Latest Update - 13/05/2026
Hi all. We hope you're all enjoying the start to OVERCLOCKED. We have pushed the following fixes for a smoother season experience! ✅FIXED: Xbox voice comms have been reenabled (we are continuing to investigate edge cases) Various server crashes and stability fixes Respawning a teammate from their deathbox now grants intended XP Enemy healthbars are now removed from in-match player UI when disabled in settings On PS5, performance mode settings no longer reset with game relaunch On PS5 and Switch, graphic and brightness settings no longer reset with game relaunch Opening 50 Wishlist upgraded packs no longer results in an error/crash Removed purple dots on Ballistic in the splash screen Axle's Tactical and Ultimate abilities now display the appropriate names Axle's Ultimate no longer targets friendly Mirage decoys Crypto can no longer teleport to his drone in certain circumstances Players are now appropriately shielded by Gibraltar's Tactical from Gibraltar's Ultimate while healing Xbox players are now able to purchase the Ultimate+ Battle Pass by ensuring their Xbox OS is fully updated ⚠️INVESTIGATING: We are continuing to investigate FPS drops and stuttering/hitching on specific hardwareApex Legends™: Overclocked Patch Notes
OVERCLOCKED OVERVIEW Overclocked is locked and loaded and ready to go! In Season 29 of the Apex Games we are not only focused on delivering exciting, new seasonal content, but addressing key feedback from our player-base. A brand new Legend, Axle, joins the fray and this combat racer is bound to shake things up. Vantage, Conduit and Ash are getting buffs to keep up with the breakneck pace. We’re introducing Deathbox Respawns and Chained Healing to get you and your teammates back into the fight sooner. The starting line approaches, so get ready to roll in Apex Legends: OVERCLOCKED. To get a quick overview of some of Overclocked’s main updates, check out our Highlights blog from last week. For a deep-dive into meta balancing, check out our seasonal Designer’s Notes. Read on for all the details about what’s happening this season! MATCHMAKING Solo-Queueing Adjustments We’ve heard the continued feedback on solo queueing difficulty. Later this split, we’ll introduce a system where solo players matchmake against opponents of a slightly lower skill tier in both Ranked and Unranked matches. This is aimed at reducing the advantage of full premade squads and tightening win rate gaps between solos and three-stacks. Queue Time Tuning in High-Skill Lobbies Late in 28.1, we began rolling out longer max queue times for higher-skill players. We’re keeping these changes in place to help create tighter skill bands and reduce mismatched games (e.g. Plats vs. Masters), leading to more competitive matches overall. The majority of players will see no difference at all. If you matchmake into smaller pools, for example during off-hours, then you may have to wait up to a few minutes longer than before Bots in Unranked Modes We’re continuing limited testing of bots in select regions and skill ranges in Unranked modes (Trios, Duos, Wildcard). The goal is to improve match quality by reducing extreme skill mismatches and avoiding excessively long queue times, particularly if there are lower-population scenarios. Bots are used only to fill gaps in these scenarios, not replace full matches, and you will never matchmake with an Apex Bot on your team. IN-GAME AUDIO This season, as a quality of life update, we have improved voice chat clarity and added the ability to adjust voice chat volumes for each member of your squad individually. We are continuing our work to resolve existing audio issues and improve in-match audio quality so that you can consistently rely on these systems to inform your situational awareness. We are aware that audio issues increased during the recent Gundam Event and we are continuing to work on our metrics gathering to avoid similar situations in the future. We pushed various stability improvements over the latter half of Season 28 that have improved the situation, pushing us towards cleaner audio experiences. We appreciate the reports we received - they greatly helped our ongoing investigations. PATCH NOTES GAME UPDATES Deathbox Respawns Dev note: With this new mechanic, we wanted to introduce an alternative way to get your teammates back into the fight, faster (but riskier) than the classic Respawn Beacon process, that feels like a reward for teams that successfully clear and hold an area. The safest option will remain disengaging, recovering banners, moving to a safe beacon, and respawning. But a successful Deathbox Respawn may bring your team back to full strength before a third party can capitalize on your weakened squad. Respawn dead teammates directly from their Deathbox. High Risk: Respawning at a Deathbox is loud, visible to nearby enemies, and takes 7 seconds. Be sure to clear the area before attempting it. Respawn with Your Gear: When respawned from your Deathbox, any weapons and gear that still remain unlooted are added to your inventory automatically. Lockout Timer: Each additional death increases the time before teammates can use Deathbox Respawn again. Stay alive to reset the timer. Respawn Beacon Dropship Dev note: Respawn from Dropship is a dangerous and lengthy process. Often the surviving player activating the Respawn Beacon will get pounced on and killed before their teammates disembark the Respawn Dropship. This change is meant to get boots on the ground faster for returning players, while keeping the Dropship visible for the entire lobby for an extended duration, ensuring no enemies miss the cue that players are returning to the battlefield. Animation timing adjusted Dropship arrival shortened so respawned players re-enter the game faster. Dropship hover time after respawn increased. Chain Healing Dev note: This is a Quality of Life change at its core. Many factors contribute to when and how you heal. Limited resources and timing influence this choice: often meaning that you’re going to spam heal several shield cells rather than wasting the more valuable and limited shield batteries you have. This change is meant to make that existing pattern of spamming the heal button to rip 4 cells in a row smoother and less repetitive. While healing, another healing item may now be queued to automatically begin once the current healing action finishes. There are 3 settings options (‘Single’ is the new default option) that can be changed via the Gameplay settings menu: Off: Disables the feature and leaves the current healing system unaffected. Single: While healing, allows the queuing of another healing item. You must queue each additional heal manually by pressing the heal button again, or selecting a new item from the healing wheel. Auto: While healing, allows the queuing of another healing item. Auto will continuously queue that same healing item, without any further input, until the effective health pool is full, or you run out of that healing item. Health Bar Updates We have overhauled the Health Bar system to increase reliability and improve Line of Sight checks when obscuring effects are present. Effects such as smoke and foliage will now more consistently block the LoS check used for Health Bars. This means Health Bars will appear less often in situations where an enemy is obscured to you. LEGENDS AXLE Dev note: Axle was born after a big-picture assessment of the state of movement in Apex following Valkyrie’s two-year reign in the ALGS. Valk was a big pick in competitive play, and on the other side of the competitive spectrum, Octane was the perennial #1 pick. Other Legends with movement abilities have consistently been mainstays in the top five. This comes as no surprise; fluid movement has always been a staple of Apex, a powerful tool in a BR where positioning is paramount. Our movement deep-dive preceding Axle’s development shone a light on our biggest learning: Characterizing “Movement” as a tool is far too reductive. Just look online: community-driven movement wikis and training videos are everywhere. Movement is the toolbox, and every jetpack boost, soft landing, and grapple is just one of many tools inside. Keep your head on a swivel, because Axle transforms the battlefield into her racetrack. Class Skirmisher Passive DRIFT: Increased control while sliding. Axle accelerates and moves faster than others while sliding. She also has increased lateral control. Tactical NITRO GATE: Deploy a speed gate that sends users into a boosted slide. Stepping into a Nitro Gate forces users into a speedy slide, where they have greatly increased velocity and lateral control. This effect lasts for up to five seconds as long as speed isn’t naturally slowed. Manually stopping the slide will end the effect (although it can be maintained through quick b-hops). The gate is team agnostic, meaning it has the same effect on friendlies and enemies, though Axle will be the only one with increased slide control. Ultimate KICKSTART: Deploy an enemy-seeking drone that displaces targets on impact. Axle fires a drone straight out in front of her, where it traverses close to the ground in a straight line as it scans for enemies in a wide FoV. Once an enemy is spotted, the drone seeks towards the target, closing the gap to get within detonation range. If the target cannot outrun or destroy the drone before detonation, it will knockback all targets in range up into the air. Victims are revealed while airborne, take explosive damage, and are briefly stunned. Upgrades Level 2 Super Slider: Gain a second Tactical charge. Automata: Gain a second Ultimate charge. Level 3 Jump Gate: Upgrades the Nitro Gate to give a double-jump. Similar to how Octane’s Triple Jump upgrade works, this upgrades the Nitro Gate itself. Players can use up to one double-jump while the Nitro Gate effect is active. Sliding Shooter: Bullets shot while sliding come straight from inventory instead of magazine. Functionally, this allows for longer continuous firing while sliding before having to reload. Bullets shot straight from inventory are capped at half the weapon’s max magazine size (i.e. if a purple mag capacity is 30 bullets, 15 bullets will get pulled from inventory before instantly transitioning to the active clip). VANTAGE Dev note: Vantage is currently underperforming in fights and as a result is seeing less play overall. Looking over her kit we recognized that, as a sniper, her role becomes more and more difficult the later the game goes on (and playspace shrinks). We really wanted to find ways to keep her kit powerful at every stage of the game. Passive Tracking a team with Spotters Lens will generate 70% of an ultimate bullet 10 second cooldown per team Tactical Vantage is immune to hard landings exiting the tac Increased velocity from 20 Meters Per Second to 21 Meters Per Second Increased double jump range from 4m to 7m Reduced deceleration at final destination by ~25% Cooldown reduced from 20s to 17s Ultimate Toggle fire to equip your Canted Sight: A 2x optic mounted on the side of the rifle While canted rechamber time is decreased from 1.2s to 1.1s While canted ADS time reduced from 0.5s to 0.4s Bullet scaling is drastically reduced in Canted sights (so be accurate!) Increase aiming responsiveness with Normal sight Reduced ADS time from 0.6s to 0.5s Increased weapon handling in both modes Reduced Holster and Lower time from 0.5s to 0.4s Reduced Deploy and Raise time from 1.5s to 1.3s Default Normal scope magnification increased from 3x to 4x Upgrades Tactical Cooldown replaced with Herd Tracker: Pinging an enemy will track the entire team CONDUIT Dev note: As a Legend with a low pick rate that performs quite well relative to other Support Legends, Conduit presents an intriguing design conundrum: why aren’t more players picking her if her match result stats are great? Our primary goals are to keep Conduit feeling challenging but rewarding, to increase her playmaking potential, and also to provide her with more opportunities to have successful supportive interactions with her team. Abilities Passive: New Effect: If Savior’s Speed is active when sprinting toward a Skirmisher, gain an additional 5% movement speed. Tactical: Split Charge has been incorporated into her base kit, granting two charges Decreased Regen Duration from 9s to 6s Decreased Regen from 20/s to 15/s Adjusted Cooldown to 27s Standard Radiant Transfer was 32s Split Charge was 21s Removed cooldown start delay The cooldown will now always begin after casting, even if still searching for a target Upgrades Level 3 Both Radiant Transfer and Split Charge have been removed New Upgrade: Instant Barrier Gain a portion of Radiant Transfer's Temp Shields instantly, but Regen Duration is reduced by 2s. New Upgrade: Enduring Barrier Radiant Transfer's Temp Shield Regeneration persists through taking damage. ALTER Dev note: At the highest levels of play, Alter has been a consistent performer who shakes up fights by being extremely evasive, standing above many of the other legends in her class thanks to the team utility and safety she provides. Though we feel like her playstyle drives a fun player fantasy, we want to incorporate a bit more risk into her gameplay formula, making her cunning escapes not quite as “free” as they have felt before. Abilities Tactical: Increased Cooldown from 20s to 25s Ultimate: Decreased Range from 300m to 250m Increased Recall Time from 2s to 3s Increased Ally Recall Time from 3s to 4s Decreased Chase Portal Open Time from 6s to 4s Upgrades Level 3 Void Breacher Reduced movement speed from 30% to 15% ASH Dev note: We know player sentiment around the most recent round of Ash changes was that we “nerfed her into the ground.” We felt like we had to nerf Ash really hard to manage a relative dominance over global pick rate. But with the presence of other agile Legends like Octane, Wraith and now Axle, we have a little more wiggle room to find the happy middle ground. While we want to give Ash’s passive a little zip back, we are proceeding cautiously to avoid trending toward the state of Ash in Season 24. Passive Cooldown from 12s to 10s Velocity from 425 to 450 New Mythic Universal Melee: Twin Razors Traditional martial arts weaponry meets deadly laser weapon technology in style with the new Twin Razors Mythic Universal Melee cosmetic. These dual melee weapons feature lethal rotating laser blades, dealing dangerous melee blows for any Legend bold enough to wield them. Twin Razors are available as a possible drop in Overclocked Seasonal Packs*, available all season long. *Not available in all regions. LOOT & ATTACHMENTS Care Package Rotation C.A.R. returns to the floor (details below) LSTAR enters the Care Package (details below) Gold Weapon Rotation Devotion LMG, Hemlok Breach AR, Alternator SMG, Charge Rifle, Wingman Light Ammo Dev Note: Light ammo weapons as a whole have become a bit too reliable in both performance and sustain. Adjusting their ammo stack size is a way to take a swing at bringing the entire ammo class down a bit, while giving other ammo types some space to breathe. Decreasing light ammo stack size to 60 (was 72). WEAPONS Hemlok Breach Ar Increased Breach Charge cooldown from 15 seconds to 25 seconds Breach Charge now disperses gas and smoke Decreased damage from 23 to 22 (Previous Hotfix) Decreased magazine size across all tiers by 2 (Previous Hotfix) All Trophy Systems should now properly intercept Hemlok's Breach Charge (Previous Hotfix) Increased horizontal and vertical recoil (Previous Hotfix) Increased hipfire spread (Previous Hotfix) L-Star Emg [Care Package] Damage increased from 19 to 20 Added Hop-Up: Redline Increased damage and projectile size when close to overheating P2020 Increased base damage from 23 to 24 (Previous Hotfix) C.A.R. [Floor Loot] Removed Hop-Up: Galvanic Gavel Magazine size adjustments: Blue magazine increased from 25 to 26 Purple and gold magazines increased from 28 to 30 LOCKED HOP-UPS