The best Legends in Apex Legends Season 31 are Pathfinder, Octane, Mad Maggie and Wraith: four of Season 30’s five most-picked Legends, and none of them got a nerf. Buffed Revenant and Lifeline are the biggest risers, and nerfed Loba is still a top pick. Cipher launches on November 3, 2026. EA’s patch notes, published November 2, make balance changes to five Legends: Crypto gets a rework, Lifeline and Revenant get buffs, Loba gets a cooldown nerf, and Axle’s October 1 hotfix nerfs are written into the season notes.
This Apex Legends Season 31 tier list is our assessment, not an official ranking, and we haven’t played Season 31. It starts from the last public popularity data for Season 30, then moves Legends up or down for the Cipher patch notes, the Designer’s Notes and Season 31’s new systems: Legend Bans and Strongholds. Every number below comes from those posts or from the tracker named next to it.
- S tier: Pathfinder, Octane, Mad Maggie, Wraith. These were the most-picked Legends of Season 30 apart from Loba, and none of them got a balance change.
- A tier: Loba (nerfed but still strong), Revenant (buffed), Lifeline (buffed), Bangalore, Alter, Vantage, Fuse.
- B tier: Axle, Conduit, Sparrow, Seer, Valkyrie, Gibraltar, Crypto (reworked, the season’s wildcard), Caustic.
- C tier: Ash, Mirage, Bloodhound, Wattson, Catalyst, Horizon, Rampart, Newcastle, Ballistic.
- Biggest winner on paper: Revenant, with a 15-second Tactical (was 20), a 150-second Ultimate (was 180) and three new Upgrades.
- Best for beginners: Lifeline. EA’s own data shows her pick rate peaks in Rookie, and her heal now comes back every 15 seconds instead of 25.
- Ranked warning: in Diamond and above, 2 Legends are banned every match, so keep a backup from the same class.
Table of Contents
Apex Legends Season 31 tier list (our picks)
How we ranked them: pick rate shows how popular a Legend is, not how strong, but EA hasn’t published win rates by Legend, so popularity is the best public signal of what works. The pick rates are from Apex Legends Status, a third-party tracker that bases them on the 34.9 million players in its database (checked November 3, 01:05 UTC, so measured before Season 31 went live). We moved buffed Legends up and nerfed ones down. Expect the list to shift once a week of Season 31 data exists.
| Legend | Class | Season 30 pick rate | Season 31 change | Our tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathfinder | Skirmisher | 12.7% | None | S |
| Octane | Skirmisher | 7.6% | None | S |
| Mad Maggie | Assault | 6.6% | Bug fix: now gets the Corrupted Agile Stock speed boost | S |
| Wraith | Skirmisher | 5.8% | None | S |
| Loba | Support | 8.2% | Nerf: Tactical 25s to 30s, Ultimate 120s to 150s | A |
| Revenant | Assault | 2.8% | Buff: Tactical 20s to 15s, Ultimate 180s to 150s, 3 new Upgrades | A |
| Lifeline | Support | 3.9% | Buff: Tactical 25s to 15s, heals while gliding, new Upgrades | A |
| Bangalore | Assault | 5.1% | None | A |
| Alter | Skirmisher | 3.7% | Minor bug fixes; can’t breach Strongholds before capture | A |
| Vantage | Recon | 3.9% | None | A |
| Fuse | Assault | 4.3% | None | A |
| Axle | Skirmisher | 3.9% | Nerfs from the October 1 hotfix (slide control, Nitro Gate, Kickstart) | B |
| Conduit | Support | 3.1% | None | B |
| Sparrow | Recon | 3.0% | None | B |
| Seer | Recon | 2.9% | None | B |
| Valkyrie | Recon | 2.6% | None | B |
| Gibraltar | Support | 2.5% | None | B |
| Crypto | Recon | 0.9% | Rework: 25s battery drone, 8s marks, one-press EMP | B |
| Caustic | Controller | 2.1% | Bug fix: Nox traps can be placed in Somers University | B |
| Ash | Skirmisher | 2.3% | None | C |
| Mirage | Support | 2.1% | Bug fix: decoys no longer float when deployed while skydiving | C |
| Bloodhound | Recon | 1.9% | None | C |
| Wattson | Controller | 1.8% | None | C |
| Catalyst | Controller | 1.7% | None | C |
| Horizon | Skirmisher | 1.6% | None | C |
| Rampart | Controller | 1.4% | None | C |
| Newcastle | Support | 1.0% | None | C |
| Ballistic | Assault | 0.5% | Bug fix: Sling no longer keeps a Locked Hop-Up after Tempest ends | C |
Classes follow the Apex Legends Wiki’s roster (28 Legends). C tier doesn’t mean unplayable. Respawn’s Designer’s Notes say that “no Legend is far and away higher than others in pick rate”, and that the most-picked team comp now makes up less than 1% of all team comps in Ranked.
