Every Apex Legend Upgrade Perk in Season 20 Ranked
Apex Legends Upgrade System, All Perks, Ranked and Explained for Season 20
- Every Legend has four perks to choose from throughout the match in Apex Legends.
- When a Legend upgrades their shield to blue and then to purple, they’ll choose between one of two perks.
- Legends can upgrade their shields by dealing damage, finding Evo Caches or performing Legend Class actions in Apex Legends.
Season 20 Breakout of Apex Legends has introduced the biggest change to their heroes since launch. With the new Legend Upgrade system players will be given options to upgrade and customize their Legends to better suit their playstyle. Every Legend has four upgrades or perks which they unlock at evo shield levels 2 (blue) and 3 (purple). Here are all of the Legends Upgrades coming in Season 20 and whether or not we think they’ll be a hot choice, or not.
You can learn more about the new changes coming in Season 20 with our full patch notes for Breakout.
Ash Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Murder Machine. Call out the number of squads within 150m after a squad wipe.
One Minute to Live. Using Marked for Death tracks enemy position on the map for 60 seconds.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Greedy Snare. Arc Snare remains in play for 24s and can catch multiple enemies.
Twin Snares. Gain an Arc Snare charge.
For Ash’s first perk upgrade, Persistence beats out One Minute to Live as it gives you precise information you can act on immediately, which is vital in Apex Legends. For her second upgrade, both are good depending on your playstyle but we would lean toward Greedy Snare over Twin Snares. It can hit multiple targets and because it lasts you can use it as an area denial tool while you and your team push from a different angle and you’ll know if someone steps into your snare.
Ballistic Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Care Package Insight. Can reveal Care Packages like the Skirmisher Class.
Ammuvision. See ammo in deathboxes.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Extra Bullet. Gain a Smart Bullet charge
Lasting Bullet. Smart Bullet duration in the world is tripled.
For Ballistics' first upgrade, you should always choose to make him into a Skirmisher, the information you’ll get for knowing what is inside a Care Package vastly outweighs knowing if a deathbox has the ammo you need. Ballistics' second upgrade is more of a personal preference. If you miss a lot of his Smart Bullet shots, grab an extra charge. But his Lasting Bullet ability has much more potential. With the duration tripled you can use it to deny areas of entrance to enemies or force them to overheat their weapons if they want to push you.
Ballistic from Apex Legends.
Bangalore Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Big Bang. See nearby ordnance through walls and on deathboxes.
Ultimate Cooldown+. Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 60 seconds.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Cover Me. Auto-Ping enemies who trigger Double Time.
Refuge. Regenerate HP while inside Smoke.
Big Bang is just a reminder to grab grenades if you don’t have any. Just remember to always keep explosives in your inventory. Her Ultimate Cooldown+ is the superior upgrade so you always have a Creeping Barrage ready when you need it. Her second upgrade comes down to play style and preference, but Cover Me is probably the better choice because this benefits your entire Apex Legends team with more information. Using smoke is often a defensive move and is sometimes used on the other team. If you’re using it on your team and you're not being pushed, you have time to heal manually.
Bloodhound Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Tactical Cooldown. Reduces cooldown on tactical ability by 5 seconds.
Raven's Blessing. White Ravens give a 25% Ult charge when activated.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Taste of Blood. Gain 25HP on knocks while Beast of the Hunt is active.
Odin's Glare. Doubles the duration of a full-body scan from tactical ability.
Bloodhounds' first Legend Upgrade will come down your playstyle, but we’d recommend choosing the Tactical Cooldown so you have as much information as possible while in a fight. Using Ultimate Accelerants can provide the same benefit as Hunting Ravens. Bloodhound’s level 3 upgrade is also a personal preference, but double the duration of the scan helps your teammates back you more since you can see enemies longer.
Catalyst Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Sister Spikes. Increase the maximum number of active Spikes by one.
Long Cast. Increase Spike throw range by 40%.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Resilient Veil. Increase Dark Veil lifetime by 5 seconds.
Long Veil. Increase Dark Veil length by 15 meters.
Catalyst is a defensive Legend that can hold a building almost entirely by herself, take the Sister Spikes over Long Cast so you can hold nearly any building solo. Catalyst’s second Legend upgrade comes down to the map and circle. If you need to make long crosses in the open, take Long Veil. If you’re in tight spots with no open air, take Resilient Veil.
Catalyst Piercing Spikes.
