## What changed
- **Transition screen UI** — improved to better indicate when the game is still loading
- **Conduit's passive color overlay** — reduced intensity of the visual effect
## Bug Fixes
- **Loading state indication** — transition screens now more clearly show that the game is actively loading
## Balance
- **Conduit** — the color overlay from her passive ability is now less visually prominent
## Overall
Conduit's passive visual effect has been toned down and loading screens better communicate when the game is still initializing.
Improved transition screen UI to better indicate the game is still loading
Reduced the color overlay effect of Conduit's passive
## What changed
- **FPS drops** — investigating an issue affecting specific CPUs
- **Axle's movement exploit** — resolved an indefinite slide exploit
- **Xbox voice communications** — temporarily disabled across all platforms to investigate game crashes
## Bug Fixes
- **Axle** — fixed exploit allowing indefinite sliding
- **Xbox voice comms** — disabled to prevent crashes; Xbox players cannot hear or speak to any teammates
## Overall
Voice chat is offline for Xbox players while the team investigates crashes, Axle's slide exploit is fixed, and CPU-related performance issues are under investigation.
We are also investigating a recent issue resulting in FPS drops, likely tied to specific CPUs.
We resolved an issue where players were able to exploit Axle's movement, resulting in an indefinite slide
We are temporarily disabling voice comms for players on Xbox systems to investigate their contribution to a game crash. Xbox players will not be able to hear or speak to other players, regardless of platform.
## What changed
- **Ultimate+ Battle Pass tier purchases** — currently unavailable on Xbox platforms; Microsoft Store purchases are the recommended workaround
- **Xbox Series X/S crash** — identified and being fixed in upcoming patch
## Bug Fixes
- **Xbox Battle Pass purchasing** — prevented players from buying Ultimate+ tier; Microsoft Store alternative available now
- **Xbox Series X/S stability** — crash issue located and in development for resolution
## Overall
Xbox players cannot currently purchase the Ultimate+ Battle Pass tier directly, but can buy it through the Microsoft Store while the team fixes the underlying issue and a separate crash affecting Xbox Series machines.
We are looking into an issue preventing players from purchasing the Ultimate+ Battle Pass tier on any Xbox platform. Our current recommended workaround is to try from the Microsoft Store, where possible.
We are also tracking a crash impacting Xbox Series machines. We have located the issue and are working towards a fix.
# Apex Legends Patch 28.1 Summary
## What Changed
- **Queue times** — Higher-skill players now face longer queue times to create tighter skill bands and reduce mismatched ranked games
- **Deathbox Respawning** — Teams can now respawn dead teammates directly from their Deathbox (7-second animation, loud and visible to enemies)
- **Respawn Gear Recovery** — Respawned players automatically receive unlooted weapons and gear from their Deathbox
- **Healing Queue System** — Players can now queue a second healing item while healing (with "Single," "Auto," and "Off" settings available)
## New Legend: Axle
**Passive - Drift**
- **Slide control** — Axle accelerates faster while sliding with increased lateral control
**Tactical - Nitro Gate**
- **Speed gate deployment** — Creates a boosted slide lasting up to 5 seconds with greatly increased velocity and lateral control
- **Team-agnostic effect** — Works on friendlies and enemies equally, but only Axle gets increased slide control
- **Level 2 upgrade: Super Slider** — Grants a second Tactical charge
- **Level 3 upgrade: Jump Gate** — Nitro Gate grants one double-jump while active
**Ultimate - Kickstart**
- **Enemy-seeking drone** — Fires a drone that scans for enemies and seeks toward targets
- **Impact effect** — Detonates on proximity, knocking targets airborne, dealing explosive damage, and briefly stunning them
- **Level 2 upgrade: Automata** — Gain a second Ultimate charge
- **Level 3 upgrade: Sliding Shooter** — Bullets fired while sliding come from inventory instead of magazine
Late in 28.1, we began rolling out longer max queue times for higher-skill players. We’re keeping these changes in place to help create tighter skill bands and reduce mismatched games (e.g. Plats vs. Masters), leading to more competitive matches overall.
