A rewired Crypto, a second Wingman in your off hand and the first Legend bans in Ranked headline a season built around information and control.
Apex Legends Season 31, Cipher, went live on 3 November 2026. EA published the full patch notes a day earlier, and this guide collects every change that matters in one place: the Crypto rework, Akimbo Wingman, the returning Hemlok Burst AR, Strongholds, Legend bans, the Ranked changes and the maps in rotation.
We keep it updated through the season. For where every Legend and weapon stands after the patch, see our Legend tier list and weapon tier list.
Crypto gets a full rework
Crypto is the face of the season, and his kit has been rebuilt around a drone that hunts for information rather than parks in a corner. EA’s lore framing is a firmware upgrade from his sister Mila. In practice it means this:
- Battery instead of infinite flight. The Surveillance Drone now has 25 seconds to do its work before it is recalled. Recall takes 6 seconds, and the drone can then be redeployed straight away, with no cooldown.
- 360 degree scan. The base scan zone now covers a full circle instead of only the camera view.
- Faster marking. Enemies are marked for 8 seconds, and the marking ability runs on a 4 second cooldown.
- Speed boost in the base kit. The Ally.MoveTo speed boost is now part of his standard kit, slightly reduced.
- New EMP. The ultimate is now deployed from the drone. Enemies with line of sight to it take full shield damage and a heavier slow. Without line of sight they take 50 damage and a lighter slow.
His upgrades change as well. Got Eyes On You replaces Ally.MoveTo at level 2, and Charged Up, which adds 10 seconds of battery, replaces Hackathon at level 3. Crypto also gets the season’s Mythic, Cryptic Core, a Volt SMG in his colours.
Akimbo Wingman
The Wingman can now be dual wielded. Loot a second Wingman and you enter Akimbo mode automatically. In Akimbo the pistols fire in quick bursts, and holding the trigger repeats them.
| Change | Season 31 |
|---|---|
| Ammo type | Heavy (was Sniper) |
| Base damage | 45 (was 50) |
| Akimbo headshot multiplier | 1.25x (56 headshot damage) |
| Akimbo fire rate | Slightly faster |
| Akimbo reload | Longer |
| Akimbo recoil | Higher |
| Akimbo magazine | Doubled |
The move to Heavy ammo is the change most players will feel first: the Wingman now competes for the same ammo as the Flatline, Hemlok and Rampage family rather than the snipers.
Hemlok Burst AR returns
The Elite Hemlok with its Breach Charge is gone. In its place the classic Hemlok Burst AR is back in its familiar form: the Automatic and Breach Charge modes have been removed, along with the integrated silencer, and the gun fires in Burst or Single again. It deals 21 damage to the body and 29 to the head.
Burst weapons in general got a quality of life fix: the Prowler, Hemlok Burst, Nemesis and Akimbo Wingman now queue a tap if you fire again before the burst ends.
Strongholds
Strongholds are a new kind of airdrop, and EA presents them as the next step for Care Packages. During the Round 2 closing, one Care Package and one Stronghold drop (Round 1 still has two Care Packages).
- A Stronghold crushes anything it lands on and deploys up to four indestructible barriers and two Hardlight frames.
- It must be captured before it opens. Nobody can loot it before that, Loba cannot steal from it, and Alter cannot breach it.
- Capture progress only moves when one team holds the zone alone. It pauses when it is contested, it does not decay, and it fills faster with more teammates inside.
- Opening one sets off an alarm that reveals your position to nearby players.
- Each living teammate on the capturing team gets a level up.
The reward is the richest single loot spot on the map: one Care Package weapon, three Gold guns, three Amps and two Corrupted attachments.
Legend bans in Ranked
Cipher adds Legend banning to Diamond and higher matches. It works as a weighted vote, not a fixed pick:
1. Every player requests one Legend they want banned.
2. Each Legend’s chance of being banned equals its share of all requests.
3. Two Legends are banned per match.
4. If fewer than four different Legends are requested, the system adds the previous week’s most played Legends, with one request each, until there are four.
So a Legend half the lobby wants gone is very likely to be banned, but not certain. Our Legend tier list is the place to start if you want to know which picks the high ranked lobbies are likely to target.
Ranked changes
Beyond bans, Ranked entry cost now reacts to how far your squad sits from the rest of the lobby. The lobby tier is the median squad tier.
| Match type | When | Entry cost |
|---|---|---|
| Challenger Match | Your squad is 2 or more tiers below the lobby | 30% lower |
| Goliath Match | Your squad is 2 or more tiers above the lobby | 50% higher |
A teammate who never connects lowers your squad tier by one. The Ranked screens now show squad and lobby tier, entry cost and match type, there is a new Ranked inventory tab, the kill feed shows RP per kill, and Net RP turns red when it is negative.
Ranked Ladders arrive later in the split, in five weekly windows:
| Ladder | Dates |
|---|---|
| Ladder 1 | 10 November to 15 November |
| Ladder 2 | 17 November to 22 November |
| Ladder 3 | 24 November to 29 November |
| Ladder 4 | 1 December to 6 December |
| Ladder 5 | 8 December to 13 December |
How the tiers themselves work is covered in our Apex Legends ranks guide.
Maps and modes
Battle Royale, in both public matches and Ranked, rotates between Storm Point, E-District Night and Broken Moon. E-District Night has new lighting, shadows and contrast for better visibility, and the game’s rendering, fog and auto exposure were adjusted across the board. Our map rotation tracker shows which map is live right now.
Mixtape runs from 3 November to 5 January 2027:
| Mode | Maps |
|---|---|
| Team Deathmatch | Thunderdome, Fragment, Skull Town |
| Control | Production Yard, Barometer, Thunderdome |
| Gun Run | Skull Town, Wattson Pylon, Monument |
Wildcard now hands out Wild Cards at the start of Rounds 1, 2 and 3 through a selection screen on the HUD, and Replicators are gone from the mode. It ran on District and Broken Moon in the opening week, and from 1 December to 5 January 2027 it uses Olympus, District and Broken Moon.
Legend balance
Revenant and Lifeline are the big winners; Loba is the one Legend who is clearly weaker.
| Legend | Change |
|---|---|
| Revenant | Tactical cooldown 20s to 15s, ultimate cooldown 180s to 150s. New upgrades: Ever Lasting (level 2), Silence and No Escape (level 3) |
| Lifeline | Tactical cooldown 25s to 15s, D.O.C. heals her while gliding. New upgrades: Enhanced Radio moves to level 2, plus Improved Flight, Ultimate Cooldown and Revive Shield |
| Loba | Tactical cooldown 25s to 30s, ultimate cooldown 120s to 150s |
| Axle | From the 1 October hotfix, now in the notes: less lateral slide control, Nitro Gate push speed 700 to 650, knock up 700 to 650, drone chase time 10s to 8s |
EA describes Revenant’s new upgrades as extending his ultimate with each knock, silencing nearby enemies after a Shadow Pounce and refreshing Shadow Pounce while an enemy is marked. Lifeline’s Revive Shield protects her while she revives a teammate. For every Legend’s role and abilities, see our Apex Legends characters page.
Weapon balance
| Weapon | Change |
|---|---|
| Akimbo Mozambique (Care Package) | Pellet damage 17 to 18, slower reload, tighter spread, Executioner hop-up heals 15 shields per second. Stockpile 80 (110 in Wildcard) |
| L-STAR EMG (back on the floor) | Damage 21 to 19, shots until overheat 28 to 22, stockpile 168 to 88, stockpile recharge 22s to 18s |
| EVA-8 Auto | Double Tap Trigger removed, Disruptor Rounds added |
| Peacekeeper | Higher fire rate, Shotgun Bolts improve rechamber and fire rate |
| Nemesis Burst AR | More vertical recoil |
| Prowler Burst PDW | More recoil, Selectfire removed |
| Rapid Sniper Stock (Corrupted) | Fire rate bonus 1.2x to 1.1x on G7 Scout, Longbow DMR and Triple Take |
The patch also fixes more than 35 rat spots and more than 15 places where Alter could clip out of bounds, and EA says the install is about 30 GB smaller on most platforms.
FAQ
When did Apex Legends Season 31 start?
Cipher launched on 3 November 2026 on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC (EA app, Steam and Epic Games Store).
When does Season 31 end?
EA has not given an exact end date. Season 32 is set for early 2027 and brings the major map update Kings Canyon Evolved; our Apex Legends roadmap tracks what is planned.
Who can ban Legends?
Only players in Diamond and higher matches. Each player requests one Legend, and two are banned per match.
When do Ranked Ladders start?
Ladder 1 runs from 10 November to 15 November, and the fifth and last ladder ends on 13 December.
What happened to the Elite Hemlok?
It has been removed. The standard Hemlok Burst AR is back with Burst and Single fire, 21 body and 29 headshot damage.
Does the Wingman still use Sniper ammo?
No. The Wingman now uses Heavy ammo, and its base damage is 45.