Caustic Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Parabolic Force. Increase the throw range of tactical ability by 75%.
Particle Diffuser. Nox Gas Grenade's gas cloud area increased by 50%.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Residual Toxins. Nox Vision persists for longer.
Breathe It In. Regenerate HP while inside Nox Gas.
Both of Caustic’s upgrades have some merit, but we’d recommend taking Parabolic Force so it increases the constant threat you can exert over other teams. A bigger Ultimate radius is nice, but enemy teams will either stay in your cloud to fight you or disengage anyhow. Take Residual Toxins for your second upgrade as it gives you more information during a fight, the regen from Breath It In isn’t going to outperform taking constant enemy fire.
Conduit Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Battery Collection. Shield Battery count shown on deathboxes.
Bigger Jammer. Each Ult mine's damage radius is increased by 10%.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Split Charge. Gain a Tac charge but halve shield heal duration.
Radiant Transfer. Increase Tac range by +10 meters.
Conduit’s tier-one Legend ability is a no-brainer. Her ultimate is already very oppressive to play into and through, a wider damage radius is a win for you and a loss for any team that has to push through it. Her second upgrade is a judgment call on your playstyle, if you have an aggressive team who re-pushes before the entire charge can heal, take Split Charge. If you’re a more passive, defensive Conduit, take Radiant Transfer.
Conduit using her Tactical Ability in Apex Legends Season 19.
Crypto Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Tactical Cooldown+. Tactical cooldown reduced by 10 seconds.
Ultimate Cooldown. Reduce Ultimate cooldown by 30 seconds.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Network Expansion. Increased Neurolink and EMP range by 25%.
Network Traffic. Deploying the Drone calls out squads in the area.
You’re going to want to take Ultimate Cooldown for Crypto’s first perk, having an EMP is more powerful than getting back into your tactical. Plus, in a perfect world, you shouldn’t be letting your drone get destroyed. For Cyrpto’s second Legend upgrade, the Network Expansion is incredibly strong. Network Traffic just does something for you automatically that you can do yourself by pinging the massive Apex Legend banners in the lobby.
Fuse Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Scar Tissue. Take 50% less damage and avoid slow effects from your Ultimate.
Big Bang. See nearby ordnance through walls and on deathboxes.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Wreckless. Take 25% less explosive damage.
Knuckle Hustler. Short speed boost on successful Knuckle Cluster hit.
Fuse’s first tier of Legend upgrades is very lame and depends entirely on your playstyle. If you fight in your ultimate a lot, take Scar Tissue, otherwise make sure you always have grenades on you by getting a permanent highlight of them. If you can land Knuckle Cluster hits reliably, a quick speed boost will make you very slippery, but playing in explosives and taking less damage can be clutch.
Gibraltar Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Fresh Start. Revive allies with 50 HP.
Shots Shots Shots. Automatically reload shotguns when you knock an opponent.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Baby Bubble. Dome of Protection size and cooldown reduced by 25%.
Bubble Bunker. Dome of Protection lifetime increased by 4s.
Gibby’s first Legend upgrade will depend entirely on your style of play. Fresh Start coupled with a golden knock shield will be extremely powerful. But if you’re more of an aggressor who likes to run shotguns, Shots Shots Shots is devastating. For his second perk, take Baby Bubble. Gibraltar’s tactical is one of the most powerful and versatile abilities in Apex Legends and using it more often is never a bad thing.
Conduit using her Tactical Ability on Gibraltar.
Horizon Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Big Bang. See nearby ordnance through walls and on deathboxes.
Battery Collection. See Shield Battery count on deathboxes.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Tactical Cooldown. Reduces cooldown on tactical ability by 5 seconds.
Ultimate Cooldown. Reduce Ult cooldown by 30 seconds.
Both of Horizon’s tier-one Legend perks are pretty lame, so take whichever better suits your style of play. Her second Legend upgrade choices are also boring, but the choice will depend again on your playstyle. Having an Ultimate sooner is always better, but this can be done with Ultimate Acclerlants as well. If you’re on a map that has a lot of height, a faster tactical ability will be clutch.
Lifeline Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Rapid Response. Increase Revive speed by 20%.
Tactical Cooldown+. Reduces the cooldown on tactical ability by 10 seconds.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Last Stand. Gain a Self-Revive.
Gift Wrapped. The next Lifeline Care Package is a Supply Drop.