The majority of players will see no difference at all. If you matchmake into smaller pools, for example during off-hours, then you may have to wait up to a few minutes longer than before
Respawn dead teammates directly from their Deathbox. [*]High Risk: Respawning at a Deathbox is loud, visible to nearby enemies, and takes 7 seconds. Be sure to clear the area before attempting it.
Respawn with Your Gear: When respawned from your Deathbox, any weapons and gear that still remain unlooted are added to your inventory automatically.
Lockout Timer: Each additional death increases the time before teammates can use Deathbox Respawn again. Stay alive to reset the timer.
Animation timing adjusted[*]Dropship arrival shortened so respawned players re-enter the game faster.
Dropship hover time after respawn increased.
While healing, another healing item may now be queued to automatically begin once the current healing action finishes.
There are 3 settings options (‘Single’ is the new default option) that can be changed via the Gameplay settings menu:[*]Off: Disables the feature and leaves the current healing system unaffected.
Single: While healing, allows the queuing of another healing item. You must queue each additional heal manually by pressing the heal button again, or selecting a new item from the healing wheel.
Auto: While healing, allows the queuing of another healing item. Auto will continuously queue that same healing item, without any further input, until the effective health pool is full, or you run out of that healing item.
DRIFT: Increased control while sliding.[*]Axle accelerates and moves faster than others while sliding.
She also has increased lateral control.
NITRO GATE: Deploy a speed gate that sends users into a boosted slide.[*]Stepping into a Nitro Gate forces users into a speedy slide, where they have greatly increased velocity and lateral control.
This effect lasts for up to five seconds as long as speed isn’t naturally slowed.
Manually stopping the slide will end the effect (although it can be maintained through quick b-hops).
The gate is team agnostic, meaning it has the same effect on friendlies and enemies, though Axle will be the only one with increased slide control.
KICKSTART: Deploy an enemy-seeking drone that displaces targets on impact.[*]Axle fires a drone straight out in front of her, where it traverses close to the ground in a straight line as it scans for enemies in a wide FoV.
Once an enemy is spotted, the drone seeks towards the target, closing the gap to get within detonation range.
If the target cannot outrun or destroy the drone before detonation, it will knockback all targets in range up into the air.
Victims are revealed while airborne, take explosive damage, and are briefly stunned.
Level 2[*]Super Slider: Gain a second Tactical charge.
Automata: Gain a second Ultimate charge.
Level 3[*]Jump Gate: Upgrades the Nitro Gate to give a double-jump.[*]Similar to how Octane’s Triple Jump upgrade works, this upgrades the Nitro Gate itself.
Players can use up to one double-jump while the Nitro Gate effect is active.
Sliding Shooter: Bullets shot while sliding come straight from inventory instead of magazine.[*]Functionally, this allows for longer continuous firing while sliding before having to reload.
Bullets shot straight from inventory are capped at half the weapon’s max magazine size (i.e. if a purple mag capacity is 30 bullets, 15 bullets will get pulled from inventory before instantly transitioning to the active clip).
Tracking a team with Spotters Lens will generate 70% of an ultimate bullet[*]10 second cooldown per team
Vantage is immune to hard landings exiting the tac
Increased velocity from 20 Meters Per Second to 21 Meters Per Second
Increased double jump range from 4m to 7m
Reduced deceleration at final destination by ~25%
Cooldown reduced from 20s to 17s
Toggle fire to equip your Canted Sight: A 2x optic mounted on the side of the rifle[*]While canted rechamber time is decreased from 1.2s to 1.1s
While canted ADS time reduced from 0.5s to 0.4s
Bullet scaling is drastically reduced in Canted sights (so be accurate!)
