Apex Legends Season 31, called Cipher, starts on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Respawn confirmed the date at the end of its Cipher Designer’s Notes (October 30), which also say the full patch notes drop a day earlier, on November 2. The season reworks Crypto, adds the Akimbo Wingman and a new Stronghold airdrop, buffs Revenant and Lifeline, and brings Legend Bans to Diamond-and-above ranked lobbies.
The launch hour is the one thing EA and Respawn haven’t published yet. As of November 1, 22:30 UTC, neither the Designer’s Notes, the official Cipher season page nor the Steam announcements give a time, so this guide doesn’t guess one. Everything below comes from Respawn’s own posts.
Table of Contents
Quick answer
- Season 31 start date: Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (launch hour not announced yet).
- Full patch notes: November 2, 2026, the day before launch.
- Headline changes: Crypto rework (battery drone with 8-second marks, one-press EMP), Akimbo Wingman, Strongholds, Revenant and Lifeline buffs, Loba nerfs, and Prowler and Nemesis nerfs.
- Ranked: Legend Bans in Diamond+ matches, Challenger and Goliath entry costs for lopsided lobbies, and Road to Ranked removed (Level 20 only).
- Weapon rotation: the Hemlok Breach AR is vaulted and the Hemlok Burst AR returns.
- Next season: Season 32 brings Kings Canyon Evolved and a ranked overhaul in early 2027.
Apex Legends Season 31 release date and schedule
Respawn announced Cipher on October 29 with a season overview post and a gameplay trailer, then followed up with the balance-focused Designer’s Notes on October 30. The current Season 30, Marked, ends when Cipher goes live. The Halloween Blood Pact event ends the same day. EA’s event post says it “runs from October 13 to November 3.” Our Halloween 2026 event end dates list covers the other games’ events.
| Date | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| October 29, 2026 | Cipher overview and gameplay trailer | EA news, Steam |
| October 30, 2026 | Cipher Designer’s Notes (balance reasoning) | EA news |
| November 2, 2026 | Full Season 31 patch notes | Designer’s Notes |
| November 3, 2026 | Season 31: Cipher launches; Blood Pact event ends | Designer’s Notes, Blood Pact post |
| Early 2027 | Season 32: Kings Canyon Evolved and the ranked overhaul | Cipher overview, Ranked Roadmap |
Checked November 1, 2026, 22:30 UTC. We’ll add the launch hour here once Respawn posts it.
Crypto rework: what changes in Season 31
Crypto gets the biggest change this season. According to the Designer’s Notes, he has had “a very low pick rate for multiple seasons.” The fix is to keep him out of his drone for long stretches and get him fighting alongside his team. The season overview says the drone gains a Sentry Mode that tags enemies once you park it.
| Part of kit | Season 31 change |
|---|---|
| Passive | The Ally.MoveTo() Upgrade is now in the base kit: Crypto moves faster when running toward teammates |
| Tactical: battery | The drone runs on a 25-second battery and automatically recalls when it runs out; the recall takes a little longer than before |
| Tactical: scanning | The scan is now a full 360-degree radius; the drone no longer scans doors and loot bins |
| Tactical: marking | The drone automatically marks enemies it finds, and you can shoot it to mark enemies manually. Marks show through walls for 8 seconds and stay even if the drone is destroyed or recalled |
| Tactical: handling | Better handling, faster entry, and a shorter wait after the drone is destroyed; the drone is also more visible to enemies |
| Ultimate: triggering | One press deploys the drone and fires the EMP. You can also fire it from a deployed drone, or while piloting (Ultimate button on PC, weapon swap on console) |
| Ultimate: damage | With line of sight from the drone: full shield damage and a stronger slow. Without it: 50 shield damage and a slight slow |
| Upgrades | The new mark upgrade raises mark duration to 12 seconds (replaces Ally.MoveTo()). Charged Up adds 10 seconds of battery (replaces Hackathon) |
Crypto's reworked EMP does full shield damage only when the drone has line of sight; without it, 50 shield damage and a slight slow. Image: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment
The trade-off: Crypto loses the option to sit in his drone indefinitely. In return, he gets faster access to it, marks that last through walls, and an EMP that’s much easier to fire. The line-of-sight rule matters most. An EMP thrown over a wall now does a fraction of its old damage, so a good Crypto will position the drone where it can see the target before firing.
