Apex Legends: Cipher has a start date. Respawn’s designer’s notes for patch 31.0, published today, close with the schedule: full patch notes on November 2 and the season launching on November 3. The notes also put numbers on the changes yesterday’s season overview only sketched, including the first new akimbo weapon in nine seasons, a Crypto drone that now runs on a 25-second battery, and cooldown nerfs for Loba.
Akimbo Wingman fires both revolvers in a burst per trigger pull
The Akimbo Wingman is the first addition to the akimbo system since it arrived in Season 22. Respawn says it wanted to keep the revolver’s “high skill floor, mid-range poke identity” while “lowering the intimidation factor,” and landed on what it calls the game’s “first ever ‘burst’ akimbo gun.” Pulling the trigger fires both Wingmen one after the other. The team admits “Akimbo Spitfires were tempting for a moment there.”
It arrives with a loot pool change. The Elite Hemlok, the breach rifle added in 28.1, is being vaulted, and the Hemlok Burst AR returns in its place. The Prowler and Nemesis are both being nerfed, with no numbers given in the notes. Respawn’s data for October 1 to 7 has the Prowler first in both share of downs and encounter win rate, with the CAR and Nemesis next and the R-301 behind them.
Crypto’s drone gets a 25-second battery, a 360-degree scan and auto-marking
Crypto is the season’s rework, and the stated aim is to get him out of the drone and back with his squad. The drone now carries a battery that lasts 25 seconds, after which it recalls automatically. The recall takes a little longer to redeploy, but the drone comes back faster after being destroyed, the scan covers a 360-degree radius instead of the drone’s facing, and it no longer scans doors and loot bins.
The drone also marks enemies on its own. A marked player gets an icon over their head that shows through walls for 8 seconds, and the mark survives if the drone is destroyed, recalled or flies out of range. While piloting, Crypto can shoot to mark everyone in a zone. His speed boost toward teammates moves from an upgrade into his base kit, replaced by an upgrade that extends marks to 12 seconds, and a new Charged Up upgrade adds 10 seconds of battery.
The EMP now has three ways to fire: one press deploys the drone and triggers it, one press detonates a drone already out, and while piloting it is the Ultimate button on PC or weapon swap on console. Damage now depends on line of sight. Enemies the drone cannot see take 50 shield damage and a slight slow, while enemies in view take full shield damage and a heavier slow.
Loba’s tactical goes to 30 seconds and her Ultimate to 150
Loba is the one Legend being pulled back. Respawn says her buffs made her “a very popular pick” and that “the frequency of her abilities is a bit too fast right now.” Her tactical cooldown rises from 25 to 30 seconds, and her Ultimate goes from 120 to 150 seconds, restoring the 30 seconds removed in her buff.
The notes also recap the October 1 hotfix to Axle: Nitro Gate now carries more commitment, her tactical disables aim assist in context rather than adding spread, and Kickstart has to be fired from farther away for its full knockback.
Lifeline heals while gliding and gets her revive shield back
Lifeline’s pick rate falls off as ranked climbs, from 10 percent in unranked and 8.5 percent in Bronze to 1.5 percent at Diamond and above, per Respawn’s October data. She now receives her tactical’s healing while gliding with D.O.C., her 10-second tactical cooldown reduction is folded into her base kit, and Improved Gliding gets better handling and a longer duration. BattPack is removed in favour of Enhanced Radio, and two new Level 3 upgrades arrive: an Ultimate cooldown cut of 60 seconds and Revive Shield, which brings back the shield that protects a player she is reviving.
Revenant, whose weekly share of mains dropped from 7 to 8 percent last winter to 2 percent by October, gets a tactical cooldown 5 seconds shorter with faster attack and charge-up, and an Ultimate cooldown 30 seconds shorter with the 35-second timer cap removed. Knocks now always add 5 seconds during the Ultimate. His new upgrades are Every Lasting (10 seconds per knock during the Ultimate), Silence (a 4-second silence pulse when his leap lands) and No Escape (a tactical refresh whenever his passive marks a low-health enemy).
One Stronghold drops per match alongside the Care Packages
Strongholds are a new kind of air drop. One falls per match, “in addition to our existing Care Packages,” and lands locked. To open it a squad has to capture and hold the ground around it while rivals contest, and the reward is Care Package weaponry, gold guns and other rare loot. Each Stronghold deploys dynamic cover as it lands, and Respawn says its effect on a match depends on the local terrain and where the ring sits when it drops.
District also goes back to night. Respawn says the community asked for it after the recent rework moved the map to daytime, and it plans to keep experimenting with day and night across patches. The ranked picture, by the studio’s count, is healthy: no Legend is far ahead in pick rate and the most-picked team composition is back below 1 percent of ranked squads.