Best Legends in Apex Season 31 and why
Pathfinder, Octane, Mad Maggie and Wraith (S)
Season 31 changes nothing in these four kits. Pathfinder was picked more than any other Legend in Season 30, at 12.7% on Apex Legends Status. Respawn also names him, along with Axle, as one of the Legends whose rise pushed Revenant out of the meta. Mad Maggie gets the only fix in this group: she now gets the speed boost from the Corrupted Agile Stock, which wasn’t working before. Our read: with the Prowler and Nemesis nerfed for being too reliable, these four keep the mobility and fight-starting tools that worked last season.
Loba: nerfed, still A tier
Respawn says Loba “has been performing really well since her buffs” and that her ability uptime was “a little high.” Her Tactical cooldown rises from 25 to 30 seconds. Her Ultimate goes from 120 to 150 seconds, which takes back the 30 seconds her earlier buff removed. In Season 30 she was the second most-picked Legend at 8.2%, and her players’ average rank was Diamond 4, the highest of all 28 Legends on Apex Legends Status. One new limit: she can’t steal from a Stronghold until a team has captured it.
Lifeline's ranked pick rate by tier, October 1-7, 2026: the drop-off Season 31's buffs target. Image: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment
Lifeline: the best Legend for beginners
EA’s chart of Ranked games from October 1-7, 2026 shows Lifeline picked in about 10% of Rookie games. That falls below 2% in Diamond and well under 1% in Master and Apex Predator. Respawn’s buffs aim to fix that drop-off at high ranks:
- Her Tactical (D.O.C. heal drone) cooldown falls from 25 to 15 seconds. The old 10-second Level 3 Upgrade is now part of her base kit.
- D.O.C. heals her while she glides.
- Level 2: Enhanced Radio (longer assign distance) moves down from Level 3, and Improved Flight gets better glide handling on top of its longer duration.
- Level 3: the new choices are Ultimate Cooldown (60 seconds off) and Revive Shield, which brings back her old shield while reviving.
Our read: a heal every 15 seconds and a revive shield forgive more mistakes than most kits, so she’s our pick for new and solo players. Higher up, she has to beat Loba and Conduit for the Support slot.
Revenant: the biggest buff of the season
Respawn says Revenant’s popularity “really dropped off with the rise of other legends like Axle and Pathfinder.” Its chart shows the share of players maining him falling from about 7% in late 2025 to under 2% by October 2026. Season 31 moves his old Upgrades into the base kit and adds new ones:
- Tactical cooldown: 20 to 15 seconds, with a faster attack and charge time.
- Ultimate cooldown: 180 to 150 seconds. The 35-second cap on the Ultimate timer is gone, so every knock adds 5 seconds while the Ultimate is active.
- Level 2, Ever Lasting: knocks extend the Ultimate by 10 seconds.
- Level 3, Silence: landing from his Tactical leap releases a pulse that silences enemies (4 seconds, per the Designer’s Notes).
- Level 3, No Escape: his Tactical refreshes when his Passive marks a low-health enemy.
Our read: every new Upgrade rewards pushing a fight, which makes him our favorite to climb out of A tier once a week of Season 31 data exists.
Revenant's share of mains fell from about 7% to under 2% in a year, before his Season 31 buffs. Image: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment
Crypto: reworked, but still a wildcard
EA’s pick-rate chart shows Crypto at about 1% for most of the period it covers, February 2025 to October 2026. The Designer’s Notes call his pick rate “very low” for “multiple seasons”, and the patch notes call him “a very difficult Legend to play”. In Season 31 his drone runs on a 25-second battery, with a 6-second recall and no cooldown before you redeploy it. It scans in a full 360 degrees and marks enemies for 8 seconds; the marks stay even if the drone is destroyed. The EMP now fires with one press. It deals full shield damage with line of sight, or 50 damage and a lighter slow without it. We rank him B because the rework is promising but untested, and he started from the bottom of the pick table. Our Apex Legends Season 31 Cipher overview has the full Crypto change table.