Double Tap Trigger Increased points to unlock from 375 to 500 on the Alternator Turbocharger Decreased points to unlock from 500 to 425 on the Devotion MAPS Dev note: This season we're taking a big look at macro rotations and the options our maps provide alongside the tools our Legends bring to the table. In previous updates we've implemented changes and adjustments to the Tridents to try and provide interesting and exciting gameplay opportunities. They're however not hitting the mark on what we want out of vehicle gameplay in Apex so we're removing them to let our Legends take the wheel. We've seen players consistently use Tridents in ways that wander far from their intended use: rotating between POIs. We feel we can better achieve this goal of speedy rotations with the existing state of Legend movement, putting another layer of importance on your team comp choices. The Ziprails in Broken Moon have always helped define the overall feel of the map and how teams rotate between POIs. However those Ziprails also contribute to a lot of silent third parties that can feel particularly frustrating. We've gone through and removed the majority of rotational POI-to-POI Ziprails while maintaining the Ziprails within POIs that help define the combat space. This should make navigating the map feel a little more predictable and easier to understand. We want squad compositions and Legend choices to really matter when it comes to how teams traverse through our maps. Pulling back on how quickly players can rotate via Legend-agnostic map tools puts that power back in our Legends hands. Storm Point: Tridents removed Olympus: Tridents removed Broken Moon: Ziprails removed from most rotations, but remain at majority of POIs Added two Redeploy Balloons to west side Two new rotation options added, north of Stasis Array and west of Terraformer Pubs & Ranked Divided Moon Kings Canyon Olympus Mixtape 5/5/26 - 6/23/26 TDM: Fragment East, Skull Town, Zeus Station, Estates Control: Labs, Barometer, Lava Siphon, Caustic Gun Run: Wattson Pylon, Estates, Monument, Skull Town WILDCARD Wildcard Olympus Wildcard (5/5/26 - 5/19/26) Kings Canyon Wildcard (5/19/26 - 6/2/26) RANKED Ranked Ladders (coming later this split) Ranked Ladder 1 5/14/2026 5/17/2026 Ranked Ladder 2 5/21/2026 5/24/2026 Ranked Ladder 3 5/28/2026 5/31/2026 Ranked Ladder 4 6/4/2026 6/7/2026 Ranked Ladder 5 6/11/2026 6/14/2026 Ranked Ladder 6 6/18/2026 6/21/2026 Season Reset Seeding We’ve fixed an issue where players near tier boundaries could sometimes be placed lower than others with similar or slightly lower performance after a season reset. Reset seeding should now feel more consistent and better aligned with your previous season’s results, while keeping the overall reset experience the same. BUG FIXES Fixed rare “SignifierName: 'Player' - is not expected entity type "player" for remote function” client error. Improved interaction between Hardlight and other objects when rebuilding, preventing it from unintentionally destroying some Legend abilities. Fixed some Low/No Ammo notifications incorrectly displaying. Fixed Arc Star and Frag Grenade sound effects when exploded on Hardlight. Fixed an issue with the Volt's "Death Enhancer" skin having visible elements when the player is cloaked. Fixed an issue where the akimbo Mozambique's could sometimes merge and fire as a single weapon. Fixed an issue where weapons in control could sometimes drop a level. Fixed a crash when trying to sort random favorite skins. LEGENDS Newcastle Fixed the ultimate slam not destroying Catalyst’s reinforcements on an empty door frame. Added new VO for Ready to Rumble and Defensive Line upgrade Revenant Fixed sometimes being able to cancel your tactical early and ready your guns sooner than intended. Lifeline Fixed self revive in Wildcard sometimes not using the right animation and having inaccurate UI timings. Vantage Fixed an issue where there was a slight delay before having intended ADS accuracy despite being fully zoomed into scope** Fixed bug where Vantage could equip weapons in fight night. Fixed how Spotter’s Lens gave decoys a low priority so the real Mirage is less obvious to find. Loba: Fixed an issue where black market could steal banners crafted by an enemy squad. Octane: Added new VO for Stim Surge. Mad Maggie: Fixed Wrecking Ball sometimes failing to destroy doors when hitting them at the upper edges. Fuse: Fixed Motherload not properly penetrating some Legend abilities. Gibraltar: Fixed an issue where overlapping Thunder Domes would allow a player to pass into a dome unharmed. QUALITY OF LIFE Firing Range: New Firing Range Settings: Infinite Healing Toggle Self-Revive Toggle Rebuild Hardlight Button Fixed thermite interactions. The missing Nessies have returned from their vacation. Improved CPU performance on physics calculations, eliminating a source of stutters, especially prominent in CPUs with high single-threaded performance, like Ryzen X3D chips. Added logic to prevent Valkyrie, or other legends, from getting inside an enemy respawn dropship. Added Legend voice lines for when Hardlight is Reinforced. Added Legend voicelines when cracking multiple enemy shields in rapid succession. AUDIO Added the ability to tweak individual voice chat volumes for each player in the squad menu. Improved voice chat clarity. Fixed an issue where HAVOC Rifle audio could sometimes cut out for the player firing it. ENGINE Graphics Improved occlusion data structures that were used by Olympus in the last midseason update are now used for all maps, slightly improving CPU performance. Fixed an issue that could lead to an occasional framerate dip when running at very high FPS on PC (e.g. 240+). Cleaner Ambient Occlusion, which includes new specular occlusion. This will also be faster than the previous Ambient Occlusion in most cases, except at High or Ultra settings at high resolutions (4K on PC). Improved accuracy of cubemap reflection intensity, especially in shadowed outdoor areas. Improved accuracy of sky ambient lighting. Improved baked lighting accuracy for many props in maps. [See the original blog post here for slider versions of these before/after images!] Play Apex Legends for free* now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. Apex Legends™: Overclocked Patch NotesLatest Fixes and Adjustments - 04/14/2026
Hey all, we have just released an update with the following changes! ✅FIXED: Catalyst's Toxic Empress skin now has the appropriate glow visual effects, in-match Valkyrie's jetpack handles are no longer missing in specific scenarios Fuse's Knuckle Cluster holder is now properly displayed Wattson players will no longer hear Hardlight rebuilding and being destroyed as a result of her tactical/ultimate placement in the ring Game stability improvements on the Switch 2 We are also making the following changes to matchmaking in an effort to provide the best possible match quality for players: 🛠️ADJUSTED: We are increasing maximum queue times slightly for players at the higher end of Ranked and pubs. Our goal is tighter skill bands and more competitive games across the board. For Drop Zone Ranked matches, we will be displaying Ranked tier distribution charts of squads, not individual players consistent with non-Drop Zone lobbies. 📋TESTING: We are testing a 4 hour Ranked map rotation schedule in East Asia for the rest of the split. *We do not recommend changing servers as it will result in much higher ping. @apexlivecomms (Threads)
Breach Midseason Designer’s Notes
TLDR; Below, we will share insights into our goals for each Legend or Weapon, challenges we’ve identified, and what changes we are making in pursuit of those goals. Crushing the Peak of Dominant Team Comps Gibraltar’s Speed Boost and Electrified Dome Wraith’s Lowered Cooldowns and Enhanced Ult Watson’s Hardlight Auto-Reinforce Say Hello to a Brand NEW Hemlok Breach AR The Future of the RE-45 Burst State of the 30-30 Repeater, P2020 and Prowler INTRODUCTION Welcome to Designer’s Notes for the mid-season split for Breach! We appreciate all the time you’ve put into the season so far, and we’re grateful for all the feedback. With your feedback and our internal match data, we have been tuning and adjusting to find the balance sweet spot. Your feedback helped inform changes to Octane and the Ranked Drop Zones system, and we will continue to monitor these elements. We also tuned up Fuse a bit and are continuing to aim for him to deliver that offensive breacher experience. For this next split we are focused on our looking to punch up some Legends, lean into the breach gameplay, and bring a unique twist to the Hemlok. Our aim with this blog is to provide ongoing transparency and reasoning for why we are making the balancing decisions with each update. We want you to head into your matches with this knowledge, discuss how the changes are landing, and let us know what is working and what is not. Your continued feedback is important in helping us tune Apex and make the best competitive Battle Royale it can be! CRUSHING THE PEAK OF DOMINANT TEAM COMPS As we reach the midway point of the first season of 2026, we want to take a moment to introduce you to a specific indicator of game health: Legend squad composition. A healthy state for Legends is one where people feel many different team compositions are viable. Over the last year we have made a deliberate effort to squash the dominance of top-picked squad combinations to encourage creative player expression, or to allow you to play the way you are most comfortable and not feel like there’s one specific trio of characters that is ‘must-pick’. We measure this by looking at the 10 most popular team compositions and evaluating how much market share they occupy; we pursue a lower percentage/concentration from the most popular compositions, as it indicates greater legend diversity. When we see a rising percentage occupied by a handful of team compositions it indicates to us that the Legend meta has tilted towards a ‘must pick’ squad or Legend combo. We had a moment late last year where Sparrow and Ash were ripping up the Ranked charts. Anchored by that specific pair of Legends, our top 10 most popular squad compositions represented 25% of all squads in Ranked Apex. If you look at the period just before and after, there was a similar concentration of the top 10 squad compositions representing around 20% of all teams, which was still higher than we deemed healthy. As you can see in the chart above, over the last 12 months, through a series of impactful reworks, buffs and nerfs, we have seen the concentration of the top 10, 5 and 1 squad compositions drop dramatically. Reworked characters like Ash, Valkyrie and Octane have each had their ‘moment’ of being high pick rate, but we are happy to see the presence of a ‘must pick’ duo or trio in Apex has all but disappeared over the last 12 months. LEGENDS 2026-02-24 through 2026-03-02 GIBRALTAR Gibraltar has been sitting close to the bottom of the Legend pick rates across all ranks and skill levels for quite a while. We still feel like he has a strong kit but it’s been difficult for Gibraltar to find success, as newer Legends or recent buffs have made it easier to push into his Dome of Protection. Some of the biggest pain points we are seeing about Gibraltar are that he's big and slow and the dome is too easy to push into, especially with higher mobility Legends. Gibraltar’s size isn’t something we can change but we did want to tackle the feeling of him being slow. For this we’re adding a momentum passive to help him get around faster while out of combat. It requires him to build up to max unarmed sprint speed and then maintain it for a couple seconds to gain a speed boost. It also gives him some nice synergies with his Fast Shotties upgrade allowing him to activate that speed boost while he has a shotgun out. One thing that has been frustrating with Gibraltar was that his ultimate had a delay before you could throw it - it could make it feel unresponsive and it functions differently from other Legends. We are improving that execution time and so players won’t feel stuck when throwing his ultimate. We wanted to take Gibraltar’s upgrades beyond simple stat increases. To achieve this we’ve added three new upgrades and integrated the larger radius ultimate and faster cooldowns into the base kit. New Upgrades Thunder Dome will electrify the dome of protection. This will make it so the first enemy to enter the dome will take damage and be slowed for a short time. This should give the players in the dome some added protection and will make enemies think twice before pushing in. Healing Dome will allow players to get double healing for small meds while in the healing dome. This will also increase the duration of the dome allowing for more healing. This is a great reset tool, giving Gibraltar and his teammates time to quickly recover. Triple Bombardment will split Defensive bombardment into three charges but with a smaller radius and fewer missiles. This will give players a bit more flexibility on placement and cover different angles versus the single charge version. We think these new upgrades are going to give some extra defense or reset potential depending on your preferred playstyle. WRAITH Wraith has been on a slow decline in pick rate over the years. While she’s always been a popular legend she’s starting to get overshadowed by other Skirmishers. We wanted to find ways to give Wraith some more team utility while also adding some quality of life updates to her base kit. The feedback we’re hearing about Wraith is mainly that she’s feeling outdated and isn’t offering enough with her ultimate. Also that the ultimate cast time is too slow. To address these concerns, we’ll be integrating the two cooldown upgrades into her base kit and replacing them with two new upgrades; she’ll now have access to her abilities more often. We’re also speeding up the cast time for her ultimate, making her less vulnerable during that initial wind up. New Upgrades Phase Dome upgrade will create a dome when Wraith starts channeling her ultimate. Anyone who enters the dome will go into the void, making them invulnerable just like when Wraith uses her tactical. The goal with this is to offer Wraith's teammates a safe place to wait while she’s getting ready to place her portal. Once the portal is placed the dome will end, players will leave the void and be able to enter into Wraith's ultimate portal. The phase dome does have a timeout since Wraith’s channel time is based on distance. We didn’t want to encourage Wraith hiding in a corner while their team got to stay safe in the void. Phase Jumper will extend the duration of Wraith’s tactical ability. She will stay in the void for a longer time. She will also gain the ability to double jump while in the void. This upgrade should give Wraith some extra options for escape and traversal. WATTSON Wattson has had a pretty flat pick rate despite a bit of an uptick during her last set off buffs. While she is still a strong Controller and offers great area management, we wanted to give her some small buffs and add synergies with Hardlight Meshes. Some of the pain points we are looking to address are the speed of deployment of her tactical and of its effectiveness. For this we’ve sped up the deployment to be much faster and we’ve increased the damage when getting hit by her fences. With the new Hardlight Meshes this season we want our Controllers to have some advantages when fighting around them. Wattson already wants to take control of a room so we’ve given her tools to quickly reinforce Hardlight. By placing her tactical in front of a Hardlight Mesh it will be instantly reinforced. This will rebuild and reinforce broken Hardlight also. If an already reinforced mesh breaks while a fence is in front of it, the mesh will rebuild and reinforce after a short cooldown. When placing her ultimate a pulse will be released that will reinforce all Hardlight meshes and rebuild broken Hardlight within the radius of the Interception Pylon. Similar to the tactical, if a mesh breaks that was reinforced by the Pylon it will rebuild and reinforce after a short cooldown. With these new reinforcing capabilities Wattson is going to be able to really lockdown a room with Hardlight. WEAPONS HEMLOK BREACH AR - NEWEST ELITE WEAPON The Hemlok Breach AR is the first ever fully automatic silenced weapon in Apex Legends. It also comes with a secondary fire mode that launches an explosive Breach Charge, dealing extra damage to Hardlight and placeable Legend abilities. We’ve always wanted to add a silencer in Apex Legends as it's an exciting weapon mechanic that we haven't truly explored and adds tactical depth. However, adding one to existing weapons has proved to be a challenge, as doing so could change their core feel. Recently, the Elite Weapon design space, has provided a unique opportunity to experiment and we feel it’s the right spot to introduce the Hemlok Breach AR. With Hardlight allowing controllers to lock down areas we wanted to provide players with exciting new tools to break into those bunkers. Building an elite weapon to fulfill this fantasy was an exciting opportunity because we could be a little more explosive with our ideas. RE-45 BURST The RE-45 Burst will be permanently replacing the RE-45 Auto in loot pools! We had long discussions and evaluated match data trying to decide if we can reasonably replace the RE-45 Auto, but ultimately we feel the RE-45 Burst is a much more exciting version of the weapon with a more defined identity. In its energy form, it no longer competes in a saturated design space with other high fire rate, automatic, light ammo weapons and helps create more diversity in the weapon roster. MARSKMAN WEAPONS If you’ve been following along for any length of time, you know that we’ve been working to shift away from a long-range, Marksman-dominated meta to more close quarters combat. We’re happy to report that we’re seeing Marksman weapon dominance finally coming down and the viability of other weapon types rebounding as a result. 