Apex Legends’ new queue is made for the heartiest of players — or just those looking to get in and out of a match with minimum fuss. Season 8 of Apex Legends is chock full of new additions, from balance changes to a deathtrap full of toxic Caustic mines. The most interesting feature might just be the new queue system, No-Fill Matchmaking, which lets players abandon their teammates and enter the game completely solo.
When players are in the lobby, they’ll see a checkbox called “Fill Matchmaking.” This is the standard way of play; if you queue up alone, you’ll be paired with a squad for Duos or Trios. However, daredevils can uncheck the box, which means they’ll be a team of one.
This isn’t meant to be the main way to play the game — there will be only up to six solo players in any given game, and you can’t go it alone in the game’s Ranked mode. Developer Respawn Entertainment suggests the following scenarios as being ideal for No-Fill queues:
Focus on completing certain Daily and Weekly challenges
Warm up, drop hot, and get into lots of fights
Challenge yourself—can you win a round of Duos alone? How about Trios?
Experience the latest lore teaser on your own
Explore the map and experiment with characters you haven’t tried before; Take an opportunity to learn a bit more about the game at your own pace.
The season 8 update for Apex Legends also includes a playlist called Ring Fury, where walls of death flare up all over the map. Players can avoid these rings of fire, or drop a heat shield to tank the damage and survive the flares. As the event continues, the Ring Fury spots will become even more dangerous and common, so keep an eye out.
Water Treatment has also been replaced with Caustic Treatment. This is a high-risk, high-reward part of the map full of traps and mines that can easily kill a Legend. The Mirage Voyage cruise has moved on, and Respawn hints that it’ll be “back when you least expect it.”
