Sparrow arrives at Apex Legends with Arenas and a new ranked system

A new season of Apex Legends, entitled Prodigy, is now available, and although it brings good additions such as the Legend Sparrow, the highly anticipated return of the Arenas and a reformulated ranked system, some design and balancing decisions still raise doubts about their long-term impact.

Available since May 6, 2025, Prodigy introduces Sparrow, an agile and tactical character, with abilities that favor vertical movement and long-range combat.
Sparrow's Legend Abilities:

Passive - Double Jump: allows for two jumps in the air, making it easier to reach higher places, even during climbs.

Tactical - Tracker Dart: reveals enemies that pass through the area of effect, functioning as a kind of mobile radar.

Ultimate - Crossbow Sting: fires a high-impact arrow that creates an energy field, hitting multiple enemies in line of sight.

In addition, the Bocek, the game's bow, has gained a new interaction: it can now be loaded with Fragmentation Grenades, generating Explosive Arrows. This adds an interesting layer of risk and reward, but it remains to be seen how the new area damage will be balanced in competitive play.

The Arenas, previously removed by Respawn, are back initially in their classic 3v3 version, with plans to transform into Arenas: Duos (1v1) later in this season. The choice to revive this mode may please those looking for more tactical and direct challenges, but the execution will be decisive.

The new Ranked system, in turn, divides the experience between Ranked Climb and traditional ranked progress. The proposal is to allow parallel evolution, at different paces, without one mode compromising performance in the other. However, the complexity of the system may deter casual players.

Sparrow will be available for free to all players between May 6 and 20, with launch challenges valid until June 3 for permanent unlocking and exclusive rewards. Among the progression improvements are upgrades to levels 2 and 3, such as Extra Traps and Life Siphon, which reinforce area control and combat sustainability.

The Legend comes with a thematic look of masked hero, including a new bow, epic dive trail and skins matching with Wraith. All season content can be accessed on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via EA App, Epic Games Store, and Steam).

Despite Respawn's visible effort to innovate, the competitive community still observes with caution the impact of the new mechanics, especially the balance between Legends and the relevance of Arenas in the game's current ecosystem.