2026-02-24 through 2026-03-02 That said, we have noticed the 30-30 Repeater lagging behind other weapons in its class so we are reverting a previous nerf to base damage. 30-30 Repeater base damage: 41 → 43 SHOTGUNS After our recent round of buffs to shotguns, we have seen some encouraging upward progress to their encounter win rate. 2026-02-24 through 2026-03-02 While we’re happy with this progress, they still remain relatively low on the graph compared to the rest of the weapons. Because we know that a meta dominated by shotgun strength and popularity can lead to a lot of player frustration, we are going to proceed cautiously and continue to monitor the situation. That being said, the EVA-8 is receiving a small buff to increase its reload speed. P2020 AND PROWLER 2026-02-24 through 2026-03-02 Compared to their respective weapon classes, the P2020 and Prowler are lagging behind slightly, so we’re giving them both a bit of a tune up! P2020 magazine: [8 → 9] P2020 points to unlock Hammerpoint Rounds: [500 → 425] Prowler burst fire delay reduced Prowler’s recoil reduced CONCLUSION We hope these Designer’s Notes have helped provide meaningful insight into the dev team’s decision making processes for the balance changes in the second half of Breach. For a full change log of everything happening in Apex Legends, be sure to check out the Patch Notes, available now!Apex Legends x Gundam Event
Buster Rifle: Armed. Bit Staves: Activated. Gundam Takeover: Imminent. Gundam comes to the Outlands March 10. Fight in the Gundam universe and wield iconic weapons like the Buster Rifle, unleash Gundam Wildcard abilities, and fight on a Broken Moon filled with destroyed Mobile Suits and Gundam Wing statues. Celebrate your love of the fandom (without getting a Gquuuuuux tattoo) with Legendary cosmetics, Gundam-inspired skins, a Limited Edition Gunpla drop, and more. WILDCARD: GUNDAM TAKEOVER Drop into Wildcard and earn your wings. Broken Moon transforms into a full Gundam battlefield for the event, with destroyed Mobile Suits scattered across the terrain, massive climbable Wing Gundam statues, and ships battling overhead. Grab the Buster Rifle from Care Packages and launch skyward for aerial recon, scan through walls to mark every enemy, and fire laser beams that cut through cover and explode on impact. Use Bit Staves as shields to absorb damage while you push, or switch to Drone Command and send them out to patrol, scan, and attack anyone who dares trespass in your territory. Unleash lethal Gundam abilities with New Wild Cards, including: Epyon's Lash: Adds a magnetic melee pull Tactical ability, and more. Heavyarms Salvo: Marks enemies for air support missile strikes after landing multiple hits. Zero Sacrifice: Adds the option to trigger a self-destruct explosion on knock, taking nearby enemies with you. Zero Rebirth: Enter the Void when knocked, then exit with 1 HP, temporary invulnerability and health regen. EVENT ITEMS We thought long and hard about which Legends were the right fit for each Mobile Suit. And after only a few dozen hours of fierce debate and a rewatch of original VHS tapes (subbed obviously), we set to work. We’ve got Gundam-inspired skins for 8 Legends, each one tailored to the Legend’s personality, playstyle, and lore: Alter: Gundam Epyon Conduit: Gundam Aerial Crypto: Freedom Gundam Gibby: Xi Gundam Mirage: Destiny Gundam Spec II Octane: GQuuuuuux Revenant: Gundam Deathscythe Hell Valkyrie: Wing Gundam Zero Plus, a Char Aznable-inspired Sparrow Skin available in the Reward Shop. You want more, huh? How about a Buster Rifle? Check out 8 stunning new Gundam-themed weapon skins, including the “Buster Rifle” Kraber, the “Destiny 99” R-99, and the “Aerial 301” R-301. And we’ve also created two Gundam-inspired Mythics for the Event: the Epyon Heat Rod and Beam Saber. The Epyon Heat Rod is available as a possible drop in Gundam Heat Rod Event Packs, while the Beam Saber is available as a possible drop in Gundam Beam Saber Event Packs. REWARD SHOP Earn Medals during the Event to unlock items from the Reward Shop, including an Epic Char Aznable-inspired Sparrow skin, plus a Gundam-themed Banner Frame, Trackers, and Sticker. APEX LEGENDS X GUNDAM STORE Hit up the limited-time Apex Legends x Gundam Event Store to directly purchase any Legend Skins from the Event until April 14th. LIMITED-EDITION GUNPLA DROP Ready for a little merch drop? To celebrate the Apex Legends x Gundam Event out of game, BANDAI NAMCO is releasing 3 limited-edition Apex Legends-inspired Model Kits (GUNPLA) for sale: RG1/144 FREEDOM GUNDAM -APEX LEGENDS™ Crypto Ver- RG 1/144 WING GUNDAM ZERO EW -APEX LEGENDS™ Valkyrie Ver- RG 1/144 GUNDAM EPYON -APEX LEGENDS™ Alter Ver- Each kit will be available for pre-order online from March 18 while supplies last. Offers may vary or change, visit the Apex Legends Shop or PREMIUM BANDAI for more details. NEW TO GUNDAM? There’s never been a better time to dive into one of the most influential mech-driven, character-focused universes ever created. From the iconic anime and model kits (GUNPLA) video games, trading card games, and new film releases, Gundam continues to evolve. Explore the Gundam universe on the official Gundam site, or check out the official Gundam YouTube Channel. PATCH NOTES: RECENT UPDATES & FIXES Here are some updates and fixes from our most recent patches: Fixed an edge case crash impacting Trios and Duos Server stability improvements Fixed a hole where players were able to fall through on Broken Moon in BR and Wildcard Completing Road to Ranked Challenges now correctly unlock Ranked Fixed a situation where players would lose access to main tabs on home screens or their currencies would display incorrectly "Riptide Predator" Peacekeeper Skin draw speed now matches all other weapons Choosing a controller perk now grants that Legend the ability to reinforce Hardlight as intended Players will no longer spawn over water in Wildcard Adjusted Ranked lobbies to provide either a Dropship or Drop Zone experiences based on that lobby's players' rank composition All matches with 10+ Diamond players OR 1+ Master/Predator player will have Drop Zones Players may experience a mixture of Dropship and Drop Zone matches, particularly for Platinum players or those squadding up with Diamond+ players, as we work out the thresholds If your pending lobby will have Drop Zones you will see “RANKED - DROP ZONES” displayed on the match loading screen When loading into a Drop Zones match, the Rank Tier Display will show each player's individual Rank Tier (Dropship matches will keep the current 'Squad' version of the Rank Tier Distribution) ON OUR RADAR Here’s a couple of the open issues that we’ve seen some community chatter around that are currently being worked on. Stay up to date with our progress on these issues and more on our public Trello board. When using a controller, there is an issue where some Legends cannot activate their ultimate while their tactical is available USE YOUR HEAD, EARN YOUR WINGS Join the endless waltz: the Apex Legends x Gundam Event drops March 10. Play Apex Legends™ for free* now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, Nintendo Switch™ 2 and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on X, Instagram, TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends™ news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. †Not available in all territories. Apex Legends x Gundam EventApex Legends™: Breach Patch Notes
Legends, it’s just about time for the newest season: Breach, so grab your squadmates and get ready! As with any new season, there’s plenty of new and exciting changes to look forward to! Breach adds Hardlight Mesh to Apex Legends, encouraging new breach-and-clear gameplay. Also, Fuse is getting a Rework, Catalyst and Bloodhound are getting updates, and we’re seeing the meta continue to shift towards close quarters combat with Marksman nerfs and Shotgun buffs! Plus, we think you’re going to like the changes to Knockdown Shields and Backpacks… So get ready to kick down the door on Apex Legends: BREACH. For an overview of some of Breach’s key updates, check out our highlights blog from last week and for details on all seasonal changes, please read on! HARDLIGHT MESH A NEW ENTRY INTO THE WORLD - Hardlight The Apex Games are evolving once again, adding new ways for players to move, engage, and fight. Legends will encounter Hardlight across windows in structures scattered throughout the world. Hardlight acts as destructible and breachable Windows. While Hardlight Meshes are intact they are translucent: allowing players to see through them, but they block projectiles and player movement. When broken or damaged, Hardlight Meshes rebuild after a lengthy delay. Hardlight takes Damage from weapon fire, and increased Damage from specific weapon classes, Explosives, Melee, and Legends’ Abilities. Break Hardlight to breach into buildings creating new entries, and find new angles to lay down an assault on opponents. Hardlight can be Rebuilt or Reinforced by Controller Legends. Reinforced Hardlight is much stronger than normal Hardlight meshes, taking more damage before breaking. Providing Controller Legends an opportunity to bunker down and delay enemy assaults. Hardlight Details: At Match Start: Hardlight Meshes are automatically spawned into the world at preset positions on various structures. Hardlight Mesh defaults to 200 HP. Hardlight takes increased damage from Explosives (8.5x), Shotguns (2.5x), Snipers (3.5x), and Legend Abilities (10.0x). Hardlight takes damage from Ring. Hardlight cannot repair, rebuild, or be Reinforced in Ring. Upon Reinforce, Hardlight health total is set to 1250HP. Hardlight cannot be rebuilt immediately after breaking. Rebuild Delay: 4 seconds Controllers subject to a limit on the number of Reinforced Hardlights: Max 4 Reinforced Hardlights. Reinforced Hardlight Decays when the original reinforcing player exceeds Reinforcement Limit. Reinforced Hardlight Decays when there are no players nearby for an extended period of time. When Reinforced Hardlight Decays, it returns to a standard Hardlight Mesh state it decays to baseline Health 200 HP. We will be monitoring community feedback about Hardlight as the season progresses and making adjustments as necessary. RANKED MATCHMAKING We are implementing focused changes based on learnings from our previous matchmaking tests. Our previous end-of-season tests that restricted Masters (+Pred) players from matching below various Diamond ranks have led us to bake in these changes directly into each season. To provide the best possible matchmaking experience, we will be shifting the restrictions dynamically each season as Ranked populations naturally shift throughout the duration of the split. The timing of when these restrictions kick in, as well as exactly which Diamond ranks can match with Masters, will depend on when the population of those players is high enough to sustain good matchmaking. We will continue to provide additional updates throughout the coming season as we monitor and adjust. AUDIO UPDATES In Season 28, in response to community feedback, we’re taking it a step further by adding more audio customization options and giving you control. You can look forward to more granular customization options surrounding: Legend Dialogue, Ping Dialogue, and Announcer Dialogue. In Season 27 we added the Focused Mix to provide a more robust contextual in-game soundscape - we’re excited to continue down this path, providing you with even more options to use to customize your experience. In addition to other smaller changes, we’ve also split enemy and geo bullet impact audio in order to prioritize them independently, ensuring players always know when they’ve landed a shot. 28.0 PATCH NOTES LEGENDS FUSE Dev Note: This old dog needed some new tricks. In particular, Fuse’s ultimate was seen as being too difficult to use and often unimpactful. The ult’s new behavior should make it easier to find effective use cases while cementing Fuse’s identity as mobile artillery. With the ultimate focused on clearing out large spaces, we wanted to focus the tactical on being quicker and easier to tag enemies. The reduced duration on Knuckle Cluster can also help you follow up on your own damage, particularly alongside his passive change. Knuckle Jumper replaces Knuckle Hustler as a movement option that feels more Fuse-y, with plenty of nuance to master the many ways to use it. Abilities Passive Fuse is no longer slowed when taking explosive damage Tactical Faster weapon stow time when switching to the tactical Flattened the trajectory to make tap-firing more accurate Reduced delay before explosions start up (was 1.7s, now 1.0s) Increased base damage (was 10, now 15) Reduced the duration by 50% Ultimate Refreshed ultimate behavior. Fires a mortar that explodes against the ground, then sprays out smaller bombs around its landing point. When aiming down sights, the mortar can pierce cover up to 13m deep and deliver explosives to the other side. Upgrades Level 2 Pyro Techniques: Your ultimate will drop behind patches of fire for 8 seconds after the bombs explode Knuckle Jumper: Jumping when next to your own Knuckle Clusters will give you an explosive boost (destroys the cluster afterwards). Level 3 Reignition: Dealing explosive damage to enemies recharges your ultimate (for every 2 damage dealt, reduces cooldown by 1 second) Removed Ring Master, Scar Tissue, and Knuckle Hustler CATALYST Dev note: Catalyst has needed help for a while, especially as other controllers have gotten buffs in the past few seasons. While the ultimate is generally well liked, the tactical needed some attention to help her compete; the bigger area and extra max trap lets you block off more territory. With a reduced activation time and two new upgrade options, you should have