Apex Legends Cipher adds Legend bans, Akimbo Wingman and Strongholds on November 3

Apex Legends Season 31, Cipher, begins on November 3, and Respawn’s patch notes spell out the biggest changes: Legend Banning in Diamond+ Ranked matches, the Akimbo Wingman, new Strongholds that airdrop into matches, and a long list of weapon, Legend and map adjustments.

Ranked adds Legend bans and wider-skill scoring changes

Cipher’s top competitive addition is Legend Banning in Diamond+ matches. Respawn says players will vote for Legends to be banned from selection in each match, creating a new step before the lobby even starts.

The season also brings scoring adjustments for wide-skill matches. Respawn says entry costs will be adjusted if a player’s rank is too far above or below the median lobby rank. The studio says these changes are part of the Ranked plans it outlined for the next two seasons.

Respawn also points players back to the Ranked Roadmap blog for the rest of what is still planned, but Cipher is the first season to put bans and the new scoring system into play.

Akimbo Wingman swaps ammo types and doubles up

The Wingman is one of Cipher’s biggest weapon changes. Respawn says the gun’s firepower is being doubled with the addition of Akimbo Wingman, which appears in ground loot and at Heavy Arsenals.

The pistol now uses Heavy Ammo instead of Sniper Ammo, takes Heavy Magazines rather than Sniper Magazines, and spawns at Heavy Ammo Arsenals instead of Sniper Ammo Arsenals. Its base damage drops from 50 to 45, but looting a second Wingman automatically switches it into Akimbo mode.

In Akimbo mode, the headshot multiplier falls to 1.25x, headshot damage is 56, magazine size doubles, recoil goes up, reload time increases, and the rate of fire rises slightly. Firing the weapon makes each Wingman shoot in quick succession, and holding the trigger continues those bursts.

The patch also adds tap-fire queuing to auto-fire bursts for the Prowler PDW, Hemlok Burst AR, Nemesis Burst AR and Akimbo Wingman.

Strongholds airlift onto the map mid-match

Strongholds are the other headline addition. Respawn describes them as locked, bunker-style structures that drop onto the map in the mid game alongside Care Packages and Replicators. They bring dynamic cover and a pool of valuable loot, but they have to be captured before anyone can get inside.

To claim a Stronghold, teams must control the zone around it. Capture progress builds when only one team is alive in the zone, becomes contested when more than one team is present, and does not decay once it has started. The team in the zone when progress reaches 100% gets the capture.

Once captured, the Stronghold opens and gives every living member of the team one level up. Respawn says the loot inside will include one Care Package weapon, three gold guns, three amps and two corrupted attachments.

• 2x Care Packages drop during Round 1 closing
• 1x Care Package drops during Round 2 closing
• 1x Stronghold drops during Round 2 closing
• Strongholds crush players and objects underneath them on landing
• They cannot be accessed, stolen from by Loba, or breached by Alter until captured

If there is enough room, Strongholds can deploy up to four indestructible barriers and two Hardlight frames. Respawn also says they drop dynamic cover as they land.

Crypto’s drone gets a battery, Lifeline heals while gliding

Crypto is the most heavily reworked Legend in Cipher. Respawn says the goal is to keep his kit distinct while pushing him toward a more active role with his squad. His speed boost toward teammates is now part of the base kit, though it has been slightly reduced.

The drone itself no longer lasts forever. Instead, it uses a battery system and has 25 seconds to perform actions before it is recalled. After recall, the drone can be redeployed without waiting for a cooldown, and the recall time is 6 seconds.

Crypto’s drone also handles faster, marks enemies within line of sight, and can do so on a 4-second cooldown. Those marks persist even if the drone is recalled or destroyed, and the scan zone now covers 360 degrees instead of only the camera view. The drone no longer scans lootbins and doors.

Respawn also changed his EMP. While piloting the drone, Crypto can trigger the EMP as before. Out of pilot mode, the EMP comes from the deployed drone. If it has line of sight to an enemy, it deals full shield damage and a heavier slow; without line of sight, it deals 50 damage and a lighter slow. Crypto no longer damages himself with his own EMP.

Lifeline gets a shorter Tactical cooldown, dropping from 25 seconds to 15 seconds, and D.O.C. now heals her while she is gliding. Respawn also moved several upgrade effects around: BattPack is replaced by Enhanced Radio at level 2, Improved Flight gives better glide handling and longer duration, and level 3 now offers Ultimate Cooldown or Revive Shield depending on the slot.

Revenant gets a faster Tactical, with cooldown cut from 20 seconds to 15 seconds and charge time sped up, plus a shorter Ultimate cooldown that drops from 180 seconds to 150 seconds. His upgrade list has been refreshed as well, with new options tied to his leap, silence pulse and passive marking. Loba is the opposite case: her Tactical cooldown rises from 25 seconds to 30 seconds, and her Ultimate climbs from 120 seconds to 150 seconds.

Weapons rotate between the floor and the Care Package

The Care Package rotation changes on both sides of the loot pool. The L-Star EMG returns to the floor, while the Akimbo Mozambique moves into the Care Package.

Respawn says the Akimbo Mozambique now deals 18 damage per pellet, reloads more slowly, and has a tighter blast pattern. The Care Package version adds the Executioner Hop-Up, heals 15 shields per second, and has a stockpile size of 80, or 40 per gun. In Wildcard, the stockpile size is 110, or 55 per gun.

The EVA-8 Auto loses Double Tap Trigger and gains Disruptor Rounds. The Hemlok Burst AR returns to the Apex Games with Burst and Single firing modes restored, while its elite variant is removed from all modes. Its automatic and Breach Charge firing modes are gone, and its body and headshot damage are listed at 21 and 29.

The L-Star EMG takes a damage hit from 21 to 19, drops from 28 shots before overheat to 22, and has its stockpile size reduced from 168 to 88. Its stockpile clip recharge time is cut from 22 seconds to 18 seconds, and the Redline Hop-Up is removed.

The Prowler Burst PDW gets more recoil and loses Selectfire Receiver. The Peacekeeper fires faster, and shotgun bolts now improve both rechamber rate and rate of fire. The Nemesis Burst AR gains increased vertical recoil.

Respawn also adjusts the Rapid Sniper Stock, reducing its rate-of-fire multiplier from 1.2x to 1.1x on the G7 Scout, Longbow DMR and Triple Take.

99 map fixes land across the rotation

Beyond the new systems and weapon changes, Respawn says it has rolled out 99 targeted quality-of-life fixes across the map rotation, with a focus on Storm Point, Olympus and World’s Edge. The studio says its level designers and environment artists worked through sticky collisions, troublesome geometry holes and unintended rat spots.

The patch notes close by thanking the community for detailed bug reports and gameplay clips, but the practical impact is a season that changes how Ranked works, how teams fight over mid-game map space, and which weapons dominate the loot pool when Cipher goes live.