.
Though Conduit has received significant nerfs in Season 20, I think her legend upgrades still make her a valuable pick in comps. Choose the increased tactical range perk and pair it with the ability to give temporary shields to both teammates. I have tested this out and it’s immensely useful in team fights.
Crypto
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Tactical Cooldown+: Reduce cooldown by 10 seconds ✅
- Ultimate Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 30 seconds ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Network Expansion: Increase Neurolink (Tac) and EMP (Ult) range by 25% ✅
- Network Traffic: Deploying your drone calls out total squads in the area (up to 30m) ❌
What Perks to Choose: Tactical Cooldown+ & Network Expansion
If you’ve ever played Crypto, you know the pain of losing your trusty drone when it’s shot down by enemies. You are literally a sitting duck for 40 seconds with no way to help your team. So, the first upgrade you should pick, without a doubt, is -10s tactical cooldown.
This will get you your drone back quicker to launch an EMP attack, whose range I suggest expanding by 25% with the Network Expansion perk. These are the best Crypto upgrades you should unlock in Apex Legends.
Fuse
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Big Bang: See ordnance through walls and in enemy death boxes ❌
- Scar Tissue: Take 50% less damage and remove slow effects from The Motherlode (Ult) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Knuckle Hustler: Gets a short speed boost on successful Knuckle Cluster (Tac) hit ✅
- Wreckless: Take 25% less damage from explosives ❌
What Perks to Choose: Scar Tissue & Knuckle Hustler
Do a shoey and run through your own fiery ultimate at double the speed, that’s what the perks you unlock as Fuse will let you do. The Scar Tissue upgrade will let you launch the Motherlode on teams and rush them without any fear. No slowdowns, less damage, and wall hacks via the ult, what more can I ask for?
Oh wait, I want Sonic boots. Well, you got that with the Knuckle Hustler upgrade that will give you a speed boost on hit, thus, making you quite the entry fragger in the Outlands.
Gibraltar
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Fresh Start: Allies are revived with 50 HP ✅
- Shots Shots Shots: Auto-reload shotguns on knocking players ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Baby Bubble: Reduce Tactical size and cooldown by 25% ❌
- Bubble Bunker: Increase Tactical lifetime by 4 seconds ✅
What Perks to Choose: Fresh Start & Bubble Bunker
For Gibby, I believe you should double down on his support role with legend upgrades in Apex Legends. First, unlock the perk to revive teammates with additional health, so they stand a better chance in fights if you’re being pushed.
Secondly, you should extend the bubble’s lifetime to stay safe from crossfire. A smaller bubble will corner you, with Maggie and other legends having the ability to bully you. It can, however, be fun in ranked and casual play as you will get the bubble quicker.
I would suggest waiting to choose the Level 3 upgrade depending on your position and playmaking ability in the moment.
Horizon
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Battery Collection: Shows the battery count above enemy death boxes ❌
- Big Bang: See ordnance through walls and in enemy death boxes ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Tac Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 5 seconds ❌
- Ult Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 30 seconds ✅
What Perks to Choose: Bing Bang & Ult Cooldown
Okay, not gonna lie, Horizon’s perks suck! But there’s good reason for it. She’s already the strongest Grandma in the Outlands, and players wouldn’t like her to be even stronger with legend upgrades.
So, the upgrade picks for Horizon are simple. Get the ability to see grenades through walls and in death boxes and pair it with the reduced ult cooldown. However, Newt would have loved it if she got perks unique to her kit.
Lifeline
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Rapid Response: Increase allies revive speed by 20% ✅
- Tactical Cooldown+: Reduce cooldown by 10 seconds (45 -> 35 seconds) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Gift Wrapped: Next Lifeline Care Package is a Supply Drop ✅
- Last Stand: Gain a Self-Revive, yes, it’s back babyyyy! ✅
What Perks to Choose: any of the four
Lifeline has been out of meta for a long time, and that’s because of the massive nerfs to her previously awesome kit. And I hate it! Give me back the Lifeline res shield, Respawn, pleaseee!!
Sorry to say, her res shield is still not back, but Respawn devs need a pat on the back for giving Lifeline a stellar set of perks. She is now pretty versatile, and you can choose from all four of her perks. Mix and match depending on your playstyle.
Want a self-revive? You got it. Want a chance to get a Kraber from Lifeline package? Yes, that’s a thing now. Pretty cool, right?
Loba
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- High Value: Increase height and range of the Tactical bracelet ✅
- Market Expansion: Increase the Ultimate range by 25% ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Shopping Spree: Loba can take an extra item from the Black Market ✅
- Tactical Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 5 seconds ❌
What Perks to Choose: High Value & Shopping Spree
Loba has put to rest her rivalry with Revenant and is gaining an amazing perk for the so-called loot goblins. If you like looting more than fighting, unlock the ability to expand the Black Market’s range and pick three items instead of two.
Though if you like firing your gun and being a team player, we suggest substituting the expansion perk with increased tactical range. This will help you push farther or escape fights and craft banners if required.
