Apex Legends Season 12 Defiance drops this week, and it is bringing with the all-new 9v9 control mode. The new mode is designed to appeal to more traditional FPS players looking for something outside the battle royale and arena modes currently available to play in Apex and plays similarly to Halo's big team battle mode. Here is everything you need to know about the Control mode to get started slaying.

How Apex Legends 9v9 Control mode works

The win condition for this new control mode is simple. You and eight teammates must fill up your percentage bar to 100% before the enemy team does. You fill up that bar by controlling the A, B, and C zones, which are placed equidistant apart on the map between the two team bases. The more points on the map you control, the faster you gain percentage points.

The two teams are made up of 3 standard 3 person squads, with you being able to communicate in voice chat with your squad as usual. You will not be able to play a legend that another squad member is playing, like in the usual game, however, the different squads can have replicated legends.

How Loadouts work in Apex Legends' Control mode

The Apex Legends Control mode kicks off with a Loadout selection screen. On this screen, you will be able to choose from five different pre-determined kits that suit different playstyles in the game. The loadouts are different every match, but here is a set of example loadouts from a game that I played.

• The Close-Quarters kit comes with a blue level R99 SMG, an R-301 Carbide, and an arc star
• The Heavy kit comes with a blue level Rampage LMG, a Mozambique shotgun, and a frag
• The Assault kit comes with a blue level Hemlock Burst AR, Mastiff Shotgun, and a incendiary 
• The Marksman kit comes with a blue level Triple Take, an Alternator SMG, and a frag
• The Sniper kit comes with a P2020 pistol, a blue level Charge Rifle, and an incendiary

You can change your loadout on the death screen where you select your spot to respawn, so don't feel too pigeonholed by your initial loadout pick. 

Everything else you need to know about Control

There are a lot of unique aspects to this game type, so I will address all the small and big things that set this mode apart in this section.

Kills, zone captures, zone defenses, and other contributions to your team will earn you points toward an individual tier system. As your tier moves up by scoring these points, the quality of your weapons and armor will improve from blue to purple and eventually gold. Each time you die, however, your tier is reset, so it acts more as a scorestreak bonus than anything. You are able to pick up weapons and armor after players die.

Respawns take a minimum of 20 seconds after death, so kills are pretty valuable in regards to their impact on map control.

Your legend will have standard ability cooldowns and the ability to charge your ult, so the characters operate like the Battle Royale mode, not the Arenas where abilities and ults have to be purchased.

If you take damage while playing, your shields will automatically regenerate over time after you stop taking damage. There are no shield cells, but you have unlimited bandages and med-kits for healing your health bar. You also have unlimited ammo, so no need to worry about that.

When you die you will be able to select where you spawn. You can spawn on owned zones connected to your base. You cannot spawn next to the enemy base, but if you control the A and the B zones, you will be able to spawn in the middle of the map on the B zone.

That is pretty much everything you need to know to drop into the new control mode fully informed and ready to go. Happy slaying legends!