Increase aiming responsiveness with Normal sight[*]Reduced ADS time from 0.6s to 0.5s
Increased weapon handling in both modes[*]Reduced Holster and Lower time from 0.5s to 0.4s
Increased Breach Charge cooldown from 15 seconds to 25 seconds
Breach Charge now disperses gas and smoke
Decreased damage from 23 to 22 (Previous Hotfix)
Decreased magazine size across all tiers by 2 (Previous Hotfix)
All Trophy Systems should now properly intercept Hemlok's Breach Charge (Previous Hotfix)
Increased horizontal and vertical recoil (Previous Hotfix)
Increased hipfire spread (Previous Hotfix)
Damage increased from 19 to 20
Added Hop-Up: Redline[*]Increased damage and projectile size when close to overheating
Increased base damage from 23 to 24 (Previous Hotfix)
Removed Hop-Up: Galvanic Gavel
Magazine size adjustments:[*]Blue magazine increased from 25 to 26
Purple and gold magazines increased from 28 to 30
Increased points to unlock from 375 to 500 on the Alternator
Decreased points to unlock from 500 to 425 on the Devotion
Tridents removed
Tridents removed
Ziprails removed from most rotations, but remain at majority of POIs
Added two Redeploy Balloons to west side
Two new rotation options added, north of Stasis Array and west of Terraformer
Broken Moon
King's Canyon
5/5/26 - 6/23/26[*]TDM: Fragment East, Skull Town, Zeus Station, Estates
Control: Labs, Barometer, Lava Siphon, Caustic
Gun Run: Wattson Pylon, Estates, Monument, Skull Town
Olympus Wildcard (5/5/26 - 5/19/26)
Kings Canyon Wildcard (5/19/26 - 6/2/26)
Fixed rare “SignifierName: 'Player' - is not expected entity type "player" for remote function” client error.
Improved interaction between Hardlight and other objects when rebuilding, preventing it from unintentionally destroying some Legend abilities.
Fixed some Low/No Ammo notifications incorrectly displaying.
Fixed Arc Star and Frag Grenade sound effects when exploded on Hardlight.
Fixed an issue with the Volt's "Death Enhancer" skin having visible elements when the player is cloaked.
Fixed an issue where the akimbo Mozambique's could sometimes merge and fire as a single weapon.
Fixed an issue where weapons in control could sometimes drop a level.
Fixed a crash when trying to sort random favorite skins.
Newcastle[*]Fixed the ultimate slam not destroying Catalyst’s reinforcements on an empty door frame.
Added new VO for Ready to Rumble and Defensive Line upgrade
Revenant[*]Fixed sometimes being able to cancel your tactical early and ready your guns sooner than intended.
Lifeline[*]Fixed self revive in Wildcard sometimes not using the right animation and having inaccurate UI timings.
Vantage[*]Fixed an issue where there was a slight delay before having intended ADS accuracy despite being fully zoomed into scope
Fixed bug where Vantage could equip weapons in fight night.
Fixed how Spotter’s Lens gave decoys a low priority so the real Mirage is less obvious to find.
Loba: [*]Fixed an issue where black market could steal banners crafted by an enemy squad.
Octane:[*]Added new VO for Stim Surge.
Mad Maggie:[*]Fixed Wrecking Ball sometimes failing to destroy doors when hitting them at the upper edges.
Fuse:[*]Fixed Motherload not properly penetrating some Legend abilities.
Gibraltar: [*]Fixed an issue where overlapping Thunder Domes would allow a player to pass into a dome unharmed.
Firing Range: [*]New Firing Range Settings:[*]Infinite Healing Toggle
Self-Revive Toggle
Rebuild Hardlight Button
Fixed thermite interactions.
The missing Nessies have returned from their vacation.
Tactical: [*]Split Charge has been incorporated into her base kit, granting two charges
Decreased Regen Duration from 9s to 6s
Decreased Regen from 20/s to 15/s
Adjusted Cooldown to 27s[*]Standard Radiant Transfer was 32s
Split Charge was 21s
Removed cooldown start delay[*]The cooldown will now always begin after casting, even if still searching for a target
Level 3[*]Both Radiant Transfer and Split Charge have been removed
New Upgrade: Instant Barrier[*]Gain a portion of Radiant Transfer's Temp Shields instantly, but Regen Duration is reduced by 2s.
New Upgrade: Enduring Barrier[*]Radiant Transfer's Temp Shield Regeneration persists through taking damage.
Tactical:[*]Increased Cooldown from 20s to 25s
Ultimate:[*]Decreased Range from 300m to 250m
Increased Recall Time from 2s to 3s
Increased Ally Recall Time from 3s to 4s
Decreased Chase Portal Open Time from 6s to 4s
Level 3[*]Void Breacher[*]Reduced movement speed from 30% to 15%
Cooldown from 12s to 10s
Velocity from 425 to 450
Improved CPU performance on physics calculations, eliminating a source of stutters, especially prominent in CPUs with high single-threaded performance, like Ryzen X3D chips.
