Apex Legends Season 31, called Cipher, is a rework season rather than a new legend season.
Crypto has been rebuilt so he spends less time parked in his drone and more time moving with his squad, Lifeline and Revenant get shorter cooldowns that give players a reason to pick them again, and the Wingman can now be dual wielded as the Akimbo Wingman.
A new mechanic called Strongholds drops in round 2 next to the usual Care Packages, and ranked lobbies in Diamond and above now ban two legends every match.
This guide is based on what EA published for Season 31 as of November 3, 2026: the update overview, the designer's notes and the full patch notes.
It covers the start time in your time zone, every major change in one table, what to check on day one, and how to keep your first matches of the new season on video. If you are coming back to Apex Legends after a break, read it top to bottom.
When does Apex Legends Season 31 start? November 3 at 10 a.m. PT
EA announced November 3 as the Season 31 launch date and posted the full patch notes a day earlier, on November 2. EA's own posts do not list an hour, but gaming outlets reported the usual 10 a.m. PT launch slot, and Japanese outlets Famitsu and 4Gamer reported 3 a.m.
JST on November 4, which is the same moment. Because US daylight saving time ended on November 1, that works out to 11 a.m. MT, 12 p.m.
CT and 1 p.m. ET on November 3, 6 p.m. GMT in the UK, 7 p.m.
CET, and 5 a.m. AEDT on November 4. Some time zone tables online still use summer offsets and are an hour off, so go by the PT time.
You will need to download the update through the EA app, Steam or Epic before you can queue, and the patch notes say disk usage is about 30 GB lower than in Season 29.0 on most platforms. If the game will not start after the patch or you get an anticheat error, go through the Apex Legends won't launch fixes first.
Pubs and ranked share the same three maps this season: Storm Point, E-District Night and Broken Moon. Wildcard runs District and Broken Moon from November 3 to 9, and its December 1 to January 5 rotation adds Olympus. Mixtape keeps the same lineup until January 5, 2027.
Every major Season 31 change at a glance (official patch notes)
| Change | What Season 31 does | What it means in a match |
|---|---|---|
| Crypto (rework) | Drone runs on a 25 second battery instead of a cooldown, recalls in 6 seconds and can be redeployed with no wait. Enemies in the drone's line of sight are scanned in 360 degrees and marked for 8 seconds (4 second mark cooldown). The EMP fires with the ultimate button and no longer damages Crypto | Short drone flights to mark enemies, then push with your team. Level 2 adds 4 seconds to marks, level 3 adds 10 seconds of battery |
| Lifeline (buff) | D.O.C. tactical cooldown cut from 25 to 15 seconds, and D.O.C. heals Lifeline while she glides. Level 3 offers Revive Shield or a 60 second ultimate cooldown cut | Heals come back faster between fights, and revives are safer with the shield back |
| Revenant (buff) | Tactical cooldown 20 to 15 seconds, ultimate 180 to 150 seconds. Level 2 extends his ultimate by 10 seconds per knock; level 3 offers Silence on landing or No Escape, which refreshes the tactical when his passive marks an enemy | Built for frequent, aggressive Shadow Pounce engages |
| Akimbo Wingman (new) | Wingman moves from Sniper to Heavy Ammo and Heavy Magazines, and base damage drops from 50 to 45. Loot a second Wingman to dual wield: double magazine, 1.25x headshot multiplier, and the two guns fire one after the other in a quick burst | EA pitches it as a close and mid range threat. In Akimbo mode it fires slightly faster but reloads slower with more recoil, so grab Heavy Mags |
| Strongholds (new) | One Stronghold drops at the round 2 closing alongside one Care Package. Capture progresses only while a single squad is alive in the zone, progress never decays, and every living member of the capturing squad levels up | Loot: 1 Care Package weapon, 3 Gold Guns, 3 Amps, 2 Corrupted Attachments. Opening it takes time and sets off an alarm that gives away your position to nearby squads |
| Ranked | Legend bans in Diamond and above: each player requests one ban, and two legends are banned with odds equal to their share of requests. Squads two or more tiers below the lobby get a Challenger match (30% lower entry cost); two or more tiers above get a Goliath match (50% higher) | Have a backup legend ready. Weekly ladders are scheduled from November 10, five in total |
| Weapons and other changes | Elite Hemlok removed, and the Hemlok Burst AR returns with burst and single fire. L-STAR goes back to floor loot and Akimbo Mozambique enters the Care Package. Loba's tactical goes from 25 to 30 seconds and her ultimate from 120 to 150 | Tap fire queuing on the Prowler, Hemlok, Nemesis and Akimbo Wingman makes back to back bursts smoother |
What to check on Season 31 day one
- Maps: pubs and ranked both use Storm Point, E-District Night and Broken Moon
- Crypto controls: in the drone, the shoot button now marks enemies, and the EMP is on the ultimate button (on PC)
- Wingman ammo: pick up Heavy Ammo and Heavy Magazines, not Sniper Ammo
- Ranked (Diamond and above): decide which legend you will request to ban and pick two backups in case your main is banned
- Install and launch: the install is about 30 GB smaller than in Season 29.0, but test a launch before your first queue
How to keep your first Season 31 matches on video
- 1Update and test the launchDownload the Season 31 update in the EA app, Steam or Epic and make sure you can reach the lobby before you invite friends. Launch day can bring queues and server hiccups, so check your data center ping as well; this ping guide walks through it.
- 2Keep DOR runningWith DOR installed, an Apex match is detected when it starts and recorded in full, and the recording lands in My Clips when the match ends. There is no record button to remember, so you can focus on learning the new kits.
- 3Learn the new kits in the Firing RangeFor Crypto, count how many marks you can land within one 25 second battery and practice firing the EMP with the ultimate button without piloting the drone. For the Akimbo Wingman, get used to the alternating burst rhythm and the extra recoil before you take it into a real fight.
- 4Take one Stronghold in pubsBefore ranked, try capturing a Stronghold in a casual match. Progress only moves while your squad is the only one in the zone and stops when another squad enters. Your recording shows how many seconds it took for the next team to arrive and from which direction, which helps you pick a better position next time.
- 5Clip the moments worth keepingOpen the match in My Clips and trim only the Champion moment or your best Akimbo Wingman knocks. Besides the original 16:9, you can cut in 9:16 or 1:1. The full walkthrough is in how to clip Apex Legends.
Keep your first Season 31 Champion match in full
DOR is a free Windows app. While it runs, it detects when an Apex Legends match starts and ends, records the whole match automatically, and saves each match in My Clips.
Your first win with the Akimbo Wingman, or the first time the reworked Crypto lands an EMP, is already on video without pressing anything. The free version records at 720p or 1080p and 30 or 60 fps, with 1080p at 30 fps as the default.
Trim the part you want in the app at 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1, then use DOR Studio (dor.gg/studio) to join several clips, add text, music and effect templates such as Shake Zoom, and export an mp4. To send it to friends, share a dor.gg link that plays right in a phone browser; how to share Apex Legends gameplay videos covers the steps.