more options on how to deploy your spikes to distract and punish your opponents. We have some bigger changes in the works for her, but we feel this is enough to give Catalyst players more opportunities to shine. We will be actively looking for community feedback for how these changes feel, so Catalyst mains, get loud! Abilities Passive Can now reinforce up to 4 doors (was 2) Tactical Flattened the trajectory, slightly lowered the pitch, and increased the overall range Increased size by roughly 50% Reduced the delay before spikes can deal damage (was 2s, now 1s) Can now have 3 traps maximum (was 2) Activation radius reduced by 20% This is how close you have to be before the spikes stand up and the core is vulnerable Ultimate You can now toggle to deploy the ultimate horizontally Length increased by 5m The wall can now build up through standard doors, Lifeline’s D.O.C. Halo, and Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection. Can now be placed on steeper angles Reduced Dark Veil duration when enemies walk through (was 7s, now 5s) Upgrades Level 2 Hidden Spikes: The spike pool is now hidden to enemies while inactive Sole Piercer: Spike traps activate 50% faster and deal 5 more damage per hit Removed Sister Spikes and Long Veil BLOODHOUND Dev note: As the seasons have progressed, Bloodhound has found themselves outclassed by other Recon characters. The tactical and passive changes can help you track where enemy squads are while reducing distractions. Big quality of life changes to the ultimate, on top of the new upgrades, should make it easier to chain kills instead of getting quickly shut down as the fights get more intense. We intend to give them a bigger set of changes down the road, but we’re hoping this is enough to push the veteran Legend back towards relevance as we retool the kit. Abilities Passive Enemies outside of 13m no longer block white ravens from spawning (Flock upgrade brought into base kit) Clues more than 13m away no longer block White ravens (was ~50m) Tactical Total scan duration up to 4s (was 3s), full-body duration remains half the full scan duration (so now 2s, was 1.5s) Reduced screen coloration during scan Fewer clues will pop-up on screen when your tactical successfully scans an enemy Ultimate: Cooldown reduced to 2.5 minutes (was 4 minutes) Activation time reduced by ~20% After activation, the wider FOV gradually shifts back to your normal FOV Knocks while your ultimate is active increase the duration by 5s (will always reset to 10s if below) (Unchanged) Knocks while your ultimate is active resets your tactical duration This has been active for a while but is now called out in the ability description Upgrades Level 2 Taste of Blood: Regen 50 health when getting a knock while your ultimate is active Raven’s Flight: When activating your white ravens, they can ping enemies twice as far as normal Level 3 Hunter’s Agility: Your tactical is faster to use and has -5s cooldown Eye of the Allfather removed from level 2 Removed Raven’s Blessing, Flock, and Sighthound CRYPTO Dev Note: We wanted power coupling to add value for Crypto while actively piloting the drone and scanning enemies. But with the current version, it's main impact is in refunding ult charge on EMP scan. To help refocus the upgrade, we changed the behavior so that it no longer gains ult charge on EMP scan. From data we also saw that the amount of ult charge gained from players was too generous so we're taking the opportunity to bring that in line as well. Prevent Power Coupling for 5s after EMP Reduced charge gained from scanning players from 10 to 5 PATHFINDER Dev Note: Grapple God is the runaway upgrade choice at level 3. We wanted to offer some more benefit to Feeling Zippy without a big refresh for Pathfinder so the choices are more compelling. Feeling Zippy additionally increases allied movement speed on Energized Ziplines from 1000 -> 1350 Feeling Zippy additionally increases allied acceleration on Energized Ziplines from 700 -> 800 OCTANE Dev Note: Daredevils time extension was letting Octane chain sequential fights longer than we'd like. As such we're making an adjustment to the max time extension. Max Duration extension reduced from 6s to 3s WEAPONS ANIMATIONS New inspect animations EVA 8 Peacekeeper Sentinel MARKSMAN WEAPONS G7 Scout [Care Package] Added Hop-up: Double Tap Trigger Damage increased to 37 (was 36) Increased rate of fire Can be equipped with sniper optics Bocek Compound Bow Max damage decreased to 60 (was 65) Max energized damage decreased to 50 (was 55) Increased draw time 30-30 Repeater Decreased base damage to 41 (was 43) Decreased charged damage multiplier Slightly increased charge time Triple Take Reduced rate of fire Slightly increased choke time PISTOL P2020 [Floor Loot] Removed Hop-Up: Kinetic Feeder Damage decreased to 23 (was 25) Reduced reload speed Reduced rate of fire Increased enhanced hipfire spread SHOTGUNS Dev Note: With Hardlight making its grand entrance into the Apex Games, it felt right for the Breach and Clear weapon class to make their way to the spotlight. Shotguns are getting a little love with some targeted updates and new hop-up additions. Mastiff Decreased pellets per blast to 5 (was 6) Damage per pellet increased to 19 (was 16) Adjusted blast pattern EVA-8 Slightly increased rate of fire Tightened blast pattern LOCKED HOP-UPS Dual Shell 300 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Added to: Mastiff and 30-30 Repeater Hammerpoints 500 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Added to: P2020 Disruptors 500 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Added to: Peacekeeper Gun Shield Generator Removed from: Tripletake, Hemlok and R301 Graffiti Mod Removed from: Volt and Mastiff Added to: L-STAR and Longbow DMR Double Tap Trigger Added to: EVA-8 Turbocharger Decreased points to unlock to 500 on the Devotion (was 600) BALANCE UPDATES Care Package Rotation P2020 return to the floor (details below) G7 Scout enters the Care Package (details below) Gold Weapon Rotation Sentinel, VK-47 Flatline, Peacekeeper, 30-30 Repeater, Akimbo P2020 Evo Changes Reviving Teammates only provides full Evo (100 points) for the first 2 Revives per team per game. Each subsequent Revive will reward 25 less Evo until no Evo is rewarded. Dev Note: At higher levels of play, we have observed players are intentionally getting knocked to set up Revives for excessive Evo gain. We’re activating a diminishing return on Revives to reduce the max Evo that can be farmed in this way. Don’t feed face for Evo, it does not pay dividends. EQUIPMENT Dev Note: We’re doing a little loot pool clean-up with this patch. Integrated Knockdown Shields not only keep your survivability consistent with Evo progression across the game, but it also means that when you are looting, you will be finding more desirable items in the loot pool. We’re actioning on community feedback and making changes to White Backpacks, giving players an easier looting ramp up in early game, and removing an item of negligible value in late game. Now, in their place, you’ll find more of what you want and start with more inventory space. Knockdown Shields Removed from loot pool. Knockdown shield level is now tied to legend level. i.e. Legend Level 1 = White Knockdown Backpacks White backpack removed from loot pool. White backpack added to starter kit. MAPS Pubs & Ranked Broken Moon E-District World’s Edge Mixtape 2/10/26 - 3/24/26 Map Rotation TDM Fragment, Skull Town, Zeus Station CONTROL Production Yard, Barometer, Lava Siphon GUN RUN Wattson Pylon, Monument, Skull Town RANKED Drop Zones disabled in Ranked All Ranked matches return to the singular Dropship deploy, with Jump Masters leading your skydives into the BR, putting the game start back into your hands, Legends. Dev Note: Drop Zones was a big change for Ranked, a way to bring fairer and faster starts to the Ranked experience. While we saw positive reactions and outcomes for some players, it was not a universal win for everyone. Some players felt that having randomly assigned Drop Zones deterred them from the playstyle they wanted and greatly impacted their match outcome. For now, returning to the big Dropship brings us back to known ground and puts full control back in your hands. We are still working out what the future looks like for Drop Zones, as part of the overall future of Ranked and competitive play. Ranked Ladders (coming later this split) Ranked Event 1 2/19/2026 2/22/2026 Ranked Event 2 2/26/2026 3/1/2026 Ranked Event 3 3/5/2026 3/8/2026 Ranked Event 4 3/12/2026 3/15/2026 Ranked Event 5 3/19/2026 3/22/2026 Ranked Event 6 4/2/2026 4/5/2026 Ranked Event 7 4/9/2026 4/12/2026 Ranked Event 8 4/16/2026 4/19/2026 Ranked Event 9 4/23/2026 4/26/2026 Ranked Event 10 4/30/2026 5/3/2026 WILDCARD Wildcard 2/10/26 - 3/10/26 Wildcard: Kings Canyon Wild Cards Wild Card Rotation Here are the Wild Cards that will be available this season: Chain Reaction Damage is chained to additional enemies within an affected area Crackerjack Instantly reload weapon on knock Extra Ordnance The player gains the ability to carry +1 Ordnance Fast Draw Reload weapons and use shield cells faster Get Up and Go When a player revives a teammate, both receive a burst of speed Good Doctor Revive teammates with additional health and shields Gren-Aid Mark enemies damaged by your explosives Love Potion When using a consumable, nearby teammates receive the same health Sent Packing Explosions have increased knockback. Smoke Out Drop smoke cover when downed, smoke regens shields for self and teammates Status Report Reveal enemy locations on knock Wildcard Respawning When players die in quick succession, they will be more aggressively pushed further away from their previous death location and closer towards the center of the ring. Dev Note: After parsing the data from Wildcard matches, we are seeing an emerging pattern that the majority of fights are happening in the same POI for a large portion of a Wildcard match. We hope that this change will slow down the rate at which players continue to re-land at a hot drop POI and allow for a bit more breathing room for players to reset. Controller Legends Controller Legends can now remotely pick up their deployed tacticals, just as they can in other game modes. Dev Note: With Wildcard disabling all Class Perks, we observed this to be a massive QoL improvement for players and have now enabled this perk. BOT ROYALE EVOLVED Bot Royale has evolved, it is now a full BR experience mixing humans and Apex Bots. Bot Royale Evolved lobbies will consist of 1-5 full human squads and 15-19 Apex Bots squads (20 squads total). Bot Royale Evolved has a tighter matchmaking compared to Trios to make sure you have an opponent at your level. If we cannot find those, we backfill with bots. Bot Royale Evolved has the same game length and ring tuning as Unranked BR (whereas the original Bot Royale had shorter matches) for a full BR experience. XP gains are no longer capped, and the ability to progress your Challenges has been added! Earning Badges is still restricted, and no stats will advance while playing this mode. Dev Note: By designing a space with less pressure than Unranked, Ranked and Wildcard, we hope to provide a game mode that can be played for different use cases: Learning the game at your own pace, practice with a friend, warm-up before jumping into a more intense game mode, wind down after some high-intensity ranked games, etc. Regardless of what drives you to play Bot Royale Evolved, your time will be well spent and you will continue to progress towards Challenge and Account rewards. APEX BOTS New accuracy system that rewards players for moving and shooting. Stand still and their accuracy will increase! New drop logic system Apex Bots will distribute evenly across POIs, allowing the decision to hotdrop on you - the player! Improved ring survival Apex Bots have a better understanding of the ring, will rotate to safe areas and avoid fighting while in the ring. Improved strafing When in combat range, bots will strafe to avoid incoming damage New Bot Loadout System While Apex Bots will still loot, as they survive into further rounds their loadouts will improve with better attachments and better equipment. Making them a tougher target in further rounds. Improved Squad Coherence Apex Bot squads will no longer roam away from their squad, they’ll stick close to their squad leader to move as a group and attack as a group. Dev Note: Improvements to Apex Bots are key to providing a fun and challenging experience for our lower-skilled players, as well as improving the overall matchmaking quality for unranked BR modes. We hope that you enjoy the new Apex Bots as we work to monitor, tune and improve their challenge profiles and their overall behaviours. BUG FIXES Bug fix for potential issues on Storm Point where the first Ring could spawn in playable space before closing for Round 1. Fixed issue where the Power Booster Amp UI would be present even when you did not have the Amp equipped. Fixed issue where Crate Weapons could lose their infinite ammo when using the Infinite Ammo Amp. Fixed controller Legends not being able to remotely pick up their tactical in Wildcard Fixed some effects not playing correctly on the reactive EVA-8 skin “Heart of Brimstone” LEGENDS Octane Fixed FOV scaling issues with Stim Surge Fixed Stim Surge sometimes lowering your speed Fixed Stim Surge being used first if it was previously canceled with a mantle Fixed a bug where Stim Surge would trigger automatically in a multitude of contexts Fixed a bug where Daredevil could grant Battle Surge movement speed buff in addition to fast reloads Valkyrie Fixed the ultimate being blocked by a Trident and leaving the scan on permanently QUALITY OF LIFE Control Weapons will no longer interrupt shooting, healing, or other actions when a player levels up. Weapons will now seamlessly update in hand or in their inventory upon level up, matching the way it works in Wildcard. The button prompt for manually upgrading a weapon has been removed, as the weapons will upgrade seamlessly. Ballistic Ballistic's Sling will no longer interrupt shooting when the Sling weapon is being upgraded/downgraded as part of the Ultimate or when leveling up EVO. Settings Menu Gameplay menu options have been broken up and reorganized into 5 subcategories (Combat, Movement, HUD UI, Accessibility, Privacy) so they’re easier to find. Added additional voicelines when pinging an Elite Weapon. Respawn Beacon icons on the map and mini-map will now flash after they have been used by another team. ENGINE Improved graphics device selection when multiple are present on the system. Added a user facing error message if the minimum spec Shader Model 6.0 is not supported, including a reminder that this is likely due to outdated drivers. WISHLIST UPDATE Certain Rare, Epic, and Legendary Apex Packs can now be upgraded to Wishlist-enabled packs. Once these packs are upgraded, your Active Wishlist selections will influence the guaranteed item slot for these packs. All previous rarity drop rates and Apex Pack guarantee rules apply to the upgraded Wishlist pack. Upgrade Apex Packs into Wishlist-enabled packs in the Pack Inventory Screen using Legend Tokens. The Upgrade button will only show for eligible packs and you can upgrade multiple at a time. If your Wishlist is Unavailable, pack upgrading is also unavailable. The cost to upgrade is: Rare Apex Pack: 1,500 Legend Tokens Epic Apex Pack: 3,000 Legend Tokens Legendary Apex Pack: 5,000 Legend Tokens Play Apex Legends for free* now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™ 2, and PC via the EA app, Epic, and Steam. Follow Apex Legends™ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out our forums. Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest Apex Legends news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. For more information, please refer to EA’s Online Service Updates at https://www.ea.com/service-updates. *Applicable platform account and platform subscription (sold separately) may be required. A persistent internet connection and EA account required. Age restrictions apply. Includes in-game purchases. †Not available in all territories. Apex Legends™: Breach Patch NotesFeel the holiday rush in the Merry Mayhem Event
