Hero image: Apex Legends. Image: Electronic Arts
Season 31 Arrives With Twin Wingmans and a New Fight for Loot
Apex Legends: Cipher begins on 3 November, according to the patch notes Respawn posted on Steam early this morning, Sydney time.
The notes do not give a start time for Season 31, so none is given here.
The headline addition is the Akimbo Wingman. Loot a second Wingman and you automatically go Akimbo, with each gun firing one after the other in a quick burst.
The Wingman itself moves from Sniper Ammo to Heavy Ammo, and its base damage drops from 50 to 45. In Akimbo mode its magazine size doubles, its headshot multiplier falls to 1.25x, and its recoil and reload time both increase.
The second addition is the Stronghold, a locked, bunker-style structure that airdrops onto the map in the mid game. A team captures it by being the only squad in the surrounding zone until progress reaches 100%.
A captured Stronghold opens up and gives each living member of the team a level up. Its loot is one Care Package weapon, three gold guns, three amps and two Corrupted Attachments, according to the notes.
Ranked gets Legend Banning in Diamond and above, letting players vote for Legends to be banned from selection in each match. Scoring adjustments for wide-skill matches also go live at the start of the season.
Among the Legend changes, Crypto’s drone now runs on a battery, with 25 seconds to act before it is recalled. Loba’s tactical cooldown rises from 25 to 30 seconds and her ultimate from 120 to 150 seconds.
The Hemlok Burst AR loses its integrated silencer, and the L-STAR’s base damage falls from 21 to 19.
Storm Point, E-District Night and Broken Moon make up both the Pubs and Ranked map rotations. The Designer’s Notes on EA’s site explain the thinking behind the Akimbo Wingman and Strongholds.
Source: Respawn – Apex Legends: Cipher Patch Notes (Steam), EA – Apex Legends 31.0 Designer’s Notes, Steam – Apex Legends