Mad Maggie
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Fire Ball: Wrecking Ball catches fire and explodes into an X-shaped thermite ✅
- Shots Shots Shots: Auto-reload shotguns on knocking players ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Big Drill: Increase the depth and width of the Riot Drill (Tac) by 50% ❌
- Drillslinger: Gain an additional Riot Drill charge; reduces active duration by 25% ✅
What Perks to Choose: Fire Ball & Drillslinger
What’s better than one Maggie drill? Two Maggie drills. Yes, Mad Maggie already had one of the most fun offensive abilities. And now you can take the annoyance to the next level with two Riot drills. The bigger drill is also an option, but I prefer having two drills to make enemies come out of large covers.
Moreover, you can add more fire to the playing field with Maggie’s ultimate which will now end in thermites. So, it’s time to start some fires, ladies!
Mirage
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Miracle Worker: Allies are revived with health regen up to 75 HP ❌
- More Me: An extra Ultimate Decoy; reduce Ult cooldown (1 minute -> 30 seconds) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Bamboozle Bonus: Refresh Tactical on successful Bamboozles (for more Boozles) ✅
- Me Two: Get an extra Decoy charge (2 Tacs, can have both active at once) ❌
What Perks to Choose: More Me & Bamboozle Bonus
Everyone’s favorite trickster in the Outlands is ready to bamboozle and annoy enemies a lot more with his brand-new perks. To accomplish that, I recommend you unlock the perks to get an extra decoy when you Ult, reduce Ult cooldown to merely 30 seconds, and well, refresh the Tactical cooldown (so even more decoys) when you bamboozle someone. It’s bamboozles for the foozles season!
Newcastle
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Swift Shield: Increase Mobile Shield speed to weapon sprint speed ✅
- Thick Shield: Newcastle Mobile Shield segments gain 250 HP ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Miracle Worker: Allies are revived with health regen up to 75 HP ✅
- Stronghold: +250 Castle Wall HP; extend energized barrier duration to 2 minutes ✅
What Perks to Choose: Swift Shield & either Purple perk
Respawn did not leave out Bangalore’s brother and has augmented his existing kit with a couple of great additions. Though having more HP for the mobile shield is useful, and you can absolutely pick that, I think a speedier shield can help you in rotations without taking any damage.
While that is the case with the Blue Evo perk, I feel the purple Evo perk is a toss as both are equally good. Your wall being electrified for longer will stall enemy pushes, whereas a health regen buff is not bad either. The latter works similarly to health regen in Mixtape matches.
Octane
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Thick Skin: Take 25% less Stim damage (20 -> 16) ✅
- Wreckless: Take 25% less damage from explosives ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Airborne Agility: Change directions when using the Jump Pad double-jump ❌
- Mad Hops: Gain an extra Jump Pad charge, so yeah, two Jump Pads ✅
What Perks to Choose: Thick Skin & Mad Hops
If you are an Octane main, you obviously like to stim and run around the map taking fights or escaping them with your jump pad. Add to your madness with less damage on stim and an extra jump pad with his legend upgrades in Apex Legends Season 20.
Pathfinder
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Field Research: Get access to survey beacons ✅
- Ringmaster: Get access to ring consoles ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Down and Away: Grapple cooldown will reset on knocking an enemy ✅
- Zipline Zen: Take 25% less damage while riding energized Ziplines ❌
What Perks to Choose: Either beacon & Down and Away
Everyone was expecting a Pathfinder buff in Season 20, but our friendly MRVN robot was nerfed for some reason. It felt unnecessary to me. But, you can give some power back to Pathfinder with beacon scans and grapple reset on enemy knockdown. Simply grapple in, knock an enemy, and grapple back or to the next target.
I’m going in, baby! *gets knocked instantly*
– Nafen, ex-NRG pro
As for the beacons, either one is good. Your choice depends on your playstyle. Upgrade to Ring scan if you like to play safe in zone, else upgrade to the people scan and push nearby teams.
Rampart
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Bandolier: Carry extra ammo per stack ❌
- Ultimate Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 30 seconds (2 minutes -> 1.5 minutes) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Amped Reloads: Reload faster with Sheila or when behind Amped Cover ❌
- Ramped Up: Improves Mobile Sheila handling and spin-up time by 20% ✅
What Perks to Choose: Ult Cooldown & Ramped Up
Shiela will go brrrrrr.. more often and quicker if you unlock the upgrades I recommend for Rampart. For Blue armor, you need to bring down the Sheila minigun cooldown to just 90 seconds. Then, unlock improved handling and reduced spin-up time for the Shiela for the Purple armor upgrade. This will turn you into a menace on the battlefield. Trust.
Revenant
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Murder Machine: After a squad wipe, call out the number of squads within 150 meters ❌
- Tac Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 5 seconds (25 seconds -> 20 seconds) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Agile Assassin: Total Shadow Pounce (Tac) charge time reduced by 20% ❌
- Grim Leaper: Shadow Pounce cooldown reset on knocking enemies ✅
What Perks to Choose: Tac Cooldown & Grim Leaper
Just like Pathfinder, you can leap around the map and wreak havoc simply by choosing the two perks that add value to Revenant’s tactical.
