Apex Legends - Kings Canyon vs Worlds Edge Map Comparison
Apex Legends welcomed new map Worlds Edge with the arrival of Season 3. The map, set on the elemental planet of Talos, boasting both lava flows and flash-frozen regions, brought with it plenty of new loot sites, drop locations and overall – a much larger playing field. Following the Repulsor disaster on Kings Canyon (orchestrated by Crypto), the Legends moved worlds to continue their fight.
As the map has evolved, adding new locations and changing up existing ones, it’s certainly kept players interested, but some still longed for the nostalgia and familiarity of the original map – Kings Canyon.
It seemed the community’s prayers were answered when Kings Canyon returned time and time again as a limited-time option – until it was added as the new Ranked mode map, and more recently – a permanent option to play either map coming soon.
So, when you squad up and want to drop into a match, which map do you hit? We’ll weigh up the pros and cons of each match for public lobbies right here.
SIZE & RESOURCES
Worlds Edge is reportedly around 150% bigger than Kings Canyon, which can be seen on this handy overlay courtesy of Redditor u/Alt_Mayday.
Click to enlargeSo how does this affect gameplay? And is a smaller or larger map better? Well, it depends on many factors.
One of these factors is POIs. As pointed out on a Reddit thread, King's Canyon has 19 points of interest, whereas Worlds Edge only has 15. This means WE has fewer loot options for teams, and early-game engagements will be more frequent than on Kings Canyon. However, on KC, the POI’s are very close together, so while you may have a better chance of getting a location to yourself on drop, you'll probably be pushed soon after, but you may have better loot and an increased chance of winning that first fight.
Empty and open areas are similar in quantity on both maps, leading to plenty of engagements on both with little to no cover (perfect for those Gibby or Bang ults).
The centre point of both maps is still dangerous, with the most traffic passing through, whether it’s for looting or trying to find squads to push. However, on KC the “capital city” of Skull Town, isn’t at the centre point of the map, compared to Capitol City (or Fragment East and West as it is now known) on WE, forcing even more players to the middle of the map to find teams to duel.
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Further to the overall size difference, Worlds Edge also has larger and taller buildings (skyscrapers), in places like Skyhook and Fragment East and West (previously Capitol City) in its larger cities, compared to the smaller village-like compounds of Kings Canyon. Not only does this make for more interesting and engaging battles, but it also lends itself to the high-ground and longer-range engagement meta Respawn had in mind when implementing this map.
As for resources, World’s Edge boasts a massive 460 supply bins over its vast landscape, whereas Kings Canyon only has 318. We can put this down to the difference in overall size, AKA room to put said bins on the map.
Both maps have 27 Respawn Beacons, despite the 150% size difference, providing the same amount of opportunities to get your dead teammates back in the game.
The more urban grey-toned landscape of Worlds Edge provides a different colour palette to the more desert and woodland areas of Kings Canyon, often leading to more camouflaging possibilities on the latter.
Click to enlargeFamiliarity
At this point in Apex history, about 14 months since the game first launched, day-one players should be well-versed on both maps, and how to play them to get the results they want (ie. the victory). Kings Canyon was the only map until Season 3, for both public lobbies and Ranked (or Elite mode, as it was then known) but fans and pros alike were very sad to see it go, and there have been constant calls for its reinstation since.
It took fans some time to process the change and get used to Worlds Edge. Several players were not pleased with Respawn for taking away their beloved Kings Canyon...
Familiarity is something many teams rely on to get them the win, from having movement patterns on lock, to favourite loot spots or secret hiding places, it can be hard to re-learn your strategies on a brand-new map.
Click to enlargeWhich Legends Work Best on Which Map?
Many Legends have abilities that work better on one map rather than the other. Movement and recon abilities may face different challenges on the vastly different maps.
Let’s take a look at the Legends released post-Season 3, who haven’t had much of a chance to step foot on Kings Canyon (apart from Ranked, of course).
Crypto (Season 3) – Part of the Recon class, Crypto’s drone has had the chance to get the lay of the land at almost 2 seasons in, finding corners to hide, and positioning itself in the perfect spots to gain those all-important sightlines on approaching enemies. The skyscrapers of Worlds Edge, as well as sweeping valleys and hills, gave Crypto the best chance to use his drone to its full potential, and Crypto mains may struggle in the more sparse and toned-down Kings Canyon.
Revenant (Season 4) – Revenants high-climbing skill may still come in handy for the sandy mounds of Kings Canyon, gaining high-ground at the few high points on the map, but he will certainly miss all the floors he can gain an advantage on in Skyhook, for example. The Death Totem may also prove hard to place, with less large and multiple-floored buildings to tuck it away into a corner.
We already know the Competitive/Ranked team set-up pros are using, and most of the Legend roster has had a fighting chance at learning both maps but will still do better on others.
Offensive legends with airstrikes (Gibraltar, Bangalore) will prefer the larger open spaces of Kings Canyon, with less buildings for teams to dip into when they see that alarming alert.
Players who main Wraith and Pathfinder may find the closer POI’s helpful in Kings Canyon for ziplining and portal-making, but won’t find much of a difference between their gameplay over any other character.
In a perfect world, fans could drop into Kings Edge, a fan-made map with all the favourite locations smashed together in one huge map, full of exciting points of interest.
But for now, it’s up to the players themselves to decide which map they prefer, and which Legend they want to utilise.
Click to enlargeImages via Respawn Entertainment
