This new Apex Legends training mode will let you try out all the gear and guns without getting sniped

(Image credit: Respawn)

It's tough to get accustomed to new weapons and gear in battle royales, particularly if you're learning on the fly with 97 other competitors all looking for the perfect opportunity to put you down and keep you there.

If you've yet to give Apex Legends' new charge rifle or Crypto for that very reason, I have good news. Though yet to have a formal release date – right now developer Respawn only says it's coming "soon" – the all-new training mode, called the firing range, is coming to Apex Legends "by popular request". 

Making the reveal in the first Apex Devstream broadcast on October 11, 2019, Respawn showcased the firing range in all-new in-game footage. The video – which starts talking about the training mode at 7 minutes and 7 seconds into the recording below (thanks, Slashgear) – shows off Apex's full range of armour, as well as the individual guns and their corresponding mods and attachments. 

Of course, everyone gets a little taster by way of a training mode when they first play Apex Legends, but given the loot and mods are tweaked fairly often, it's the perfect way of letting even seasoned players try before they buy – or die, as the case might be here.

You can even switch characters part-way through to try out all of their alts and passive abilities in the comfort of knowing no-one's going to snipe you as you get to grips with, say, Pathfinder's grapple. 

In other Apex Legends news, a new character could be hiding in plain sight in some behind-the-scenes screenshots from a Respawn level designer. The pictures, which show Alex Graner's design process, have a multi-story high image of Revenant, the rumoured next Legend, hidden in one of them. 

Season 3 of Apex Legends gave us an entirely new map, complete with locked vaults storing myriad treasures. Here are the Apex Legends vault locations: how to get the key and open the room. 

Apex Legends review | How to download Apex Legends | Apex Legends Map guide| Apex Legends tips |  Apex Legends Finishers| Best Apex Legends weapons | Best Apex Legends characters| Apex Legends high level loot guide| Apex Legends Heirlooms Guide | Apex Legends crafting metal guide | Apex Legends Loot Tick locations | Apex Legends Nessy guide | Apex Legends cross-play

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, 12DOVE

Vikki Blake is 12DOVE's Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter. 

Latest in Apex Legends
Apex Legends Control
Months after ruling out an Apex Legends 2, EA CEO says "an even bigger, more meaningful" Apex 2.0 is on the table after Battlefield 6
Lifeline looks into the camera with a smirk
After 5 years, Apex Legends is going back to the beginning with a Fortnite-style mode letting you experience the launch version of the battle royale FPS
Apex Legends
Apex Legends was a top 50 Steam Deck game, but EA's dropping Valve's handheld because it can't tell if those players are actually dirty cheating Linux users
Apex Legends Catalyst
72,632 'Overwhelmingly Negative' reviews later, EA walks back controversial Apex Legends battle pass changes: "You've spoken, and we've listened"
Apex Legends
EA announces Apex Legends is getting twice as many battle passes and you can no longer earn them in-game
Apex Legends
Apex Legends' new swimsuit skins have fans predictably down bad
Latest in News
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Andor season 2
Andor season 2 showrunner Tony Gilroy breaks silence on the weird release schedule: "It's a Disney decision"
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"