Apex Legends players have long noted that the game’s original Heirloom weapons pale in comparison to some of the newer ones. Heirlooms like Valkyrie’s Suzaku or Revenant’s Dead Man’s Curve are bigger, more visually interesting, and have far more inspect animations tied to them than Wraith’s Kunai and Lifeline’s Shock Sticks.
Since Heirlooms require players to either spend a hefty sum of money or play the game for a very long time to receive the Heirloom Shards that will unlock them, many players who unlocked some of the game’s early Heirlooms feel that they should be updated to match the flair of the newer Heirlooms in the game. Another suggestion that frequently makes the rounds within the community is giving players options to customize their Heirloom with options such as changing the color of an Heirloom or its visual effects.
Now, Apex is adding that exact customization feature—to Apex Legends Mobile and its first exclusive character, Fade.
Called the Constellation, Fade’s melee weapon isn’t technically an Heirloom. It’s called a “Signature Weapon” in the mobile game, and it comes with plenty of upgradeable options. First of all, the Constellation has many different forms, as is shown off in the pictures displaying the weapon. These forms range from brass knuckles with blades attached to form a claw-like weapon and can shift into a double-sided dagger when the blades fan out. The patch notes for the Champions update in Apex Mobile also note that players who unlock the weapon will also be able to customize it with “visual effects, textures, and more,” suggesting that skins and other effects for the weapon will be on the way.
There are certainly differences between this Signature Weapon and the PC and console version of Apex’s Heirlooms. The Constellation can be unlocked by playing missions and earning Signature Merits (although it can also be unlocked by buying Signature Tributes, which will most likely be easier and less time-consuming than playing through missions). But the connection between a Signature Weapon and Heirloom is abundantly clear.
All of that leads to one question: Is this a feature that Apex is testing that will come to the full game? Or will it remain exclusive to mobile?
Both options are certainly on the table. Gun Run, the recent limited-time mode that debuted to much fanfare in Apex this month, was originally a mode exclusive to Apex Mobile. There are several mobile features than have remained exclusive, on the other hand, such as legends Fade and Rhapsody, as well as other LTMs like Team Deathmatch.
Offering ways to upgrade and customize Heirlooms could be a way to make the Heirlooms feel even more valuable and also reward the longtime players whose Heirlooms have lost a bit of their shine thanks to some of the game’s newer offerings. Keeping the customization feature exclusive to Apex Mobile, on the other hand, will most likely only make community complaints that Respawn brings highly-requested features to the mobile game as cash grabs even louder.
