Apex Legends Season 29, officially titled Overclocked, is shaping up to be one of the most gameplay-focused updates Respawn has pushed in a while. The new season is not just about adding Axle as the latest Legend. It also brings major system changes like Deathbox Respawns, Chain Healing, Legend buffs for Conduit and Vantage, loot pool updates, Ranked adjustments, and several reported weapon changes.
Respawn has already confirmed that Overclocked is built around a faster, higher-risk meta, with Axle, Deathbox Respawns, Chain Healing, and updates to Conduit and Vantage leading the season. Full Patch Notes are scheduled for May 4, 2026, so some details are still not officially locked in yet.
Apex Legends Season 29 Overclocked Patch Notes Overview
Overclocked seems to have one clear goal: make Apex feel faster. Respawn says Season 29 will push players into a high-risk, high-reward meta where movement, recovery, and fight tempo matter more than ever. That direction is obvious when looking at the biggest changes coming this season.
Axle is designed as a hypermobile Legend. Deathbox Respawns help squads recover after messy fights, Chain Healing makes resets smoother, and Conduit and Vantage are both receiving buffs to feel more active in combat. Respawn also confirmed that a larger Ranked update is planned later in Season 32, meaning Overclocked is part of a longer effort to reshape the game’s future.
Full Patch Notes:
GAME UPDATES
Deathbox Respawns
Dev note: With this new mechanic, we wanted to introduce an alternative way to get your teammates back into the fight, faster (but riskier) than the classic Respawn Beacon process, that feels like a reward for teams that successfully clear and hold an area. The safest option will remain disengaging, recovering banners, moving to a safe beacon, and respawning. But a successful Deathbox Respawn may bring your team back to full strength before a third party can capitalize on your weakened squad.
- 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.
Respawn Beacon Dropship
Dev note: Respawn from Dropship is a dangerous and lengthy process. Often the surviving player activating the Respawn Beacon will get pounced on and killed before their teammates disembark the Respawn Dropship. This change is meant to get boots on the ground faster for returning players, while keeping the Dropship visible for the entire lobby for an extended duration, ensuring no enemies miss the cue that players are returning to the battlefield.
- Animation timing adjusted
- Dropship arrival shortened so respawned players re-enter the game faster.
- Dropship hover time after respawn increased.
Chain Healing
Dev note: This is a Quality of Life change at its core. Many factors contribute to when and how you heal. Limited resources and timing influence this choice: often meaning that you’re going to spam heal several shield cells rather than wasting the more valuable and limited shield batteries you have. This change is meant to make that existing pattern of spamming the heal button to rip 4 cells in a row smoother and less repetitive.
- 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.
Health Bar Updates
We have overhauled the Health Bar system to increase reliability and improve Line of Sight checks when obscuring effects are present. Effects such as smoke and foliage will now more consistently block the LoS check used for Health Bars. This means Health Bars will appear less often in situations where an enemy is obscured to you.
## LEGENDS ### AXLE{#axle}
Dev note: Axle was born after a big-picture assessment of the state of movement in Apex following Valkyrie’s two-year reign in the ALGS. Valk was a big pick in competitive play, and on the other side of the competitive spectrum, Octane was the perennial #1 pick. Other Legends with movement abilities have consistently been mainstays in the top five.
This comes as no surprise; fluid movement has always been a staple of Apex, a powerful tool in a BR where positioning is paramount. Our movement deep-dive preceding Axle’s development shone a light on our biggest learning: Characterizing “Movement” as a tool is far too reductive. Just look online: community-driven movement wikis and training videos are everywhere. Movement is the toolbox, and every jetpack boost, soft landing, and grapple is just one of many tools inside.
Keep your head on a swivel, because Axle transforms the battlefield into her racetrack.
Class
- Skirmisher
Passive
- DRIFT: Increased control while sliding.
- Axle accelerates and moves faster than others while sliding.
- She also has increased lateral control.
Tactical
- 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.
Ultimate
- 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.
Upgrades
- 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).