Akimbo Wingman: how the new dual revolvers work
The Akimbo Wingman is the first new akimbo weapon since the system arrived in Season 22. Respawn calls it the first “burst” akimbo gun: one trigger pull fires both Wingmen one after the other (“pop-pop”). According to the Designer’s Notes, the goal was to keep the Wingman’s skill-based, mid-range identity while making it less intimidating for newer players. The developers also admit that Akimbo Spitfires were “tempting for a moment.”
The Designer’s Notes don’t say where it spawns or give damage figures. Those should be in the November 2 patch notes.
The Akimbo Wingman fires both revolvers in sequence with one trigger pull, the first burst akimbo weapon in Apex. Image: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment
Hemlok swap: Breach AR out, Burst AR back
The Elite Hemlok (the Hemlok Breach AR, added in Season 28.1) rotates out with the Akimbo Wingman’s arrival, and the original Hemlok Burst AR returns. Respawn expects this season “to shake up the weapon landscape,” so the first few days are likely to look unsettled.
Strongholds: the new mid-match airdrop
A Stronghold is a new type of airdrop that evolves the Care Package. One Stronghold drops each match, on top of the usual Care Packages. Here’s how it works, according to the Designer’s Notes and the overview post:
- It lands locked. To open it, your squad has to capture and hold the area around it, and enemies can contest the capture.
- It holds Care Package weapons, Gold guns, corrupted attachments, EVO for the whole squad, and other rare loot.
- Opening it takes time and sets off an alarm that tells everyone nearby where you are.
- It deploys dynamic cover and Hardlight around itself when it lands, so the fight has structure.
Strongholds land locked; squads must capture and hold the area to open the loot, and opening one trips an alarm. Image: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment
Respawn ties Strongholds to last season’s loot rework. Some players missed a reliable source of big mid-game loot after that update, and Strongholds put it back as a contested objective instead of a free pickup. For squads, the choice is the one the overview spells out: raid it, or wait and third-party whoever “rings the dinner bell.”
Revenant and Lifeline buffs (and the Loba nerf)
Both Legends had slipped in pick rate: Lifeline in higher ranked tiers, and Revenant after the rise of Axle and Pathfinder. Most of the changes fold popular Upgrades into their base kits and replace them with new ones.
| Legend | Base kit change | Upgrade changes |
|---|---|---|
| Revenant | Tactical cooldown 5 s shorter with faster attack and charge-up. Ultimate cooldown 30 s shorter, and the 35-second cap on the Ultimate timer is removed, so every knock adds 5 s while it’s active | Every Lasting: +10 s Ultimate per knock (replaces the Ultimate cooldown upgrade). Silence: the Tactical landing pulse silences enemies for 4 s. No Escape: marking an enemy with Assassin’s Instinct refreshes your Tactical |
| Lifeline | Gets her Tactical healing while gliding. The old Tactical Cooldown Upgrade (10 s shorter) is now in the base kit | Improved Gliding: better handling and longer duration. BattPack removed; Enhanced Radio moves up from Level 3. New Level 3 options: Revive Shield (her old shield while reviving) or an Ultimate cooldown 60 s shorter |
| Loba | Nerf: Tactical cooldown 25 s to 30 s, Ultimate cooldown 120 s to 150 s | None |
The Designer’s Notes also cover Axle’s October 1 hotfix nerfs and confirm that the Prowler and the Nemesis are getting nerfs after climbing in usage and win rate all season. The exact numbers are left for the patch notes. Outside balance, District’s night-time version returns after players asked for it.