For Lifeline’s first upgrade, take the Rapid Response for a 4-second revive. If the rumor of her re-work ends up being true, a mobile DOC drone on a 35-second CD might be better, but for now her tactical isn’t that important. For her second upgrade, a self-revive might be clutch, but you’re also a prime target to be thirsted. A Supply Drop with a possible red weapon and an Evo Cache for Shield upgrades is a much better option because you can put it to use immediately.
Loba Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Market Expansion. Black Market Boutique range increased by 25%.
High Value. Increase Tac height and range.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Tactical Cooldown. Reduces cooldown on tactical ability by 5 seconds.
Shopping Spree. Loba can take an extra item from Black Markets.
Loba's upgrade options are going to depend entirely on your playstyle. Taking the Ultimate upgrades lets you be more of a team player by opening up a wider range of supplies, guns, ammo, and attachments. Even though her second upgrade only gives Loba a third item, picking up an extra Care Package weapon or extra healing items can help out a ton.
But if you're more of a solo squad kind of Loba, increasing your tactical range, height and cooldown makes you all the harder to catch.
Mad Maggie Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Shots Shots Shots. Auto reload shotguns on knocks.
Fireball. Wrecking Ball catches fire causing a thermite fire on detonation.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Drill Slinger. Gain a Riot Drill charge. Reduce active duration by 25%.
Big Drill. The depth and width of the Riot Drill increased by 50%.
Mad Maggie’s first perk choice can come down to playstyle but Killer Handling will benefit you in any situation, whereas Fireball is going to depend heavily on how you are approaching the enemy squad. Her second upgrade is also down to preference and playstyle, but we’d recommend Drill Slinger. Most players will move out of the drill, so duration isn’t a big deal when you can just hit them with a second drill and keep the pressure up.
Mad Maggie adds some heat to her ultimate ability, Wrecking Ball, in Apex Legends Season 20: Breakout using Legend Upgrades.
Mirage Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Miracle Worker. Allies are revived with health regen up to 75 HP.
More of Me. Gain an Ult Decoy. Reduce cooldown by 30s.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Me Two. Gain a Decoy charge. Can have both active at once.
Bamboozle Bonus. Refresh Tac on successful Bamboozles.
Mirage’s first perk should not even be a choice, an extra Decoy during your Ultimate adds no value compared to your allies regenerating 75 HP while invisible after a revive. For his second Legend upgrade, we would go with a Bamboozle Bonus so anyone who has a hard time telling the difference is always second-guessing themselves while fighting you.
Newcastle Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Thick Shield. Mobile Shield segments gain 250 HP.
Swift Shield. Increase Mobile Shield speed to weapon sprint speed.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Miracle Worker. Allies are revived with health regen up to 75 HP.
Stronghold. +250 Castle Wall HP. Extend the energized barrier duration to 2 minutes.
Newcastle’s perks are all pretty good options, but Thick Shield beats out Swift Shield. Extra HP will keep it alive long enough to cross open spaces, plus be stronger when you don’t need to move it. For your second upgrade, it’s going to depend on the map and rotation. If you have plenty of good cover, take the Miracle Worker. If you need to set yourself up cover, having stronger walls and a longer lifetime on the stunning barrier will be very important.
Octane Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Thick Skin. Take 25% less damage from Stim.
Wreckless. Take 25% less explosive damage.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Airborne Agility. Change directions with the Launch Pad double-jump.
Mad Hops. Gain an extra Launch Pad charge.
For Apex Legends resident speedsters, Octane mains should take Thick Skin so they can stim more and have some HP for when they’re being shot at on their escape. Airborne Agility is technically already possible in the game with enough practice, but Mad Hops is extremely situational. So take whatever suits your Apex Legends playstyle.
Pathfinder Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Field Research. Gain access to Survey Beacons.
Ringmaster. Gain access to Ring Consoles.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Down and Away. Grapple cooldown reset on knock.
Zipline Zen. Ziplines are now energized for a short time granting 25% damage reduction while riding.
For Pathfinder’s first perk, take whichever one your team needs. If you don’t have a Controller or Recon Legend, Ring location is more important than where enemies are in our opinion. For Pathfinder’s second Legend upgrade, Down and Away is insanely good. It guarantees that if you can get a knock, you can get to safety. If you’re good with your grapple, you can also use it to pull enemies do you one after another for knock after knock.
Rampart and Sheila from Apex Legends.