- Jump Gate: Upgrades the Nitro Gate to give a double-jump.
VANTAGE
Dev note: Vantage is currently underperforming in fights and as a result is seeing less play overall. Looking over her kit we recognized that, as a sniper, her role becomes more and more difficult the later the game goes on (and playspace shrinks). We really wanted to find ways to keep her kit powerful at every stage of the game.
Passive
- Tracking a team with Spotters Lens will generate 70% of an ultimate bullet
- 10 second cooldown per team
Tactical
- 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
Ultimate
- 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
- Reduced Deploy and Raise time from 1.5s to 1.3s
- Default Normal scope magnification increased from 3x to 4x
Upgrades
- Tactical Cooldown replaced with Herd Tracker: Pinging an enemy will track the entire team
CONDUIT
Dev note: As a Legend with a low pick rate that performs quite well relative to other Support Legends, Conduit presents an intriguing design conundrum: why aren’t more players picking her if her match result stats are great? Our primary goals are to keep Conduit feeling challenging but rewarding, to increase her playmaking potential, and also to provide her with more opportunities to have successful supportive interactions with her team.
Abilities
- Passive:
- New Effect: If Savior’s Speed is active when sprinting toward a Skirmisher, gain an additional 5% movement speed.
- 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
Upgrades
- 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.
ALTER
Dev note: At the highest levels of play, Alter has been a consistent performer who shakes up fights by being extremely evasive, standing above many of the other legends in her class thanks to the team utility and safety she provides. Though we feel like her playstyle drives a fun player fantasy, we want to incorporate a bit more risk into her gameplay formula, making her cunning escapes not quite as “free” as they have felt before.
Abilities
- 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
Upgrades
- Level 3
- Void Breacher
- Reduced movement speed from 30% to 15%
- Void Breacher
ASH
Dev note: We know player sentiment around the most recent round of Ash changes was that we “nerfed her into the ground.” We felt like we had to nerf Ash really hard to manage a relative dominance over global pick rate. But with the presence of other agile Legends like Octane, Wraith and now Axle, we have a little more wiggle room to find the happy middle ground. While we want to give Ash’s passive a little zip back, we are proceeding cautiously to avoid trending toward the state of Ash in Season 24.
Passive
- Cooldown from 12s to 10s
- Velocity from 425 to 450
New Mythic Universal Melee: Twin Razors
Traditional martial arts weaponry meets deadly laser weapon technology in style with the new Twin Razors Mythic Universal Melee cosmetic.
These dual melee weapons feature lethal rotating laser blades, dealing dangerous melee blows for any Legend bold enough to wield them. Twin Razors are available as a possible drop in Overclocked Seasonal Packs*, available all season long.
*Not available in all regions.
LOOT & ATTACHMENTS
Care Package Rotation
- C.A.R. returns to the floor (details below)
- LSTAR enters the Care Package (details below)
Gold Weapon Rotation
- Devotion LMG, Hemlok Breach AR, Alternator SMG, Charge Rifle, Wingman
Light Ammo
Dev Note: Light ammo weapons as a whole have become a bit too reliable in both performance and sustain. Adjusting their ammo stack size is a way to take a swing at bringing the entire ammo class down a bit, while giving other ammo types some space to breathe.
- Decreasing light ammo stack size to 60 (was 72).
WEAPONS
Hemlok Breach Ar
- 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)
L-Star Emg [Care Package]
- Damage increased from 19 to 20
- Added Hop-Up: Redline
- Increased damage and projectile size when close to overheating
P2020
- Increased base damage from 23 to 24 (Previous Hotfix)
C.A.R. [Floor Loot]
- Removed Hop-Up: Galvanic Gavel
- Magazine size adjustments:
- Blue magazine increased from 25 to 26
- Purple and gold magazines increased from 28 to 30
LOCKED HOP-UPS
Double Tap Trigger
- Increased points to unlock from 375 to 500 on the Alternator
Turbocharger
- Decreased points to unlock from 500 to 425 on the Devotion
MAPS
Dev note: This season we’re taking a big look at macro rotations and the options our maps provide alongside the tools our Legends bring to the table.