Legend Bans and other Season 31 ranked changes
Respawn’s Ranked Roadmap (October 20) lays out the Season 31 ranked changes:
- Legend Bans: Any match with Diamond or higher players (the same matches that use Drop Zone deployment) gets a Banning Phase. Each player votes to ban one Legend. Each Legend’s ban chance scales with its votes, and the game then rolls which ones are banned. The ban isn’t simply given to the most-voted Legends. Respawn says that approach would create a “banning meta” of its own.
- Lobby Tier, Challenger and Goliath: Each lobby shows a Lobby Tier, roughly the median squad. If your squad is two or more tiers below it, you’re a Challenger and pay a lower entry cost. Two or more tiers above makes you a Goliath, with a higher entry cost.
- Easier access: Road to Ranked challenges are gone. Account Level 20 is the only requirement again.
- Demotion Protection, now visible: This existing feature gives you three Demotion Shields when a single match could drop you a tier. It will now be clearly shown.
The bigger rework waits for Season 32. It brings Iron (replacing Rookie), Emerald between Platinum and Diamond, and Grandmaster at the top, with Predator awarded to the top 750 Grandmasters. It also splits ranked into an Open League and a Pro-Am League, makes every kill and placement worth a flat amount of RP, and gives full RP for every kill your team gets.
Cipher battle pass and the Cryptic Core Mythic
The season page lists a nanite-themed Cipher Premium Battle Pass Split 1. The new Mythic is the Cryptic Core, a Volt SMG made from Crypto-colored nanites with a pixel-art PALS assistant. You re-theme it with Exotic Shards, and each theme swaps in a different retro cartridge look. It’s a possible drop in Cipher Seasonal Packs, which EA says are not available in all regions. Those packs also include new seasonal skins for Crypto, Wraith, Gibraltar, Revenant and Horizon.
Platforms
EA’s Cipher posts list Apex Legends as free to play on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC through the EA app, Epic Games Store and Steam.
What the November 2 patch notes still need to answer
The Designer’s Notes explain why things are changing, but they leave the numbers to the patch notes. Check these on November 2:
- Prowler and Nemesis nerf values, plus the Akimbo Wingman’s damage and where it spawns.
- The Season 31 map rotation for pubs and ranked. EA’s Marked notes listed it, so the Cipher notes probably will too.
- The exact Crypto timings: the longer recall and the faster drone return after it’s destroyed.
- The launch hour, if EA posts one.
Other shooters are switching seasons this month too. See our Marvel Rivals Season 11 release date guide, the Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 roadmap and what’s in Fortnite Treasure Hunters. For everything else launching this week, see games coming out this week (Nov 2-8).
FAQ
When does Apex Legends Season 31 start?
On Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Respawn’s Cipher Designer’s Notes confirm the date, with the full patch notes due on November 2.
What time does Apex Legends Season 31 come out?
EA and Respawn haven’t announced the hour yet (checked November 1, 22:30 UTC). We’ll add it here when they do.
When does the Apex Legends Blood Pact event end?
On November 3, 2026, the day Cipher launches. EA’s event post says it runs from October 13 to November 3.
Is Crypto getting reworked in Season 31?
Yes. His drone runs on a 25-second battery and marks enemies through walls for 8 seconds. His EMP fires with one button press and does full shield damage only when the drone can see the target.
When is Kings Canyon Evolved coming to Apex Legends?
In Season 32, in early 2027, according to Respawn’s Cipher overview. It’s the Major Map Update on EA’s 2026-2027 roadmap.
Sources: Cipher Designer’s Notes (EA, Oct 30, 2026), New Updates Coming with Apex Legends: Cipher (EA, Oct 29, 2026), Apex Legends: Cipher season page (EA), Apex Legends Ranked Roadmap (EA, Oct 20, 2026), Blood Pact Event (EA, Oct 8, 2026), Apex Legends: Cipher Gameplay Trailer (official Apex Legends YouTube channel and Steam announcement, Oct 29, 2026).
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Featured image: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment
