Apex Legends Could Be Getting A New Weapon Type

Season 6 of Apex Legends recently launched and brought with it plenty of surprises. However, a recent leak has suggested that Respawn Entertainment may have even more goodies in store for players. Specifically, there's a chance that a whole new class of weaponry is on the way.

While this may sound like wishful thinking on the part of longtime fans, there are a few reasons to suspect that a new weapon type will be introduced in Season 6 of Apex Legends. During a recent livestream from Respawn Entertainment, many fans noticed that the UI displayed on the screen had a few differences from what regular players are used to. As pointed out by fan account Apex Legends News, one of these differences was the fact that there was a fourth weapon slot that was left unoccupied. Considering the fact that the livestream in question was meant to show off what Season 6 of Apex Legends had in store, it makes sense that this mysterious fourth slot might come into play around this time. 

Piggybacking off of the revelation of the extra weapons slot is noted Apex Legends data miner and leaker Shrugtal. After digging around in the game's Season 6 files, Shrugtal is pretty sure that they've found an all-new weapon class buried in the latest update for the game. According to Shrugtal, this new weapon type may be called Gadgets. Beyond that, however, Shrugtal isn't entirely sure how the weapons will be deployed or what their exact function in matches may be. However, Shrugtal does have a few theories on the matter.

Shrugtal tweeted, "New weapon type. Gadget. I suspect that this is the mysterious fourth slot on the UI in the devstream, due to both the weapon enumeration and some non-localized strings. Speculation: Non-combat throwables, like Smoke Grenade?"

Non-violent throwable weapons would provide an interesting new wrinkle to Apex Legends, giving players more defensive and strategic options during particularly hectic battles. However, the suggestion that smoke grenades could become something used by everyone within the game has been met with a bit of pushback from fans. In particular, some fans have noted that Apex Legends character Bangalore already uses smoke as a form of offense, so giving a similar capability to other characters could possibly cheapen what makes Bangalore special. Then again, it's likely that Shrugtal's suggestion was mere speculation. Shrugtal doesn't seem to have found any files specifically pointing to the addition of smoke grenades, nor does Shrugtal seem to have found a way of activating any Gadgets in-game.

In addition to the possibility of Gadgets being added, there could actually be another new weapon on its way. Some fans believe they've spotted another accidental leak on the part of the game's developers. Concept art has been released online that seems to show a compound bow as a lootable weapon. This was pointed out by several eagle-eyed fans, including Shrugtal. This has led to rumors that the bow will either be added as a permanent weapon in the game or as part of some kind of limited time event. Either way, it's always exciting for Apex Legends fans to get a new toy to play with. 

Apex Legends Season 6 has already brought plenty of changes to the battle royale title and has drastically changed the way people play the game. One of the biggest changes has been the addition of the newest Legend, Rampart. Her Amped Cover attack has proven to be pretty difficult for many players to stand up against, but it has also afforded players new ways of approaching combat overall. Rampart has already proven to be a popular character and hasn't been subject to many of the glitches faced by players when Revenant was added to the game.

With Season 6 already underway, it's unclear if Respawn will go ahead and roll out this new weapon type in the near future, or wait until Season 7. It could be that Respawn doesn't want to overwhelm players with too many new features all at once. Even so, Apex Legends fans have proven to be rather adaptable since the game originally launched. In other words, t wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see this supposed Gadget class make its debut in the latter part of Season 6. 

Considering the rumors that Titanfall 2 antagonist Ash may be joining the Apex Games in a future season, it would make a good bit of sense. Ash would be another cybernetic character entering the fray, so what better time than that to introduce Gadgets? Hopefully Respawn will not leave fans waiting for too long before answering questions regarding the mysterious new weapons slot.