In previous updates we’ve implemented changes and adjustments to the Tridents to try and provide interesting and exciting gameplay opportunities. They’re however not hitting the mark on what we want out of vehicle gameplay in Apex so we’re removing them to let our Legends take the wheel. We’ve seen players consistently use Tridents in ways that wander far from their intended use: rotating between POIs. We feel we can better achieve this goal of speedy rotations with the existing state of Legend movement, putting another layer of importance on your team comp choices.
The Ziprails in Broken Moon have always helped define the overall feel of the map and how teams rotate between POIs. However those Ziprails also contribute to a lot of silent third parties that can feel particularly frustrating. We’ve gone through and removed the majority of rotational POI-to-POI Ziprails while maintaining the Ziprails within POIs that help define the combat space. This should make navigating the map feel a little more predictable and easier to understand.
We want squad compositions and Legend choices to really matter when it comes to how teams traverse through our maps. Pulling back on how quickly players can rotate via Legend-agnostic map tools puts that power back in our Legends hands.
Storm Point:
- Tridents removed
Olympus:
- Tridents removed
Broken Moon:
- 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
Pubs & Ranked
- Broken Moon
- Kings Canyon
- Olympus
Mixtape
- 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
WILDCARD
Wildcard
- Olympus Wildcard (5/5/26 – 5/19/26)
- Kings Canyon Wildcard (5/19/26 – 6/2/26)
RANKED
Ranked Ladders (coming later this split)
| Ranked Ladder 1 | 5/14/2026 | 5/17/2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Ranked Ladder 2 | 5/21/2026 | 5/24/2026 |
| Ranked Ladder 3 | 5/28/2026 | 5/31/2026 |
| Ranked Ladder 4 | 6/4/2026 | 6/7/2026 |
| Ranked Ladder 5 | 6/11/2026 | 6/14/2026 |
| Ranked Ladder 6 | 6/18/2026 | 6/21/2026 |
Season Reset Seeding
We’ve fixed an issue where players near tier boundaries could sometimes be placed lower than others with similar or slightly lower performance after a season reset.
Reset seeding should now feel more consistent and better aligned with your previous season’s results, while keeping the overall reset experience the same.
BUG FIXES
- 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.
LEGENDS
- 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.
QUALITY OF LIFE
- 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.
- New Firing Range Settings:
- 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.
AUDIO
- 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.
ENGINE
Pubs & Ranked
- Broken Moon
- Kings Canyon
- Olympus
Mixtape
- 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
MATCHMAKING
Solo-Queueing Adjustments
- 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.
Queue Time Tuning in High-Skill Lobbies
- 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
Bots in Unranked Modes
- We’re continuing limited testing of bots in select regions and skill ranges in Unranked modes (Trios, Duos, Wildcard). The goal is to improve match quality by reducing extreme skill mismatches and avoiding excessively long queue times, particularly if there are lower-population scenarios. Bots are used only to fill gaps in these scenarios, not replace full matches, and you will never matchmake with an Apex Bot on your team.
IN-GAME AUDIO
This season, as a quality of life update, we have improved voice chat clarity and added the ability to adjust voice chat volumes for each member of your squad individually.
We are continuing our work to resolve existing audio issues and improve in-match audio quality so that you can consistently rely on these systems to inform your situational awareness. We are aware that audio issues increased during the recent Gundam Event and we are continuing to work on our metrics gathering to avoid similar situations in the future. We pushed various stability improvements over the latter half of Season 28 that have improved the situation, pushing us towards cleaner audio experiences. We appreciate the reports we received – they greatly helped our ongoing investigations.
Apex Legends Season 29 Overclocked looks like a major tempo shift for the game. Axle brings another movement-focused Legend into the roster, Deathbox Respawns could change how teams recover after fights, and Chain Healing should make resets smoother without removing risk entirely.