AMPED OVERVIEW We’re starting the hype train for Season 27: Amped, right now, and this is your invitation to get on board! There’s plenty to be excited about this season: major changes to Olympus, Valkyrie retakes the skies, while Rampart and Horizon are getting tune ups, the meta is shifting to close range chaos with a new ‘Double Tap Alternator’ Hop-Up and Gold Laser Sight for pistols and SMGs, and we’re introducing fun updates to Tridents! Grab your friends, squad up and get ready to dive into Amped! For additional insights into some of Amped’s key updates, check out our highlights blog from last week and for details on all seasonal changes, please read on! ANTI-CHEAT Before we get into the nitty gritty of seasonal changes, a quick Anti-Cheat update for you all! As part of our continued efforts to combat cheaters in Apex Legends, we launched a new detection model, in early October, to assist us in investigating possible 3rd party bots in our game. In just two weeks, over 1,000 bot accounts were banned. We saw a majority of bans hit Windows PC (71%) and Switch (21%). Detected bot infection rates spiked after the rollout as expected - meaning the new tech is successfully identifying bots - then tapered off as we banned these accounts. As a result, we saw a meaningful decline of player reports (for AFK and abandoned match behavior) on Switch and reports per user over the subsequent 28 days decreased for both PC and Switch. Our team is continuing their hard work to establish and maintain competitive integrity and we will continue to provide updates when we have information to share! AUDIO UPDATES We've been developing many new audio systems to address community feedback and improve audio reliability.This season we’re adding a new "Focused" mix option, intended to give you control over how you prefer to hear the action. Our new threat system will add dynamic contextual awareness to the mix. Multiband sidechain compression will help enemy footstep audio be heard more clearly. Environmental audio improvements offer a smoother blend between indoor and outdoor spaces. Additionally, we’re now armed with improved telemetry to more accurately discover causes of audio failures. We will continue to monitor feedback in our community spaces as it helps us understand how these changes affect your gameplay experience as we continue to work on these systems. For more details, please check our audio-focused dev blog. GAME STABILITY We rolled out a profiling tool to our production servers to capture more information about instances of slow performance on servers. This tool (RProf) has commonly been used in our development environment to find slow segments of engine code and game script, but is now tuned for production use. From this, we have been able to examine and fix cases that are more unique to running the game at scale, and can more easily track degradations in performance over time. As always, game stability work is always happening behind the scenes and we will share updates when we have them! RANKED This season, we’re making balance adjustments to Kill Point values making eliminations more rewarding across all placements. We’re also making changes to loot distribution across Ranked Drop Zone POIs - there will still be some variance, obviously, but we’re hoping things feel a lot more even. We will continue to monitor player feedback on this change, and general sentiment surrounding drop zones. Additionally, we are reducing the requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail from 3 completions to 2 to simplify seasonal goals, reduce grind, and make the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. You’ll find all of the details about these changes later in this Patch Notes. NEW FEATURE: WISHLIST We want to give players some additional options for certain packs. Wishlist is a feature that will be enabled on select packs and will influence cosmetic drops for the Legends and loadouts you designate. Here’s how it works: Pick 5 Legends and 2 Weapons to add to your Wishlist Depending on the pack Wishlist may only impact items of a certain rarity (specific rarity tier will be noted) If the pack drops a Wishlist-enabled item you are guaranteed at least one item from your chosen Legends All selections must be valid for Wishlist to be Active. A selection is valid as long as you don't own 100% of the items for that Legend or Weapon Class from the Apex Pack Pool If a Wishlist is Inactive or Unavailable at the time of opening a Wishlist-enabled pack, the items will instead draw from the generic Apex Pack pool. You get 5 Wishlist edits per season (refreshed each new season). After that, you can keep editing anytime for 500 Legend Tokens per edit. See here for more specific details on how Wishlist functions and how our packs function. NEW: AMPED SEASONAL PACK This season, we're introducing the Amped Seasonal Pack, available all season long. This special pack is Wishlist-enabled and gives you a chance at unlocking: The new ‘Bird of Prey’ Mythic R-99 Weapon New Legendary cosmetics to change up your look Wishlist activation for Epic-tier drop, relevant to your chosen Legends or Weapons The Amped Seasonal Pack brings a new and more focused way to earn cosmetics all season long. You can earn up to 5 Amped Seasonal Packs throughout the season via challenges and the free Battle Pass Tracks. For full details and Amped Seasonal Pack probabilities, please view our Additional Pack Disclosures page (updates November 4, 2025). PATCH NOTES BALANCE UPDATES Care Package Rotation Triple Take return to the floor (details below) C.A.R. SMG enters the Care Package (details below) Gold Weapon Rotation Alternator SMG, G7 Scout, Havoc, Bocek Compound Bow, Akimbo Mozambique GAME UPDATES Extended Supply Bins & Weapon Supply Bins Added icons back to the minimap and full-map Arsenals Increased ammo bricks to give full stacks of the applicable ammo type Replicators New craftable item: Arrow Bundle Only obtainable when crafting Ammo when Bocek Compound Bow is in your loadout On pick-up, fully replenishes your arrow reserves on one Bocek weapon Can only be picked up if you are holding a Bocek and it is not full on arrows Mantle Boost Added Mantle Boost ability to all Legends, granting velocity on a timed input after a mantle Added options for customizing Mantle Boost input key or button Added option to remap character movement ability Added options for reducing the UI footprint on the HUD for Mantle Boost Dev Note: We were inspired to add Mantle Boost by our players’ exploration of the unique momentum-based movement of Apex Legends. This new official Mantle Boost will enable all players to perform an advanced movement technique. It will be accessible, but it still requires skill to learn to use it and to know when it’s the right time to Boost. Heat Shields Update Heat Shields removed from Core BR Modes (including Trios and Duos). Dev Note: We rolled out the removal of Heat Shields in Ranked with Season 26, focusing decision making for players around strong strategic plays and rotations. We have seen positive outcomes with that change so we’re expanding the change to all Core BR modes. Playing outside the Ring should be a risky endeavor that is only a last resort. Don’t wanna get burned? Get a move on, Legend. Tridents 2.0 Foundational Improvements: Updated model and textures Collision tightened for a smoother ride and to allow occupants to be hit Trident can now be damaged and destroyed – starts at 800 health Trident occupants and the vehicle can be damaged independently Tridents can now damage enemies if hitting them at high speeds Camera and controls tuned for more responsiveness and precision Boost Meter has replaced the single use Boost New Movement Features: Jump: Press Jump to jump from the ground Glide: Hold Jump to Glide when off the ground. While gliding: Trident will very slowly lose altitude Trident can be steered in any direction Trident can boost forward New Healing and Spawning Features Auto-Healing: If a Trident avoids damage for a period of time, it will slowly regenerate health and regress its damage state Auto-Respawn: A destroyed Trident will be replaced by a new one at its original spawning location after an indicated delay Improved UI to better indicate to driver and passengers Trident health and damage information Control mappings adjusted to account for new features Dev Note: The Tridents are receiving a tune-up this season with a number of redesigns to offer players a more interesting, responsive, and satisfying driving experience as well as provide exciting counter play options. Tridents no longer split damage between occupants which should make them feel like a safer tool to use when making large rotations. However, they'll no longer provide movable indestructible cover when being used more tactically during a firefight. LEGEND CHANGES VALKYRIE Dev note: Valkyrie’s pick rate has been up and down all year, and we feel she’s currently in a place where she’s not living up to her potential. This set of buffs should help to modernize this fan-favorite. VTOL Jets Jetpack cooldown and fly speed reworked Cooldown Recharge delay significantly reduced (8 → 2.5 sec) Recharge time significantly reduced (~10.9 → 3 sec) Fuel doesn’t start recharging until you touch ground EMP effects drain jetpack fuel Speed Horizontal fly speed and strafe amount significantly increased Vertical fly speed increased. Additional vertical speed when flying straight up Reduced initial speed boost for first 0.5 sec (~25% faster → ~5% slower) Total fuel reduced (8 → 6 sec) Initial fuel consumption slightly increased Dev note: Valkyrie’s Jetpack broke new ground when it was introduced to Apex, but over time we started to feel it wasn’t living up to the high-flying promise of a Jetpack character. This new change rewards longer burns of the jetpack, allowing you to cover distance faster. Learning to use the (largely forgotten) flight mode is one of the keys to success with the updated jetpack! Missile Swarm Removed self damage and stun effect Added short (1.5 sec) full body scan on hit Tac damage now puts movement passives on cooldown (like other EMP effects) Removed 5 seconds of cooldown (30 sec → 25 sec) Removed vertical clearance firing restriction Improved missile pathing to work better in some situations such as low clearance situations (firing indoors or at targets under a bridge) Increased max range (~100m → 125m) Dev note: Valkyrie’s tactical was one of her biggest pain points, with many situations where it was either was more likely to stun her than to hit the target (or just wasn’t allowed). We improved the reliability of her tactical, and also took the opportunity to lean a bit more into Valkyrie’s identity as a recon by adding a short scan to the missiles. Skyward Dive Increased launch height 15% (integrated Afterburners upgrade) Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3 min → 2.5 min) Reduced delay before takeoff (2 sec → 1.5 sec) Slightly reduced time slowly rising before takeoff (1.83 sec → 1.33 sec) Removed self cancel cooldown penalty Reduced damage cooldown penalty (54 sec → 30 sec) Skydive Improvements Allow tactical to be fired when skydiving (except from drop ship) Land faster when skydiving (spend less time slow falling near ground) Dev note: The skies belong to Valkyrie. Upgrades Level 2 Afterburners: Removed (included by default) Eyes in the Sky: Moved to Level 2 Full Coverage: Changes missile swarm pattern to 4x5 (was 3x5) Level 3 Full Tank: Removed (jetpack reworked) NEW Supersonic: Ultimate launch time reduced ~50% REWORKED: Aerial Expert: Improves jetpack horizontal speed, significantly improves handling, decreases initial fuel consumption, slightly reduces total fuel. Dev note: To top off Valk’s update, we added a few new premier upgrades, allowing you to push either her Ultimate or Passive to their final forms. RAMPART Dev note: Rampart’s effectiveness and pick rate have slipped to extremely low levels in recent months. We hope this refresh to her kit will enhance her survivability and make her more of a viable Controller pick. Battle Modder Adds additional effect to old passive (Modded Loader). Cover walls permanently gain health as Rampart gains Evo Levels. Amped Cover Adds amped shield roof to wall Walls can now be charged by doing damage through the amped shield or by having the wall be damaged by enemies. Wall charge is converted to a speed boost by going over the wall Wall can store up to 300 damage, which results in a 15 second speed boost at full charge. Speed boost time scales linearly with stored charge. Wall charge is only usable by teammates, and each teammate can use stored charge individually. Speed boost is automatically given to nearby teammates when the wall is destroyed. Damage to wall is stored at 25%, while damage through amped shield is stored at 100% Speed boost only applies when sprinting Battle Modder health increases: Wall health increase by 200 per Evo level (400 → 800 at max level) Shield health increased by 25 per Evo level (175 → 225 at max level) Health while wall building reduced (120 → 100 ) Amped shield arc star damage multiplier removed (1.5x → 1.0x) Wall frag grenade damage multiplier increased (1.0x → 2.0x) Dev note: Rampart’s walls are core to her identity and playstyle, but felt like they’d been left behind. With her new passive giving the walls more health and roof, the walls should keep you safer in more situations while the speed boost should help your team capitalize on the impact from the wall. We’ve also increased the damage walls take from grenades, and reduced their health while building to preserve counterplay. Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed Bandolier: Removed (replaced with Combat reserve) NEW: Combat reserve: Bigger ammo stacks, extra grenades slots, access red weapon supply bins NEW: Locked and Loaded: gain faster reloads and infinite ammo when behind amped cover and shield is in tact Level 3 Ramped up: Unchanged Amped Reloads: Removed (replaced with Locked and Loaded) NEW: Rebuild Module. Amped cover will regen health and rebuild shield section after not being damaged for a period of time Dev note: Rampart’s upgrades allow you to lean either into a more aggressive Assault playstyle or doubling down on her walls to hold space and apply constant pressure to opposing squads. HORIZON Dev note: Horizon has been in an interesting place in the meta. She is at her lowest pick rate ever, but maintaining a strong encounter win rate. We’re giving her back some of the power that’s been nerfed previously to make her a more attractive pick, and we are adding a few new fun upgrades to play with. We’ll continue monitoring to see how she performs in live. Gravity Lift Increased lift speed (300 → 375) Increased hover time at top of lift (0.5 sec → 1.5 sec) Cooldown reductions: Reduced cooldown by 5 seconds (25 sec → 20 sec) Reduced delay before cooldown starts 8 sec (10 sec → 2 sec) Effectively reduced cooldown from 35 sec → 22 sec Black Hole Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3.5 min → 3 min) Increased health (175 → 225) Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed (included by default) Tactical Cooldown: Removed (included by default) NEW: Gravity Boots: Press crouch while in the air to fall much more quickly NEW: Newt Scoot: Press jump after exiting gravity lift to glide Level 3 Conservation of Energy: Unchanged Combat Reserve: Removed NEW: Knock Expert: gain tactical charge on knocks. REVENANT Dev Note: We are seeing Revenant pull away from the rest of the roster in very high tier lobbies, and believe it's in part due to his ability to drop on enemies suddenly from very far away. Given how fast his 'weapons up' time is now, we felt reducing the maximum amount of distance he can travel in Shadow Pounce will reduce the frustration on the receiving end. We think this combined with the Valkyrie and Horizon changes will create a more even split between our most mobile characters. Reduced the maximum possible velocity of Revenants Shadow Pounce LOOT & ATTACHMENTS AMPS Reduced healing rate of Overflow Healer Added Infinite Ammo and Over Armor to early game floor loot Added Over Armor potential Assault Bin amps ATTACHMENTS Gold Laser Sight New laser tier added: usable with all SMG and Pistol weapons Greatly improves ground and aerial hipfire spread Adds reverse hipfire – Continuous firing tightens hipfire spread LOCKED HOP-UPS Double Tap Trigger 375 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Alternator Accelerator Accelerator removed from all compatible weapons G7 Scout, Flatline, and CAR Skull Piercer Skull Piercer removed from all compatible weapons 30-30, Wingman, and Longbow Graffiti Mod Removed from: Spitfire and EVA-8 Added to: Mozambique and Wingman Gun Shield Generator Removed from: Rampage Added to: Triple Take Selectfire Receiver Increased points to unlock to 450 on the Charge Rifle (Previous Hotfix) WEAPONS LMG All LMGs (Except L-STAR EMG) Removed Reverse Hipfire mechanic from LMGs Hipfire spread decreased to compensate Updated reticles to original plus design Dev Note: Reverse hipfire provides a lot of power in close quarters combat. This season, we want to give some room for our true close quarters weapons to shine, so we have removed this mechanic from LMGs. MARKSMAN All Marksmans Reduced projectile size and scaling Decreased projectile launch speed Reduced headshot damage multiplier Dev Note: The Marksman meta has been reigning strong for a few seasons now and the time has come for us to hit them with some more potent adjustments. We are hoping that these changes will hit their long range consistency, as well as remove the spikiness that can come with landing one or two headshots. 30-30 Repeater Headshot multiplier reduced (Previous Hotfix) Bocek Compound Bow Added 2x-4x AOG Scope as a compatible attachment Dev Note: We did it. Triple Take [Floor Loot] Damage reduced to 22 per bullet (was 23) Increased choke charge time Increased fire rate while hipfiring PISTOL P2020 [Care Package] Increased fire rate Increased magazine size to 26 (was 22) RE-45 Burst Horizontal and vertical recoil improvements (Previous hotfix) Purple mag size increased by 3 (Previous hotfix) SHOTGUN Peacekeeper Full burst damage reduced to 99 (was 108) Increased choke charge time Rechamber time decreased to 1.1 (Reverting a previous hotfix) Clip size reduced to 5 (was 6) (Previous Hotfix) Dev Note: The PK has been super dominant since coming out of the care package. While we have seen some good downward movement since our most recent set of hotfixes, we hear you, damage and range are the pain points here. We are giving back some of the handling we took away in a previous hotfix and hitting it accordingly. SMG Alternator SMG Damage increased to 19 (was 18) Magazine size adjustments: Blue magazine decreased to 26 (was 27) Purple and gold magazines increased to 30 (was 29) While using Double Tap Trigger: Shoots bullets out of each barrel, simultaneously Reduced fire rate Damage per bullet reduced to 15 C.A.R. SMG [Care Package] Added Hop-Up: Galvanic Gavel Allows the magazine to be swapped between Disruptor and Hammerpoint Rounds Upon first pick-up, begins on Disruptor Rounds Magazine size increased to 30 (was 28) Improved reload speed of the mag swap Prowler PDW While in burst fire mode, holding down the trigger now releases subsequent bursts Slightly increased burst delay Volt SMG Increased projectile size in close quarters SNIPER All Snipers Reduced projectile size Charge Rifle Maximum damage reduced to 99 (was 110) Damage reduced by 40% while using Select Fire mode (was 25%) (Previous Hotfix) Damage scaling minimum distance increased to 75 meters (was 50m) (Previous Hotfix) MAPS Olympus: Added Somers University POI (replacing Orbital Cannon) and moved Elysium nearby. Added Gravity Engine POI (replacing Energy Depot) Added Stabilizer POI (replacing Docks) Added Dockyard POI Added large amounts of additional cover in open rotation spaces around the following POIs: Phase Driver Oasis Clinic Hammond Labs Estates Hammond Labs: Transformed terrain and added tunnels to protect players and provide additional options to attack the waterfall high ground. Hammond Labs: Moved additional cover from Control mode into the base map, including the home base structures. Hammond Labs: Added jump tower behind Hammond Labs. Rift: Added new camp in the center of Rift to reduce open space. Added additional cover to open spaces in Rift. Rift: Replaced vacuum behavior of the Rift teleporter with a Horizon Lift to prevent players from entering accidentally. Rift: Added a large camp between Rift and Gardens to resolve the previously large open space and help players contest the high ground. Grow Towers: Replaced the third Grow Tower with buildings and tunnels to help players safely rotate through the POI when teams are holding the towers. Added jump tower. Turbine: Added a new camp underneath the highway between Turbine and Estates to prevent players from being gatekept at the ramp. Turbine: Added a new rotation from the east tunnel that connects directly to Gravity Engine (previously Energy Depot). Carrier: Added two additional doors at the central chokepoint to prevent the fight from stalling. Phase Driver: Increased Phase Driver loot cooldown from 45 seconds to 90 seconds. Added a camp in the circular pit between Hammond Labs and Somers University (previously Orbital Cannon). Bonsai Plaza: Added additional ziplines to access high walls around the POI. Removed a large amount of Trident barriers across the map. Dev Note: While Olympus has been a fan favorite for a while, we want to action on player feedback related to how to improve its competitive integrity. Keeping in mind both high-level matches and overall balance, we made some significant revisions to POIs like Energy Depot and Orbital Cannon to address anything from lopsided rotations to a distinct lack of cover in some of the more desolate areas. It was important to maintain the map’s identity during this process, so we wanted to only add to what makes Olympus so special while being very surgical and precise about anything that was removed or replaced. Pubs & Ranked Rotation Olympus Broken Moon World’s Edge Mixtape 11/04/25 - 1/5/26 Map Rotation TDM Skull Town, Thunderdome, Fragment, Estates CONTROL Barometer, Labs, Production Yard, Lava Siphon GUN RUN Estates, Skull Town, Zeus, Thunderdome WILDCARD Wildcard 11/04/25 - 11/18/25 Wildcard: Kings Canyon Wild Cards We’ve seen meaningful positive player sentiment surrounding Wild Cards in Wildcard, so: Wild Cards are now activated and here to stay, even when we don’t have an active event! Every match now features a range of Wild Cards, bringing extra chaos and surprises for more unpredictable and exciting gameplay. Wild Cards Extra Ordnance Drone Support Smoke Out High Velocity Status Report Speedy Charge Recharger Fast Draw Monstrous Strength Wildcard Gameplay Updates Highlight on Enemy Elimination balance tweaks Enemy highlights will no longer trigger on a team unless there is only one enemy still alive. Enemy highlights will no longer trigger if players choose to manually bleed out. Enemy highlight duration reduced 5 seconds -> 2.5 seconds. Dev Note: Currently in Wildcard, when you eliminate any enemy, their teammates are highlighted for a period of time. We are updating the rules of this system to reduce the benefits of thirsting as well as have more natural encounters without having enemy locations constantly revealed. Shield Cells Increased carrying capacity of shield cells from 12 -> 15 More shield cells spawn in loot, reduced ammo spawns to compensate. Dev Note: We’ve heard feedback that players were running low on healing items throughout a wildcard match, so we have increased carrying capacity and increased their loot spawns to make this pain point a little smaller. Gold 1x Digital Threat sight returns to loot as a rare spawn. Equippable on SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols. Dev Note: Similar to the 1x Holo, The Gold Digital Threat scope has been vaulted for some time, and we know it is a fan favorite for some. We are re-introducing it to the Wildcard loot pool for this season as a fun item to find and make your SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols even more deadly! Wild Cards balance Reduced shield recharge rate on Recharger wildcard when sprinting. Reduced initial speed gain when using the Wallruning wildcard. Dev Note: In Season 26, these wildcards were some of the strongest bunch in the pool and in some cases were becoming frustrating to play against. We are tuning them down a touch to bring them in line with some of the other wildcards coming in this season. New Mythic Weapon rotation. WEAPONS LEAVING L-STAR Devotion LMG Hemlok R-99 Peacekeeper WEAPONS RETURNING Kraber Triple Take Wingman Prowler P2020 Akimbo Rampage LMG Automatically Revved up when first being picked up. G7 Scout Double Tap and Sniper Scopes can be attached. NEW WEAPONS C.A.R. RANKED As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Ranked experience, we conducted a matchmaking test at the end of Season 26 (more on that here). We will return with the results of this test once the data has been compiled, so keep an eye out! Scoring Tuning Kill Points changes 1st: 22 RP (was 20 RP) 2nd: 20 RP (was 18 RP) 3rd: 18 RP (was 16 RP) 4th: 16 RP (was 14 RP) 5th: 16 RP (was 12 RP) 6th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 7th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 8th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 9th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 10th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 11th-15th: 8 RP (was 6 RP) 16th-20th: 6 RP (was 4 RP) Challenger Bonus changes If the killer’s rank is 1 tier lower than the victim: KP +20% bonus, was 15% If the gap is 2 tiers: +30% bonus, was 25% If the gap is 3 tiers: +40% bonus, was 35% Dev Note: Throughout Season 26, we consistently heard feedback that eliminations often felt undervalued compared to placement. Many players expressed that strong combat performance didn’t always translate into meaningful progression, especially in mid-to high-tier lobbies. In Season 27, we’ve adjusted Kill Point values to make eliminations more rewarding across all placements. This tuning increases the RP value earned from fights while keeping placement as a significant factor in final score calculation. Our goal is to better recognize player impact in every match — rewarding those who take risks and perform well in combat, without overshadowing strategic play and survival. Drop Zones Loot Overhaul Made the loot that spawns across all Drop Zone POIs more fair. There is still variance between POIs, but it is much less than previously. Maintains the same number of spawns across the map for each loot item, but changes where they are more likely to spawn, in order to avoid inflation/deflation. These loot changes are for Ranked only, not Unranked. Dev Note updated: Drop Zone has been a contentious topic within the community; while some praised how it improved the competitiveness of Ranked, others expressed concerns - primarily, the negative impact unbalanced POI loot levels have on the fairness of the mode. Our focus is to listen to those concerns to try to bring the feature to a satisfactory spot. As such, we did this loot overhaul to bring POIs in line with each other as far as we could without changing the maps or causing loot inflation/deflation. We'll continue to monitor your feedback as the season progresses. Ranked Ladders (coming later this split) Ranked Ladder Start Date End Date Ranked Ladder 1 11/13/2025 11/16/2025 Ranked Ladder 2 11/20/2025 11/23/2025 Ranked Ladder 3 11/27/2025 11/30/2025 Ranked Ladder 4 12/4/2025 12/7/2025 Ranked Ladder 5 12/11/2025 12/14/2025 Ranked Ladder 6 12/25/2025 12/28/2025 Ranked Ladder 7 1/1/2026 1/4/2026 Ranked Ladder 8 1/8/2026 1/11/2026 Ranked Ladder 9 1/15/2026 1/18/2026 Ranked Ladder 10 1/22/2026 1/25/2026 Ranked Ladder 11 1/29/2026 2/1/2026 Ranked Ladder 12 2/5/2026 2/8/2026 Ranked Challenges The requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail has been reduced from 3 completions to 2. Dev Note: This change simplifies seasonal goals, reduces grind, and makes the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. BUG FIXES Wildcard Fixed players being able to revive each other to stay alive in the ring longer than intended Locked Hop-Ups Fixed Locked Hop-Ups not working properly in the Firing Range Fixed some issues with Ballistic’s sling and Locked Hop-Up weapons Fixed some issues with the Locked Hop-Up UI Ranked Fixed issue where you could not remove map pings in the prematch preview Misc Fixed the infinite ammo amp sometimes causing the player to respawn with locked inventory slots Fixed retro packs in the store not updating the amount of packs already opened Fixed skydive emotes leaving a breadcrumb on the legend tab but not the specific legend which had the new unlock Fixed health bars sometimes not displaying properly when firing through windows Fixed a wall that could be seen through around Artillery LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Fixed issue where camera could jump around when walking into Amped Cover. Catalyst Enemies near her Piercing Spikes should no longer see two threat indicators for a single spike Gibraltar: Fixed incorrect damage flyout UI when shooting his passive arm shield Newcastle Fixed Castle Wall sometimes hitting enemies through floors and walls QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES Requeue, with Squad Requeue has been expanded to allow players outside of a party to opt-in to continuing to play together. Each Party Leader (including parties of 1, ie. solo queuers) has the option to either ‘play again’ and merge their party together with other parties that also want to play again, or they can requeue with only their existing party. This does not create any kind of Friends relationship – it only forms a new Party that can continue to play together without having to return to the Lobby. Designer’s Note: We want to remove as many barriers as possible to keeping a fun time going. When you do find that magical unicorn of a random player and everyone wants to keep playing into the next match, this is the solution. UX/UI Added a button prompt in the Legend Locker screen for Legend skins, Weapon skins, and Melee skins to show/hide the UI to get a better view of the cosmetic Standardized a number of square button widgets, mostly in the lobby menu, to achieve a more consistent interactivity and aesthetic across the game Misc. Added a new voice chat option to toggle your microphone. Ranked - Added announcer VO saying which Drop Zone your team is landing at. Note: The Core on Broken Moon and Trident on Storm Point do not currently have VO. LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Allow interactions such as looting while holding Sheila Added additional placement mode for walls. By pressing Aim Down Sights, you can place a single wall and then pull out your weapons (matching the launch behavior). Placing a wall with the Attack button is unchanged from the current behavior. Reduced size of ‘amped’ bullet tracers when shooting though amped cover Rampart Added voice lines when being summoned to the Void Nexus when knocked ENGINE PC: Improved the performance of loading models and textures on systems with integrated graphics, especially Intel Iris XE laptops. This improves map loading times and reduces issues with missing models in-game. Added PC support for Handheld/Compact UI which makes it easier to play Apex on PC Handheld devices. Players can toggle between Full, Compact or Auto UI in game Settings.Apex Legends™: Amped Patch Notes
AMPED OVERVIEW We’re starting the hype train for Season 27: Amped, right now, and this is your invitation to get on board! There’s plenty to be excited about this season: major changes to Olympus, Valkyrie retakes the skies, while Rampart and Horizon are getting tune ups, the meta is shifting to close range chaos with a new ‘Double Tap Alternator’ Hop-Up and Gold Laser Sight for pistols and SMGs, and we’re introducing fun updates to Tridents! Grab your friends, squad up and get ready to dive into Amped! For additional insights into some of Amped’s key updates, check out our highlights blog from last week and for details on all seasonal changes, please read on! ANTI-CHEAT Before we get into the nitty gritty of seasonal changes, a quick Anti-Cheat update for you all! As part of our continued efforts to combat cheaters in Apex Legends, we launched a new detection model, in early October, to assist us in investigating possible 3rd party bots in our game. In just two weeks, over 1,000 bot accounts were banned. We saw a majority of bans hit Windows PC (71%) and Switch (21%). Detected bot infection rates spiked after the rollout as expected - meaning the new tech is successfully identifying bots - then tapered off as we banned these accounts. As a result, we saw a meaningful decline of player reports (for AFK and abandoned match behavior) on Switch and reports per user over the subsequent 28 days decreased for both PC and Switch. Our team is continuing their hard work to establish and maintain competitive integrity and we will continue to provide updates when we have information to share! AUDIO UPDATES We've been developing many new audio systems to address community feedback and improve audio reliability.This season we’re adding a new "Focused" mix option, intended to give you control over how you prefer to hear the action. Our new threat system will add dynamic contextual awareness to the mix. Multiband sidechain compression will help enemy footstep audio be heard more clearly. Environmental audio improvements offer a smoother blend between indoor and outdoor spaces. Additionally, we’re now armed with improved telemetry to more accurately discover causes of audio failures. We will continue to monitor feedback in our community spaces as it helps us understand how these changes affect your gameplay experience as we continue to work on these systems. For more details, please check our audio-focused dev blog. GAME STABILITY We rolled out a profiling tool to our production servers to capture more information about instances of slow performance on servers. This tool (RProf) has commonly been used in our development environment to find slow segments of engine code and game script, but is now tuned for production use. From this, we have been able to examine and fix cases that are more unique to running the game at scale, and can more easily track degradations in performance over time. As always, game stability work is always happening behind the scenes and we will share updates when we have them! RANKED This season, we’re making balance adjustments to Kill Point values making eliminations more rewarding across all placements. We’re also making changes to loot distribution across Ranked Drop Zone POIs - there will still be some variance, obviously, but we’re hoping things feel a lot more even. We will continue to monitor player feedback on this change, and general sentiment surrounding drop zones. Additionally, we are reducing the requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail from 3 completions to 2 to simplify seasonal goals, reduce grind, and make the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. You’ll find all of the details about these changes later in this Patch Notes. NEW FEATURE: WISHLIST We want to give players some additional options for certain packs. Wishlist is a feature that will be enabled on select packs and will influence cosmetic drops for the Legends and loadouts you designate. Here’s how it works: Pick 5 Legends and 2 Weapons to add to your Wishlist Depending on the pack Wishlist may only impact items of a certain rarity (specific rarity tier will be noted) If the pack drops a Wishlist-enabled item you are guaranteed at least one item from your chosen Legends All selections must be valid for Wishlist to be Active. A selection is valid as long as you don't own 100% of the items for that Legend or Weapon Class from the Apex Pack Pool If a Wishlist is Inactive or Unavailable at the time of opening a Wishlist-enabled pack, the items will instead draw from the generic Apex Pack pool. You get 5 Wishlist edits per season (refreshed each new season). After that, you can keep editing anytime for 500 Legend Tokens per edit. See here for more specific details on how Wishlist functions and how our packs function. NEW: AMPED SEASONAL PACK This season, we're introducing the Amped Seasonal Pack, available all season long. This special pack is Wishlist-enabled and gives you a chance at unlocking: The new ‘Bird of Prey’ Mythic R-99 Weapon New Legendary cosmetics to change up your look Wishlist activation for Epic-tier drop, relevant to your chosen Legends or Weapons The Amped Seasonal Pack brings a new and more focused way to earn cosmetics all season long. You can earn up to 5 Amped Seasonal Packs throughout the season via challenges and the free Battle Pass Tracks. For full details and Amped Seasonal Pack probabilities, please view our Additional Pack Disclosures page (updates November 4, 2025). PATCH NOTES BALANCE UPDATES Care Package Rotation Triple Take return to the floor (details below) C.A.R. SMG enters the Care Package (details below) Gold Weapon Rotation Alternator SMG, G7 Scout, Havoc, Bocek Compound Bow, Akimbo Mozambique GAME UPDATES Extended Supply Bins & Weapon Supply Bins Added icons back to the minimap and full-map Arsenals Increased ammo bricks to give full stacks of the applicable ammo type Replicators New craftable item: Arrow Bundle Only obtainable when crafting Ammo when Bocek Compound Bow is in your loadout On pick-up, fully replenishes your arrow reserves on one Bocek weapon Can only be picked up if you are holding a Bocek and it is not full on arrows Mantle Boost Added Mantle Boost ability to all Legends, granting velocity on a timed input after a mantle Added options for customizing Mantle Boost input key or button Added option to remap character movement ability Added options for reducing the UI footprint on the HUD for Mantle Boost Dev Note: We were inspired to add Mantle Boost by our players’ exploration of the unique momentum-based movement of Apex Legends. This new official Mantle Boost will enable all players to perform an advanced movement technique. It will be accessible, but it still requires skill to learn to use it and to know when it’s the right time to Boost. Heat Shields Update Heat Shields removed from Core BR Modes (including Trios and Duos). Dev Note: We rolled out the removal of Heat Shields in Ranked with Season 26, focusing decision making for players around strong strategic plays and rotations. We have seen positive outcomes with that change so we’re expanding the change to all Core BR modes. Playing outside the Ring should be a risky endeavor that is only a last resort. Don’t wanna get burned? Get a move on, Legend. Tridents 2.0 Foundational Improvements: Updated model and textures Collision tightened for a smoother ride and to allow occupants to be hit Trident can now be damaged and destroyed – starts at 800 health Trident occupants and the vehicle can be damaged independently Tridents can now damage enemies if hitting them at high speeds Camera and controls tuned for more responsiveness and precision Boost Meter has replaced the single use Boost New Movement Features: Jump: Press Jump to jump from the ground Glide: Hold Jump to Glide when off the ground. While gliding: Trident will very slowly lose altitude Trident can be steered in any direction Trident can boost forward New Healing and Spawning Features Auto-Healing: If a Trident avoids damage for a period of time, it will slowly regenerate health and regress its damage state Auto-Respawn: A destroyed Trident will be replaced by a new one at its original spawning location after an indicated delay Improved UI to better indicate to driver and passengers Trident health and damage information Control mappings adjusted to account for new features Dev Note: The Tridents are receiving a tune-up this season with a number of redesigns to offer players a more interesting, responsive, and satisfying driving experience as well as provide exciting counter play options. Tridents no longer split damage between occupants which should make them feel like a safer tool to use when making large rotations. However, they'll no longer provide movable indestructible cover when being used more tactically during a firefight. LEGEND CHANGES VALKYRIE Dev note: Valkyrie’s pick rate has been up and down all year, and we feel she’s currently in a place where she’s not living up to her potential. This set of buffs should help to modernize this fan-favorite. VTOL Jets Jetpack cooldown and fly speed reworked Cooldown Recharge delay significantly reduced (8 → 2.5 sec) Recharge time significantly reduced (~10.9 → 3 sec) Fuel doesn’t start recharging until you touch ground EMP effects drain jetpack fuel Speed Horizontal fly speed and strafe amount significantly increased Vertical fly speed increased. Additional vertical speed when flying straight up Reduced initial speed boost for first 0.5 sec (~25% faster → ~5% slower) Total fuel reduced (8 → 6 sec) Initial fuel consumption slightly increased Dev note: Valkyrie’s Jetpack broke new ground when it was introduced to Apex, but over time we started to feel it wasn’t living up to the high-flying promise of a Jetpack character. This new change rewards longer burns of the jetpack, allowing you to cover distance faster. Learning to use the (largely forgotten) flight mode is one of the keys to success with the updated jetpack! Missile Swarm Removed self damage and stun effect Added short (1.5 sec) full body scan on hit Tac damage now puts movement passives on cooldown (like other EMP effects) Removed 5 seconds of cooldown (30 sec → 25 sec) Removed vertical clearance firing restriction Improved missile pathing to work better in some situations such as low clearance situations (firing indoors or at targets under a bridge) Increased max range (~100m → 125m) Dev note: Valkyrie’s tactical was one of her biggest pain points, with many situations where it was either was more likely to stun her than to hit the target (or just wasn’t allowed). We improved the reliability of her tactical, and also took the opportunity to lean a bit more into Valkyrie’s identity as a recon by adding a short scan to the missiles. Skyward Dive Increased launch height 15% (integrated Afterburners upgrade) Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3 min → 2.5 min) Reduced delay before takeoff (2 sec → 1.5 sec) Slightly reduced time slowly rising before takeoff (1.83 sec → 1.33 sec) Removed self cancel cooldown penalty Reduced damage cooldown penalty (54 sec → 30 sec) Skydive Improvements Allow tactical to be fired when skydiving (except from drop ship) Land faster when skydiving (spend less time slow falling near ground) Dev note: The skies belong to Valkyrie. Upgrades Level 2 Afterburners: Removed (included by default) Eyes in the Sky: Moved to Level 2 Full Coverage: Changes missile swarm pattern to 4x5 (was 3x5) Level 3 Full Tank: Removed (jetpack reworked) NEW Supersonic: Ultimate launch time reduced ~50% REWORKED: Aerial Expert: Improves jetpack horizontal speed, significantly improves handling, decreases initial fuel consumption, slightly reduces total fuel. Dev note: To top off Valk’s update, we added a few new premier upgrades, allowing you to push either her Ultimate or Passive to their final forms. RAMPART Dev note: Rampart’s effectiveness and pick rate have slipped to extremely low levels in recent months. We hope this refresh to her kit will enhance her survivability and make her more of a viable Controller pick. Battle Modder Adds additional effect to old passive (Modded Loader). Cover walls permanently gain health as Rampart gains Evo Levels. Amped Cover Adds amped shield roof to wall Walls can now be charged by doing damage through the amped shield or by having the wall be damaged by enemies. Wall charge is converted to a speed boost by going over the wall Wall can store up to 300 damage, which results in a 15 second speed boost at full charge. Speed boost time scales linearly with stored charge. Wall charge is only usable by teammates, and each teammate can use stored charge individually. Speed boost is automatically given to nearby teammates when the wall is destroyed. Damage to wall is stored at 25%, while damage through amped shield is stored at 100% Speed boost only applies when sprinting Battle Modder health increases: Wall health increase by 200 per Evo level (400 → 800 at max level) Shield health increased by 25 per Evo level (175 → 225 at max level) Health while wall building reduced (120 → 100 ) Amped shield arc star damage multiplier removed (1.5x → 1.0x) Wall frag grenade damage multiplier increased (1.0x → 2.0x) Dev note: Rampart’s walls are core to her identity and playstyle, but felt like they’d been left behind. With her new passive giving the walls more health and roof, the walls should keep you safer in more situations while the speed boost should help your team capitalize on the impact from the wall. We’ve also increased the damage walls take from grenades, and reduced their health while building to preserve counterplay. Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed Bandolier: Removed (replaced with Combat reserve) NEW: Combat reserve: Bigger ammo stacks, extra grenades slots, access red weapon supply bins NEW: Locked and Loaded: gain faster reloads and infinite ammo when behind amped cover and shield is in tact Level 3 Ramped up: Unchanged Amped Reloads: Removed (replaced with Locked and Loaded) NEW: Rebuild Module. Amped cover will regen health and rebuild shield section after not being damaged for a period of time Dev note: Rampart’s upgrades allow you to lean either into a more aggressive Assault playstyle or doubling down on her walls to hold space and apply constant pressure to opposing squads. HORIZON Dev note: Horizon has been in an interesting place in the meta. She is at her lowest pick rate ever, but maintaining a strong encounter win rate. We’re giving her back some of the power that’s been nerfed previously to make her a more attractive pick, and we are adding a few new fun upgrades to play with. We’ll continue monitoring to see how she performs in live. Gravity Lift Increased lift speed (300 → 375) Increased hover time at top of lift (0.5 sec → 1.5 sec) Cooldown reductions: Reduced cooldown by 5 seconds (25 sec → 20 sec) Reduced delay before cooldown starts 8 sec (10 sec → 2 sec) Effectively reduced cooldown from 35 sec → 22 sec Black Hole Reduced cooldown by 30 seconds (3.5 min → 3 min) Increased health (175 → 225) Upgrades Level 2 Ultimate Cooldown: Removed (included by default) Tactical Cooldown: Removed (included by default) NEW: Gravity Boots: Press crouch while in the air to fall much more quickly NEW: Newt Scoot: Press jump after exiting gravity lift to glide Level 3 Conservation of Energy: Unchanged Combat Reserve: Removed NEW: Knock Expert: gain tactical charge on knocks. REVENANT Dev Note: We are seeing Revenant pull away from the rest of the roster in very high tier lobbies, and believe it's in part due to his ability to drop on enemies suddenly from very far away. Given how fast his 'weapons up' time is now, we felt reducing the maximum amount of distance he can travel in Shadow Pounce will reduce the frustration on the receiving end. We think this combined with the Valkyrie and Horizon changes will create a more even split between our most mobile characters. Reduced the maximum possible velocity of Revenants Shadow Pounce LOOT & ATTACHMENTS AMPS Reduced healing rate of Overflow Healer Added Infinite Ammo and Over Armor to early game floor loot Added Over Armor potential Assault Bin amps ATTACHMENTS Gold Laser Sight New laser tier added: usable with all SMG and Pistol weapons Greatly improves ground and aerial hipfire spread Adds reverse hipfire – Continuous firing tightens hipfire spread LOCKED HOP-UPS Double Tap Trigger 375 Locked Hop-Up Points to unlock Compatible with Alternator Accelerator Accelerator removed from all compatible weapons G7 Scout, Flatline, and CAR Skull Piercer Skull Piercer removed from all compatible weapons 30-30, Wingman, and Longbow Graffiti Mod Removed from: Spitfire and EVA-8 Added to: Mozambique and Wingman Gun Shield Generator Removed from: Rampage Added to: Triple Take Selectfire Receiver Increased points to unlock to 450 on the Charge Rifle (Previous Hotfix) WEAPONS LMG All LMGs (Except L-STAR EMG) Removed Reverse Hipfire mechanic from LMGs Hipfire spread decreased to compensate Updated reticles to original plus design Dev Note: Reverse hipfire provides a lot of power in close quarters combat. This season, we want to give some room for our true close quarters weapons to shine, so we have removed this mechanic from LMGs. MARKSMAN All Marksmans Reduced projectile size and scaling Decreased projectile launch speed Reduced headshot damage multiplier Dev Note: The Marksman meta has been reigning strong for a few seasons now and the time has come for us to hit them with some more potent adjustments. We are hoping that these changes will hit their long range consistency, as well as remove the spikiness that can come with landing one or two headshots. 