Complete guide to Apex Legends Sun Squad Event: New Heatwave mode, Ash Heirloom strategies, and summer-themed cosmetics
Event Overview and Release Schedule
Apex Legends Season 16 continues its content rollout with the Sun Squad Collection Event, featuring summer-themed content that brings intense heat mechanics to the battlefield. This tropical-inspired update delivers substantial gameplay changes alongside highly anticipated cosmetic items.
The Sun Squad Collection Event marks the second major content drop in Apex Legends Season 16, introducing innovative environmental hazards through the Heatwave LTM while finally delivering Ash’s long-awaited heirloom weapon.
Following closely after the Imperial Guard event, Respawn Entertainment maintains their accelerated seasonal content schedule with this beach-themed collection. The timing strategically positions the summer content before actual summer months, allowing players to enjoy tropical vibes regardless of their local climate.
The environmental focus introduces gameplay mechanics that force adaptation, requiring players to reconsider standard positioning strategies and movement patterns to survive the new thermal threats.
Ash mains receive their signature heirloom after extensive community anticipation, though players hoping for other legends may need to wait longer for their favorite characters to receive similar treatment.
Mark your calendars for the Sun Squad collection event launch on Tuesday, March 28, bringing the heat to all platforms simultaneously.
Synchronize your gameplay sessions with the confirmed deployment timing of 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT, consistent with previous seasonal event rollout patterns.
Heatwave LTM: Survival Strategies and Advanced Tactics
The Heatwave Limited Time Mode revolutionizes combat dynamics through environmental pressure, forcing players to master indoor positioning and thermal management. This innovative mechanic challenges conventional Apex Legends gameplay fundamentals.
Periodic thermal waves inflict damage on players exposed to direct sunlight, creating natural area denial and rotating safe zones. Advanced players should track wave timing to anticipate enemy movements and set up ambushes.
Watch the official event trailer to visualize the intense environmental effects and strategic implications:
“Strategic positioning becomes paramount during thermal events,” Respawn designers emphasize. “When heatwaves activate, immediately seek covered positions indoors or beneath overhead structures to avoid cumulative damage.”
“Sliding provides temporary thermal relief when caught in open terrain, offering mobility options during emergency repositioning. Meanwhile, enhanced Heatshields create expanded safe zones but become vulnerable when deployed outside the Ring boundaries.”
Pro Player Heatwave Strategies:
- Pre-position near multi-story buildings before wave announcements
- Use sliding between cover points to minimize damage accumulation
- Coordinate heatshield deployment with teammates for rotating coverage
- Time aggressive pushes during wave cooldown periods
- Monitor high-ground indoor positions for tactical advantages
Common Mistakes to Avoid:
- Overestimating heatshield durability in Ring zones
- Neglecting to track wave timing patterns
- Attempting long-range rotations during active heat events
- Wasting tactical abilities that could provide temporary cover
Ash Heirloom: Strongest Link Unlock Guide
The centerpiece of any collection event remains the exclusive heirloom, and Sun Squad delivers Ash’s “Strongest Link” – electrically charged nunchaku that complement her ruthless combat style. This melee weapon features unique animations and visual effects.
Unlocking this premium item requires completing the entire 24-item cosmetic collection through direct purchase or crafting, representing a significant investment for dedicated Ash mains.
Ash Heirloom: Strongest Link pic.twitter.com/x3V0LyQP4X
The collection features vibrant beach-themed cosmetics, including the community-requested swimsuit variant for Loba that has generated substantial pre-release excitement. Additional tropical designs refresh Mirage, Fuse, and other popular legends.
New skins in the Sun Squad Collection Event ☀️ #ApexLegends pic.twitter.com/mYR14FNG77
Daily engagement caps at 1,600 points, requiring strategic play session planning to maximize collection progress. Consider these optimization approaches:
Collection Completion Strategies:
- Prioritize daily challenges for efficient point accumulation
- Focus on high-value cosmetic items first to reduce overall cost
- Coordinate with squadmates to complete team-based objectives faster
- Utilize crafting materials for the most expensive items
- Track your progress against the 14-day event timeline
Gameplay Updates and Balance Changes
Significant meta shifts arrive through crafting rotation changes and legend adjustments. The EVA-8 shotgun and 30-30 Repeater move to replicators, while the Longbow DMR and Volt SMG return to standard loot pools.
Weapon Meta Impact:
- EVA-8 enters the replicator
- 30-30 Repeater enters the replicator
- Longbow DMR returns to the floor
- Volt SMG returns to the floor
Ash receives substantial combat enhancements with her tactical ability cooldown reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds. Her Arc Snare travel velocity increases dramatically from 700 to 1200, while tether activation and growth delays decrease by approximately 50%.
Ash Buff Details:
- Cooldown decreased from 25s to 20s
- Travel speed increased from 700 to 1200
- Tether activation delay and snare grow time decreased by about 50% (The Arc Snare will more reliably hit intended targets)
Quality of life improvements include interface cleanups and bug resolutions across multiple legends and systems.
Interface and Bug Fixes:
- Hide in-world item UI’s when aiming down the sight
- Hide in-world crafting UI’s in the center of the screen when aiming down the sight
- [Perks] Extended Supply Bins will more reliably give survival items in some cases when they are needed.
- [Perks] Weapon Supply Bins will more reliably give attachments to teammates in specific edge cases.
- [Perks] Both Weapon and Extended Supply Bins no longer spawn in close proximity to Bins of the same type.
- Fixed a bug where re-rolling Daily Challenges would not produce the intended result of providing a non-mode dependent challenge.
- Fixed issue with players experiencing a loud start-up noise when starting a Team Deathmatch game with reactive weapon skin equipped.
- [Seer] Fixed bug where Seer could always see enemies with his passive since the UI updates to the minimap.
- [Octane] Fixed the bug where players could not cycle their weapons when using the Stim tactical while on a zipline.
- [Pathfinder] fix for cases when landing onto a Jump Pad after using any length grappling hook will cause it to go extended cooldown.
- Fix for cases where players could not reload their gun when standing close to Wattson’s Pylon and aiming at it.
- [Xbox Series X Only] Fixed a bug with chat messages where the first message would not be received by the other party member who is on Xbox.
- Reduced the smoke VFX for Peacekeeper’s “Frostbite” reactive skin for better visibility in low-light areas.
- [DX12] Fixed bug where the player’s crosshairs would be disabled when Anti-Aliasing is set to ‘None’ and Aspect Ratio is not native.
- [DX12] Game no longer letterboxes when the aspect ratio is greater than 16:0 (in DX12, windowed)
- Fix for cases where the minimap would show a completely different location for Crypto when using the drone.
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