Axle: nerfed in October, B tier
Axle’s nerfs came in the October 1 hotfix, and the Season 31 notes repeat them. Her slide’s lateral control is 50% lower (25% lower for Nitro Gate users). Increased aim assist is switched off while Nitro Gate is active, and the gate’s push speed drops from 700 to 650. Her Kickstart drone’s maximum knock-up falls from 700 to 650, and it gives up its chase after 8 seconds instead of 10. She was still picked in 3.9% of Season 30 games, but the Designer’s Notes say she had been “recklessly zooming around in all game modes”, and the nerfs target exactly that.
Best Legends for Ranked in Season 31: plan for bans
Legend Bans are live in Diamond+ matches from day one. Each player requests one ban, and a Legend’s chance of being banned equals its share of the requests. The system currently bans 2 Legends per match. If fewer than 4 different Legends are requested, the game adds the previous week’s most-played Legends to the pool (one request each), so the most popular picks are always at risk. Our Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked guide covers the ban phase and the new Challenger and Goliath entry costs.
| If your main is banned | Backup from the same class (our picks) |
|---|---|
| Pathfinder or Octane (Skirmisher) | Wraith, Alter |
| Mad Maggie (Assault) | Revenant, Bangalore, Fuse |
| Loba (Support) | Lifeline, Conduit |
| Vantage (Recon) | Seer, Sparrow, Valkyrie |
| Caustic (Controller) | Wattson, Catalyst |
Pubs and Ranked use the same three maps this season: Storm Point, E-District Night and Broken Moon. According to the patch notes, E-District Night gets lighting changes that lift deep shadows “to dramatically improve enemy player visibility in low-light zones”.
Crypto (red) sat near a 1% pick rate for most of 2025-26, the reason for his Cipher rework. Image: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment
How Strongholds change Legend picks
Strongholds are Season 31’s new airdrop. One lands during Round 2’s closing, alongside the Care Packages. It’s locked until a team captures the zone around it. Capture progress only moves when one team is alone in the zone, goes faster with more teammates inside, and never decays. A captured Stronghold gives each living member of the team a level up, plus 1 Care Package weapon, 3 Gold guns, 3 Amps and 2 Corrupted attachments. It also crushes anything it lands on and deploys up to 4 indestructible barriers and 2 Hardlight frames.
Two kit interactions are written into the notes: Loba can’t steal from a Stronghold, and Alter can’t breach one, until it’s captured. Our read: zone-holding Legends gain value here. Controllers, whose kits fortify a location, and Caustic in particular, can lock down a capture zone. Skirmishers like Pathfinder and Octane are best at rotating in late to contest it.
Weapon changes that affect your Legend choice
The Prowler and Nemesis both get more recoil. Respawn says the Prowler was “out-competing nearly all other SMGs and ARs”. The Hemlok Burst AR replaces the vaulted Hemlok Breach AR. The Akimbo Wingman joins floor loot and Heavy Arsenals with Heavy Ammo and 45 base damage. The L-Star returns to the floor, and the Akimbo Mozambique takes its Care Package slot. The full weapon list is in our Cipher patch overview. For other live-service season launches this fall, see our Marvel Rivals Season 11 guide. If you’re still finishing the Blood Pact event, it ends when Cipher starts; our Halloween 2026 event end dates list has the other games.
FAQ
Who are the best Apex Legends right now?
In our Season 31 tier list: Pathfinder, Octane, Mad Maggie and Wraith, with Loba, Revenant and Lifeline just behind. Pathfinder was the most-picked Legend of Season 30, at 12.7% on Apex Legends Status.
Who is the best Apex Legend for beginners in Season 31?
Lifeline. EA’s data shows her pick rate is highest in Rookie, at about 10%. In Season 31 her heal drone cooldown drops to 15 seconds, and she heals while gliding. Avoid Crypto at first: Respawn itself calls him a very difficult Legend.
Which Legends got buffed in Apex Season 31?
Crypto (rework), Lifeline and Revenant. Loba was nerfed, and Axle’s October 1 hotfix nerfs are part of the season notes.
Who is the best Legend for solo queue?
Our pick is Revenant for players who take fights and Lifeline for players who play safe. Both got shorter cooldowns in Season 31: Revenant’s Tactical and Ultimate, and Lifeline’s heal drone.
Sources: EA / Respawn, Apex Legends: Cipher Patch Notes (Nov 2, 2026); Cipher Designer’s Notes (Oct 30) with its pick-rate charts; New Updates Coming with Apex Legends: Cipher (Oct 29); Apex Legends Status pick rates (Season 30, checked Nov 3, 01:05 UTC); Apex Legends Wiki: Legend (classes). Tiers are GamingRoute’s assessment.
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