Apex Legends: Cipher, the game’s 31st season, lets Diamond and higher ranked lobbies vote to ban a Legend every match, and Respawn has now confirmed that Season 32’s major map update will be a reworked Kings Canyon in early 2027. Both come from EA’s Cipher overview, published today. The season starts in November, though EA has not given an exact date yet.
Diamond lobbies vote to ban one Legend every match
Legend bans are the headline ranked change. In Diamond and above, every player casts one vote before the match, and the more votes a Legend gets, the higher the chance it is banned for that game. Respawn’s ranked roadmap from last week says the system is enabled alongside Drop Zone deployment, so any match that contains Diamond or higher players uses it. The stated goal is to break up dominant metas at the top of ranked. Season 32 goes further with new Iron, Emerald and Grandmaster ranks and a Pro-Am league.
Crypto’s drone runs on batteries and tags enemies in Sentry Mode
Crypto gets the season’s rework. His Surveillance Drone now runs on batteries instead of a cooldown, so it can be picked up and redeployed without the long wait, and once parked it switches into a new Sentry Mode that tags any enemy in sight for the whole squad. His EMP Ultimate fires with a single button press. Respawn describes the change as moving Crypto from passive to aggressive intel gathering.
Strongholds replace Care Packages and trip an alarm when you open them
Strongholds are the new loot mechanic, described as the evolution of Care Packages. Raiding one gives the squad crate weapons, corrupted attachments and EVO, but opening it takes time and sets off an alarm that tells everyone nearby where you are. Each Stronghold spawns with cover and Hardlight so the team that opens it can hold the ground, or you can wait for another squad to ring the bell and third-party them. The Akimbo Wingman, a dual-wielded pair of the revolver, arrives as a new weapon.
Revenant and Lifeline buffs, plus the Cryptic Core Mythic Volt
Revenant gets a shorter Ultimate cooldown and a faster Tactical, with upgrades that extend his Ultimate on every knock, silence enemies after a Shadow Pounce, or refresh the Pounce while an enemy is marked. Lifeline’s D.O.C. cooldown drops and she can self-heal while gliding, with upgrades for an Ultimate cooldown cut, a shield while reviving and better flight mobility. The season’s Mythic is the Cryptic Core Volt SMG, a swarm of nanites in Crypto’s colors with a pixel-art PALS assistant built in, dropping from Cipher Seasonal Packs alongside skins for Crypto, Wraith, Gibraltar, Revenant and Horizon.
Kings Canyon Evolved is the Season 32 map update, due early 2027
The Road Ahead check-in at the end of the post names the Season 32 major map update: Kings Canyon Evolved, “a completely reworked map with numerous new, remixed, and touched up POIs” in early 2027. It is the biggest change to the original map since its last major overhaul, and the roadmap note says Respawn is closing in on the end of its 2026 to 2027 plan with it.