You need to reduce the tactical cooldown to 20 seconds and choose the option to reset it when you knock enemies. You’re going to look like the Grim Reaper with that killer scythe, pouncing from one enemy to another and taking down everyone.
Seer
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Long View: Increase Passive and Tactical range to 75m ✅
- Racing Hearts: Faster movement using Seer Passive ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Artist’s Reach: Increase the throw range of Ultimate by 20 meters ❌
- Focus Scan: Increase Tactical scan duration by 1.5 seconds ✅
What Perks to Choose: Long View & Focus Scan
All my homies dislike Seer, but for those select few Seer mains, I suggest investing your Evo upgrades in improving the tactical’s strength with perks in Apex Legends Season 20. For Level 2, increase the heartbeat sensor’s range and then extend his microdrone scan duration with Level 3.
Valkyrie
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Aerial Expert: Increased horizontal Jetpack speed and acceleration ❌
- Afterburners: Launch 15% higher with Skyward Dive (135m -> 155m) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Full Coverage: Widen Missile Swarm pattern from 4×3 to 3×5 ✅
- Full Tank: Increase Jetpack fuel by 25% ❌
What Perks to Choose: Afterburners & Full Coverage
Valkyrie was nerfed to the ground and the addition of Evac Towers simply eliminated her from competitive play. However, with perks like Afterburners and Full Coverage, she has got some power back and can be useful for rotations and getting people out of cover in Season 20. Avoid the jetpack-related upgrades, they aren’t that worth at all.
Vantage
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Ringmaster: Get access to ring consoles ✅
- Ultimate Reload: Ultimate Accelerants grant +2 bullets, so a total of 4 bullets with one Ultimate Accelerant ❌
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Bat Bounce: Improved your Tactical bat’s double jump ❌
- Sharpshooter: Refresh your Tactical on hitting shots with Ultimate ✅
What Perks to Choose: Ringmaster & Sharpshooter
Much like Pathfinder and Revenant, give your Vantage wings to jump around with every in-game knock. It’s a little absurd, I know, but your bat is going to work a lot harder if you are a good aim.
Pair this with the ability to scan rings and plan the next move, which now makes Vantage a viable and fun legend for ranked as well as casual play. We will have to wait and see if she adds any value in competitive play.
Wattson
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Falling Stars: Pylon (enemy) interceptions spawn Arc Stars. There’s a 1.5 cooldown between spawns and must be picked up before over 5 can be spawned ✅
- Fresh Start: Allies are revived with 50 HP ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Power Pylon: Double Ultimate’s HP (300) and Shield Regen capacity (up to 500) ✅
- Split Circuit: Place up to 2 Pylons with half shield regen capacity and use Ultimate Accelerants twice as fast ✅
What Perks to Choose: any of the four
Wattson is one of the most useful and versatile legends in Apex Legends Season 20 since all of her perks add even more value to her already electrifying abilities.
For the first level, you can choose between either of the two perks. Reviving teammates with 50HP is just what you need when a team is rushing you. Whereas having the option to spawn Arc stars to later nade-stack an enemy is bliss too.
For the second level, both the options are good and the choice will fall upon your playstyle and game sense. Double Pylon HP and healing will come in super handy in situations when you run out of meds. And the enemies won’t be able to break it so easily. Two Pylons bring you the ability to hold more space and keep enemies out of your area, holding your ground in the zone.
So, think about your playstyle and make a choice accordingly. We’ll suggest holding onto the Level 3 upgrade and only taking a pick once you’re sure of your positioning and next move in-game.
Wraith
Blue Evo Upgrade:
- Sixth Sense: Passive warns you when nearby squad count increases ❌
- Tactical Cooldown: Reduce cooldown by 5 seconds (25 seconds -> 20 seconds) ✅
Purple Evo Upgrade:
- Fast Phase: Reduce Tactical wind-up by 20% (1.25 seconds -> 1 second) ✅
- Ultimate Cooldown+: As the name reveals, it reduces the cooldown from 3 minutes to 2 minutes ❌
What Perks to Choose: Tac Cooldown & Fast Phase
I have been asking for a Wraith buff for the longest time. No really! You can ask my friends. Well, Respawn has finally heard my plea it seems. I can now phase more often and quicker, thanks to her legend upgrades.
However, I will not leave out the Ultimate Cooldown perk, which is salivating for comp and ranked.
Also, my friend told me the Sixth Sense has been useful in ranked, as you can know when a team is nearby. You can spot them and take the fight to them. Or it could help you avoid third parties, back off from long-running fights, and more such sticky situations.
That brings us to the most objective and comprehensive guide about the newest “legend upgrades” system in Apex Legends on the Internet. Do you think our choice of upgrades for each legend is good, or do we need to go back in-game and test them out again?
Also, who is your main in Apex Legends? What perks are you going to unlock for them? We would like to hear from you.
