Apex Legends Season 31, titled ‘Cipher’, launches November 3 at 10 AM PT with a full rework of Crypto that swaps his drone’s cooldown system for batteries, per GameRant’s breakdown of the patch.
Respawn says it built the rework so Crypto fights closer to the action, gathering intel without hanging back to steer his drone remotely. The biggest mechanical change is the battery system: instead of waiting out cooldowns, players retrieve and redeploy the drone on the fly, which shortens the downtime that has long defined Crypto’s play pattern.
The drone tags for you now
The drone also gains a Sentry Mode that automatically tags enemies in its line of sight and shares that information with teammates, so squads get the surveillance benefit without Crypto glued to the drone’s camera. GameRant reports the rework extends to his Ultimate as well: the EMP now fires with a single button press, making it usable mid-fight rather than a setup tool.
For a character who has historically pushed players toward passive, camera-camping play, the combination points squarely at frontline use. GameRant notes the season fits a broader pattern of Respawn revisiting older mechanics and getting more out of the existing roster rather than leaning on brand-new additions, with no new Legend or map headlining this drop.
Revenant, Lifeline and the Akimbo Wingman
Two other Legends get attention. Revenant’s Tactical and Ultimate cooldowns are shorter, and his upgrade tree adds new options: each knockdown buys extra Ultimate duration, Shadow Pounce applies a silence effect to foes it lands on, and the pounce resets whenever a marked target is on the field. Lifeline’s D.O.C. healing drone gets a shorter cooldown, she can heal herself while gliding, and her upgrade tree brings back the Revive Shield that was removed from her kit previously.
The Wingman, one of the game’s most popular precision weapons, gains an Akimbo option in Season 31, adding burst-fire potential to a revolver that has always rewarded single, accurate shots. A new Strongholds mechanic expands on the IMC Armories concept: high-risk loot spots stocked with supply-crate guns, altered attachment variants and squad-wide EVO progression, with the catch that opening one takes time and triggers an alarm that tells everyone nearby where you are.
Apex Legends is free to play, and Season 31 ‘Cipher’ goes live November 3 at 10 AM PT. Exact battery counts, cooldown values and the full patch notes were not included in the pre-release details, so players will get the concrete numbers when official notes publish.