Added logic to prevent Valkyrie, or other legends, from getting inside an enemy respawn dropship.
Added Legend voice lines for when Hardlight is Reinforced.
Added Legend voicelines when cracking multiple enemy shields in rapid succession.
Added the ability to tweak individual voice chat volumes for each player in the squad menu.
Improved voice chat clarity.
Fixed an issue where HAVOC Rifle audio could sometimes cut out for the player firing it.
Improved occlusion data structures that were used by Olympus in the last midseason update are now used for all maps, slightly improving CPU performance.
Fixed an issue that could lead to an occasional framerate dip when running at very high FPS on PC (e.g. 240+).
Cleaner Ambient Occlusion, which includes new specular occlusion. This will also be faster than the previous Ambient Occlusion in most cases, except at High or Ultra settings at high resolutions (4K on PC).
Improved accuracy of cubemap reflection intensity, especially in shadowed outdoor areas.
Improved accuracy of sky ambient lighting.
Improved baked lighting accuracy for many props in maps.
Default Normal scope magnification increased from 3x to 4x
We’ve heard the continued feedback on solo queueing difficulty. Later this split, we’ll introduce a system where solo players matchmake against opponents of a slightly lower skill tier in both Ranked and Unranked matches. This is aimed at reducing the advantage of full premade squads and tightening win rate gaps between solos and three-stacks.
Tactical Cooldown replaced with Herd Tracker: Pinging an enemy will track the entire team
Passive:[*]New Effect: If Savior’s Speed is active when sprinting toward a Skirmisher, gain an additional 5% movement speed.
Stepping into a Nitro Gate forces users into a speedy slide, where they have greatly increased velocity and lateral control.
This effect lasts for up to five seconds as long as speed isn’t naturally slowed by an obstacle.
Manually stopping the slide will end the effect (although it can be maintained through quick b-hops).
The gate is team agnostic, meaning it has the same effect on friendlies and enemies.
Axle fires a drone straight out in front of her, where it traverses close to the ground, in a straight line as it scans for enemies in a wide FoV.
Once an enemy is spotted, the drone seeks towards the target, closing the gap to get within detonation range.
If the target cannot outrun (good luck) or destroy the drone before detonation, it will knockback all targets in range up into the air.
Victims are revealed while airborne, take explosive damage, and are briefly stunned.
Similar to how Octane’s Triple Jump upgrade works, this upgrades the Nitro Gate itself.
Players can use one double-jump while the Nitro Gate effect is active.
Functionally, this allows for longer continuous firing while sliding before having to reload.
Bullets shot straight from inventory are capped at half the weapon’s max magazine size (i.e. if a purple mag capacity is 30 bullets, 15 bullets will get pulled from inventory before instantly transitioning to the active clip)
Added: Tracking a team with Spotter’s Lens will generate 70% of an ultimate bullet 10 second cooldown per team
Vantage is immune to hard landings exiting the tac
Increased velocity from 20 meters per second to 21 meters per second
Increased double jump range from 4m to 7m
Reduced deceleration at final destination by ~25%
Cooldown reduced from 20s to 17s
Press your toggle fire mode button to switch to your Canted sight: A 2x optic mounted on the side of the rifle While canted, rechamber time is decreased from 1.2s to 1.1s
While canted, ADS time reduced from 0.5s to 0.4s
Bullet scaling is drastically reduced in Canted sights (so be accurate!)
Increased aiming responsiveness with normal sight Reduced ADS time from 0.6s to 0.5s
Increased weapon handling in both modes Reduced Holster and Lower time from 0.5s to 0.4s
Reduced Deploy and Raise time from 1.5s to 1.3s
Default normal scope magnification increased from 3x to 4x
Tactical Cooldown replaced with Herd Tracker: Pinging an enemy will track the entire team
Instant Barrier grants Conduit and her ally an immediate burst of temp shields on using her tac. This should help to bolster that visceral feeling of actually seeing how you’re helping just as much as you’re feeling it.
Enduring Barrier allows the tac’s regen to persist through damage, highlighting Conduit’s unique style of aggressive support.
Savior’s Speed now grants bonus movement speed (in addition to the base effect) when sprinting toward Skirmishers