3v3 Arenas – Your one stop guide thanks to early access content

Unlike the other limited Apex game modes that we have seen so far, Arenas is going to be a permanent 3v3 game mode. It is an economy-based mode, which means that each round you gain a certain amount of crafting materials (points) based on your kills, canisters and round bonuses. Y

You can then use crafting materials to purchase guns or their attachments. The better the weapon or item, the higher the price tag. Aside from weapons you can also choose to spend the points on your tactical ability or ultimate. Your ultimate does not charge during Arenas and can only be bought pre-round.

Besides these builds and upgrades, there is also care packages for each round containing weapons which you can see before the round starts. So instead of focusing a lot on your current weapons, you can always opt to fight for the care package weapons.

Crafting materials are limited but can be collected during a round. However, as they are not in the central area, it does mean leaving your team-mates in harm's way. Do bear in mind at the end of each round you lose any weapons you were carrying and require crafting materials to purchase new ones. You may not be fussed about crafting materials in the Battle Royale, but in Arenas they are significantly more important.

To win a match teams need to win at least 3 rounds and there needs to be a 2 point difference (for example 3-1 or 4-2). During a round allies can be revived if knocked but they can not be respawned. Should the game reach a score of 4-4, a final Sudden Death round will decide the overall winner. Despite it being a 3 v 3 Arenas, the Ring from the Battle Royale mode is still present, adding a nice twist.

EA granted early access to several content creators and players as part of their Game Changers community partnership program, many of which shared their thoughts on the perks of the new mode:

Quick and small-scale matches for newcomers - Several content creators including Raynday and Jankz highlighted the appeal of the quicker game time and small-scale maps. Casual players who wish to enjoy shorter games compared to the normal ones will definitely find this mode interesting. You can easily hop in a game and finish the rounds fast if you win them. You can easily find the other players since it is close combat, instead of having to run across a huge map.

Arenas ranked system - Regarding the competitive side of it, besides being an arenas on its own, Carlos Pineda, Lead Game Designer at Respawn, has confirmed that there is going to be an arenas ranked system implemented in the future even though they did not confirm any release date yet. This opens up the opportunity for EA to support a 3 vs 3 esports competitive scene.

Practise aim and warm-up, no more bots - If you wish to practice your aim or warm-up before jumping into the Battle Royale mode, you can easily do this in Arenas now, instead of having to play Firing Range or another aim trainer. The difference between this and Firing Range is that you can actually practice in a real game simulation against other players, instead of just AI or friends.

Allow players to practise specific loadouts with different Legends - Due to its fast-paced nature, Arenas can be a very good way for players to experiment with characters and guns that they are not familiar with. They can also test certain strategies for pushing or holding positions in combat versus real players.

There will be a total of five maps, two of which are brand new just for Apex Arenas. The first is Party Crasher which is themed around Mirage's Voyager which he has unfortunately crashed into a downtown plaza. The second is Phase Runner which is set in an experimental zone in the peak of a mountain. It's point of interest is the a prototype of the Phase Runner from Olympus - the blue Hadron collider looking teleporter - giving the players the option to rush to combat should they wish to.

The other three maps will feature areas from King's Canyon, World's Edge and Olympus on rotation. In the first rotation for the Season 9 launch on May 4th, these will be Artillery (King's Canyon), Thermal Station (World's Edge) and Golden Gardens (Olympus).

There is a lot of hype over the Apex Arenas at the moment and this update introduces a major new feature to players who might have been playing Apex for years now. Another good news for existing players is that Battle Passes will now level up through both Battle Royale modes and Arenas. Starting from Season 9, Challenges will be general or specific to one of the game modes.

Apex Arenas launch as part of Apex Legends Legacy Season 9 on May 4th.