30-30 Repeater Headshot multiplier reduced (Previous Hotfix) Bocek Compound Bow Added 2x-4x AOG Scope as a compatible attachment Dev Note: We did it. Triple Take [Floor Loot] Damage reduced to 22 per bullet (was 23) Increased choke charge time Increased fire rate while hipfiring PISTOL P2020 [Care Package] Increased fire rate Increased magazine size to 26 (was 22) RE-45 Burst Horizontal and vertical recoil improvements (Previous hotfix) Purple mag size increased by 3 (Previous hotfix) SHOTGUN Peacekeeper Full burst damage reduced to 99 (was 108) Increased choke charge time Rechamber time decreased to 1.1 (Reverting a previous hotfix) Clip size reduced to 5 (was 6) (Previous Hotfix) Dev Note: The PK has been super dominant since coming out of the care package. While we have seen some good downward movement since our most recent set of hotfixes, we hear you, damage and range are the pain points here. We are giving back some of the handling we took away in a previous hotfix and hitting it accordingly. SMG Alternator SMG Damage increased to 19 (was 18) Magazine size adjustments: Blue magazine decreased to 26 (was 27) Purple and gold magazines increased to 30 (was 29) While using Double Tap Trigger: Shoots bullets out of each barrel, simultaneously Reduced fire rate Damage per bullet reduced to 15 C.A.R. SMG [Care Package] Added Hop-Up: Galvanic Gavel Allows the magazine to be swapped between Disruptor and Hammerpoint Rounds Upon first pick-up, begins on Disruptor Rounds Magazine size increased to 30 (was 28) Improved reload speed of the mag swap Prowler PDW While in burst fire mode, holding down the trigger now releases subsequent bursts Slightly increased burst delay Volt SMG Increased projectile size in close quarters SNIPER All Snipers Reduced projectile size Charge Rifle Maximum damage reduced to 99 (was 110) Damage reduced by 40% while using Select Fire mode (was 25%) (Previous Hotfix) Damage scaling minimum distance increased to 75 meters (was 50m) (Previous Hotfix) MAPS Olympus: Added Somers University POI (replacing Orbital Cannon) and moved Elysium nearby. Added Gravity Engine POI (replacing Energy Depot) Added Stabilizer POI (replacing Docks) Added Dockyard POI Added large amounts of additional cover in open rotation spaces around the following POIs: Phase Driver Oasis Clinic Hammond Labs Estates Hammond Labs: Transformed terrain and added tunnels to protect players and provide additional options to attack the waterfall high ground. Hammond Labs: Moved additional cover from Control mode into the base map, including the home base structures. Hammond Labs: Added jump tower behind Hammond Labs. Rift: Added new camp in the center of Rift to reduce open space. Added additional cover to open spaces in Rift. Rift: Replaced vacuum behavior of the Rift teleporter with a Horizon Lift to prevent players from entering accidentally. Rift: Added a large camp between Rift and Gardens to resolve the previously large open space and help players contest the high ground. Grow Towers: Replaced the third Grow Tower with buildings and tunnels to help players safely rotate through the POI when teams are holding the towers. Added jump tower. Turbine: Added a new camp underneath the highway between Turbine and Estates to prevent players from being gatekept at the ramp. Turbine: Added a new rotation from the east tunnel that connects directly to Gravity Engine (previously Energy Depot). Carrier: Added two additional doors at the central chokepoint to prevent the fight from stalling. Phase Driver: Increased Phase Driver loot cooldown from 45 seconds to 90 seconds. Added a camp in the circular pit between Hammond Labs and Somers University (previously Orbital Cannon). Bonsai Plaza: Added additional ziplines to access high walls around the POI. Removed a large amount of Trident barriers across the map. Dev Note: While Olympus has been a fan favorite for a while, we want to action on player feedback related to how to improve its competitive integrity. Keeping in mind both high-level matches and overall balance, we made some significant revisions to POIs like Energy Depot and Orbital Cannon to address anything from lopsided rotations to a distinct lack of cover in some of the more desolate areas. It was important to maintain the map’s identity during this process, so we wanted to only add to what makes Olympus so special while being very surgical and precise about anything that was removed or replaced. Pubs & Ranked Rotation Olympus Broken Moon World’s Edge Mixtape 11/04/25 - 1/5/26 Map Rotation TDM Skull Town, Thunderdome, Fragment, Estates CONTROL Barometer, Labs, Production Yard, Lava Siphon GUN RUN Estates, Skull Town, Zeus, Thunderdome WILDCARD Wildcard 11/04/25 - 11/18/25 Wildcard: Kings Canyon Wild Cards We’ve seen meaningful positive player sentiment surrounding Wild Cards in Wildcard, so: Wild Cards are now activated and here to stay, even when we don’t have an active event! Every match now features a range of Wild Cards, bringing extra chaos and surprises for more unpredictable and exciting gameplay. Wild Cards Extra Ordnance Drone Support Smoke Out High Velocity Status Report Speedy Charge Recharger Fast Draw Monstrous Strength Wildcard Gameplay Updates Highlight on Enemy Elimination balance tweaks Enemy highlights will no longer trigger on a team unless there is only one enemy still alive. Enemy highlights will no longer trigger if players choose to manually bleed out. Enemy highlight duration reduced 5 seconds -> 2.5 seconds. Dev Note: Currently in Wildcard, when you eliminate any enemy, their teammates are highlighted for a period of time. We are updating the rules of this system to reduce the benefits of thirsting as well as have more natural encounters without having enemy locations constantly revealed. Shield Cells Increased carrying capacity of shield cells from 12 -> 15 More shield cells spawn in loot, reduced ammo spawns to compensate. Dev Note: We’ve heard feedback that players were running low on healing items throughout a wildcard match, so we have increased carrying capacity and increased their loot spawns to make this pain point a little smaller. Gold 1x Digital Threat sight returns to loot as a rare spawn. Equippable on SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols. Dev Note: Similar to the 1x Holo, The Gold Digital Threat scope has been vaulted for some time, and we know it is a fan favorite for some. We are re-introducing it to the Wildcard loot pool for this season as a fun item to find and make your SMGs, Shotguns, and Pistols even more deadly! Wild Cards balance Reduced shield recharge rate on Recharger wildcard when sprinting. Reduced initial speed gain when using the Wallruning wildcard. Dev Note: In Season 26, these wildcards were some of the strongest bunch in the pool and in some cases were becoming frustrating to play against. We are tuning them down a touch to bring them in line with some of the other wildcards coming in this season. New Mythic Weapon rotation. WEAPONS LEAVING L-STAR Devotion LMG Hemlok R-99 Peacekeeper WEAPONS RETURNING Kraber Triple Take Wingman Prowler P2020 Akimbo Rampage LMG Automatically Revved up when first being picked up. G7 Scout Double Tap and Sniper Scopes can be attached. NEW WEAPONS C.A.R. RANKED As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Ranked experience, we conducted a matchmaking test at the end of Season 26 (more on that here). We will return with the results of this test once the data has been compiled, so keep an eye out! Scoring Tuning Kill Points changes 1st: 22 RP (was 20 RP) 2nd: 20 RP (was 18 RP) 3rd: 18 RP (was 16 RP) 4th: 16 RP (was 14 RP) 5th: 16 RP (was 12 RP) 6th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 7th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 8th: 14 RP (was 10 RP) 9th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 10th: 12 RP (was 8 RP) 11th-15th: 8 RP (was 6 RP) 16th-20th: 6 RP (was 4 RP) Challenger Bonus changes If the killer’s rank is 1 tier lower than the victim: KP +20% bonus, was 15% If the gap is 2 tiers: +30% bonus, was 25% If the gap is 3 tiers: +40% bonus, was 35% Dev Note: Throughout Season 26, we consistently heard feedback that eliminations often felt undervalued compared to placement. Many players expressed that strong combat performance didn’t always translate into meaningful progression, especially in mid-to high-tier lobbies. In Season 27, we’ve adjusted Kill Point values to make eliminations more rewarding across all placements. This tuning increases the RP value earned from fights while keeping placement as a significant factor in final score calculation. Our goal is to better recognize player impact in every match — rewarding those who take risks and perform well in combat, without overshadowing strategic play and survival. Drop Zones Loot Overhaul Made the loot that spawns across all Drop Zone POIs more fair. There is still variance between POIs, but it is much less than previously. Maintains the same number of spawns across the map for each loot item, but changes where they are more likely to spawn, in order to avoid inflation/deflation. These loot changes are for Ranked only, not Unranked. Dev Note updated: Drop Zone has been a contentious topic within the community; while some praised how it improved the competitiveness of Ranked, others expressed concerns - primarily, the negative impact unbalanced POI loot levels have on the fairness of the mode. Our focus is to listen to those concerns to try to bring the feature to a satisfactory spot. As such, we did this loot overhaul to bring POIs in line with each other as far as we could without changing the maps or causing loot inflation/deflation. We'll continue to monitor your feedback as the season progresses. Ranked Ladders (coming later this split) Ranked Ladder Start Date End Date Ranked Ladder 1 11/13/2025 11/16/2025 Ranked Ladder 2 11/20/2025 11/23/2025 Ranked Ladder 3 11/27/2025 11/30/2025 Ranked Ladder 4 12/4/2025 12/7/2025 Ranked Ladder 5 12/11/2025 12/14/2025 Ranked Ladder 6 12/25/2025 12/28/2025 Ranked Ladder 7 1/1/2026 1/4/2026 Ranked Ladder 8 1/8/2026 1/11/2026 Ranked Ladder 9 1/15/2026 1/18/2026 Ranked Ladder 10 1/22/2026 1/25/2026 Ranked Ladder 11 1/29/2026 2/1/2026 Ranked Ladder 12 2/5/2026 2/8/2026 Ranked Challenges The requirement to earn the Ranked Ladder Champion Dive Trail has been reduced from 3 completions to 2. Dev Note: This change simplifies seasonal goals, reduces grind, and makes the Dive Trail more attainable while keeping it a mark of consistent top performance. BUG FIXES Wildcard Fixed players being able to revive each other to stay alive in the ring longer than intended Locked Hop-Ups Fixed Locked Hop-Ups not working properly in the Firing Range Fixed some issues with Ballistic’s sling and Locked Hop-Up weapons Fixed some issues with the Locked Hop-Up UI Ranked Fixed issue where you could not remove map pings in the prematch preview Misc Fixed the infinite ammo amp sometimes causing the player to respawn with locked inventory slots Fixed retro packs in the store not updating the amount of packs already opened Fixed skydive emotes leaving a breadcrumb on the legend tab but not the specific legend which had the new unlock Fixed health bars sometimes not displaying properly when firing through windows Fixed a wall that could be seen through around Artillery LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Fixed issue where camera could jump around when walking into Amped Cover. Catalyst Enemies near her Piercing Spikes should no longer see two threat indicators for a single spike Gibraltar: Fixed incorrect damage flyout UI when shooting his passive arm shield Newcastle Fixed Castle Wall sometimes hitting enemies through floors and walls QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES Requeue, with Squad Requeue has been expanded to allow players outside of a party to opt-in to continuing to play together. Each Party Leader (including parties of 1, ie. solo queuers) has the option to either ‘play again’ and merge their party together with other parties that also want to play again, or they can requeue with only their existing party. This does not create any kind of Friends relationship – it only forms a new Party that can continue to play together without having to return to the Lobby. Designer’s Note: We want to remove as many barriers as possible to keeping a fun time going. When you do find that magical unicorn of a random player and everyone wants to keep playing into the next match, this is the solution. UX/UI Added a button prompt in the Legend Locker screen for Legend skins, Weapon skins, and Melee skins to show/hide the UI to get a better view of the cosmetic Standardized a number of square button widgets, mostly in the lobby menu, to achieve a more consistent interactivity and aesthetic across the game Misc. Added a new voice chat option to toggle your microphone. Ranked - Added announcer VO saying which Drop Zone your team is landing at. Note: The Core on Broken Moon and Trident on Storm Point do not currently have VO. LEGENDS Valkyrie Fixed green color correction when skydiving being oversaturated. Rampart Allow interactions such as looting while holding Sheila Added additional placement mode for walls. By pressing Aim Down Sights, you can place a single wall and then pull out your weapons (matching the launch behavior). Placing a wall with the Attack button is unchanged from the current behavior. Reduced size of ‘amped’ bullet tracers when shooting though amped cover Rampart Added voice lines when being summoned to the Void Nexus when knocked ENGINE PC: Improved the performance of loading models and textures on systems with integrated graphics, especially Intel Iris XE laptops. This improves map loading times and reduces issues with missing models in-game. Added PC support for Handheld/Compact UI which makes it easier to play Apex on PC Handheld devices. Players can toggle between Full, Compact or Auto UI in game Settings.
