Apex Legends has rolled out its mid-season 26.1 update, and it’s packed with legend balance changes, weapon tuning, quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and more.
The Sept. 10 update is here to shift the meta again, as Ash and Caustic have been nerfed, while Seer is finally making his long-awaited return through significant buffs. Some adjustments have been made to EVO Harvesters, Ranked systems, changes to attachments, and much-needed improvements to the game’s engine and performance.
Here’s a full breakdown of everything in the Apex Legends mid-season 26 patch notes.
Table of contents
Full Apex Legends 26.1 patch notes
Gameplay and balance updates
With this update, EVO Harvesters appear more frequently across maps, now spawning in the range of 10 to 11, depending on map size, up from a previous 7 to 8. The chance of multiple EVO Harvesters landing in the same POI has been reduced.
Respawn is also continuing its push against exploit abuse, adding further tweaks to prevent players from manipulating ring mechanics.
Legend changes
For Assault Class Legends, the time to reload weapons while being stowed has been increased to four seconds from two seconds.
Ash has been nerfed the hardest. Her Passive “Predator’s Pursuit” now has a longer cooldown of 12 seconds, and her dash is less effective unless it matches the player’s movement direction. Her Arc Snare lasts for a shorter duration (from eight seconds to six seconds), and no longer deals bonus damage to shields. Dual Breach and Marked for Death are also removed. Instead, there’s a new ability upgrade, “Longer Reach,” which increases Phase Breach range by 25 meters and reduces Phase Breach cooldown by 30 seconds.
Caustic’s Nox Gas damage now ramps up every two ticks rather than every tick, and you can no longer suffer aim punch when caught in the fumes.
Mad Maggie has received improvements to both her Tactical and Ultimate abilities. Riot Drill charges 10% faster and without delay. At the same time, Wrecking Ball’s throw animation has been sped up 25% and is more reliable at moving around or over obstacles. When exploded, it deals 25 damage (from 20), has a reduced lifetime to seven seconds from 10 seconds, and pads increase movement speed for 3.5 seconds (was 2s before), while lasting for 20 seconds from 60. Her “Shots Shots Shots” has been removed and replaced with a new “Gunrunning,” a passive movement speed increase that also works with SMGs and Pistols. Fire Ball now drops magma patches along the ground as it moves, and Mad Maggie takes 50% less fire damage from all sources.
The most significant buffs were kept for Seer. His Passive “Heart Seeker” now has a permanent 75-meter range and improved UI visibility. Tactical “Focus of Attention” scans longer, boosts Seer’s movement speed, and reduces weapon holster time. His Ultimate, “Exhibit,” throws farther, covers a larger area, and grants him enhanced movement within the dome. Upgrades like “Lasting Beats” reveal enemies leaving his dome for five seconds, and “Energizing Focus” regenerates shields on tactical hits.
Sparrow has also been slightly nerfed, with shorter tracking durations (12 seconds from 15 seconds) and a weaker Stinger Bolt (400HP from 550) that slows both enemies and allies.
Weapons, loot, and attachments
On the weapon side, LMG mains will notice Devotion no longer turbocharges after fully kitting out with purple attachments (barrel, magazine, and stock). The Bocek Bow charges faster at 0.35 seconds.
Among pistols, the Wingman’s base damage has been increased to 50, though Skullpiercer’s headshot multiplier has been reduced to 1.92 from 2.0.
Meanwhile, shotguns like Mastiff and Peacekeeper have updated draw times and blast patterns to better match other counterparts.
Locked Hop-Ups now require more points to unlock:
- Unlocking Skullpiercer now costs 600 points instead of 400
- Turbocharger sits at 600 points and is compatible with Havoc and Devotion
- Unlocking Accelerator now costs 300 points instead of 150. It has been removed from Peacekeeper, L-Star, and Alternator, and added to G7 Scout, CAR, and Flatline
- Gold Magazine and stowed reload mechanic have been adjusted to four seconds from two
- Unlocking Gun Shield Generator now costs 375 points instead of 250
- Unlocking Graffiti Mod now costs 425 points instead of 300
- Unlocking Select fire Receiver now costs 375 points instead of 250
Maps and modes
The mid-season patch has rotation updates for both Ranked and Mixtape playlists. Classic locations like Kings Canyon, Olympus, Fragment, and Skull Town are back. Duos mode has been reduced to 15 squads instead of 30, with a 30-player cap, and faster rings that close four times. Drop ship now starts at the edge of the ring (similar to Wildcard)
Events such as the Wildcard Trios: Wild Iron start Sept. 16, and Wildcard Trios: Core follow from Sept. 30. Ranked scoring has shifted with Entry Cost no longer required as a factor, allowing progression to be purely in-game performance-based.
Bug fixes and quality of life
Issues such as broken ammo notifications, incorrect Hop-Up naming, and Wildcard respawns not functioning properly have been resolved.
Legends like Alter, Mad Maggie, and Rampart also benefit from bug fixes that address visual errors and ability functionality.
Quality-of-life improvements include Ranked Drop Zones now removing the jumpmaster role and allowing independent squad dives, smaller on-screen notifications, and clearer death banners.
For more about the patch update, you can check Respawn’s official X post.
Published: Sep 11, 2025 02:48 am