Apex Legends\Respawn Entertainment
Rampart Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Ultimate Cooldown. Reduce Sheila's cooldown by 30 seconds.
Bandolier. Carry extra ammo per stack.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Ramped Up. Improved Mobile Sheila handling and spinup time by 20%.
Amped Reloads. Reload faster with Sheila or when behind Amped Cover.
Both of these are fine upgrades based on your playstyle. It’s nice having more ammo for running things like the Devotion, which chews through it. But making sure Shiela is always ready to pop off is beneficial as well. Rampart’s second upgrade comes down to playstyle. If you find yourself using Shiela a lot, take this one. Having a faster reload time behind your Amped Cover is nice, but doesn’t help a lot if you’re being pushed.
Revenant Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Tactical Cooldown. Reduces cooldown on tactical ability by 5 seconds.
Murder Machine. Call out the number of squads within 150m after a squad wipe.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Agile Assassin. Total Shadow Pounce charge time reduced by 20%.
Grim Leaper. Tac refreshes on knock.
Tactical upgrade for Revenant is much better than Murder Machine which doesn’t give you much to go on except to know if you should be careful or not, which you always should in Apex Legends. For his Revenant’s level 3 shield upgrade, it’s a personal preference based on your playstyle but we’d lean more toward Grim Leaper for tracking down other enemies quicker or having a get-out-of-jail-free card following a knock.
Seer Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Long View. Increase Heart Seeker and Tactical range by 25m.
Racing Hearts. Remove the Heart Seeker movement penalty.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Focus Scan. Increase Tactical ability scan duration by 1.5s.
Artist's Reach. Increase the throw range of his UItimate by 20 meters.
Seer’s first upgrade is a big one because it reverts him to one of his pre-nerf status with Long View, giving you more information and a quicker heads-up when enemies are near. His second is more of a personal preference, but Focus Scan will give you more bang for your buck.
Valkyrie Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Afterburners. Launch 15% higher with Skyward Dive.
Aerial Expert. Increase horizontal Jetpack speed and acceleration
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Full Coverage. Modify Missile Swarm pattern from 4x3 to 3x5.
Fuel Tank. Increase Jetpack fuel by 25%.
For Valkyrie’s first Legend upgrade, always take Aerial Expert. There are very few places where you need the extra height on your ultimate, and you can use redeploy balloons if you need to get a bit further. Similarly, Fuel Coverage for her second upgrade is superior to changing up the dimensions of your missile swarm.
Valkyrie's Bladed Descent Dive Trail in Apex Legends.
Vantage Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Ringmaster. Gain access to Ring Consoles.
Ultimate Reload. +2 bullets from Ultimate Accelerant.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Bat Bounce. Improved Echo Relocation double-jump.
Sharpshooter. Refresh Echo Relocation on hits with Sniper's Mark.
For Vantage’s perks, it’s going to depend entirely on if you have a Control Legend in your group, if not, take Ringmaster, otherwise get the Ultimate Reload of more bullets in your ultimate. We would suggest the Bat Bounce here, as you probably will have Echo ready to go if you’re using your Sniper rifle.,
Wattson Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Fresh Start. Revive allies to 50 HP.
Falling Stars. Ultimate Pylon interceptions spawn Arc Stars.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Power Pylon. Double Ult HP and regen capacity.
Split Circuit. Place up to 2 Ults with half healing capacity. Use Ultimate Accelerants twice as fast.
For Wattson’s first upgrade, Fresh Start is definitely a good perk, but so is the ability to throw an arc star at a group for every wasted grenade they throw into your interceptor pylon. Her second upgrade at Purple Evo Shield depends on how you like to play. They both accomplish similar things, keeping her ultimate up longer, but Split Circuit lets you expand the radius and get them back quicker.
Wraith Upgrade Tree
Blue Evo Shield, Level 2 Perks
Tactical Cooldown. Reduces cooldown on tactical ability by 5 seconds.
Sixth Sense. Passive triggers when nearby squad count increases.
Purple Evo Shield, Level 3 Perks
Ultimate Cooldown+. Reduce Ult cooldown by 60 seconds.
Fast Phase. Reduce Tac wind-up by 20%.
For Wraith’s first upgrade always take her tactical ability cooldown so you’re 5 seconds closer to an escape if you need it. For her second Legend upgrade, you’ll want to take Fast Phase so when you need to get out of dodge, you can do it faster.
