Apex Legends Season 29, titled Overclocked, is set to launch later today, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. The update introduces a wealth of new features including a fresh Legend character, a controversial Deathbox respawn mechanic, and numerous balance changes. Here is everything you need to know about the release timing and the full patch notes.
UK Release Time for Apex Legends Overclocked
The Overclocked season will go live at 6pm BST on May 5, 2026. This aligns with previous seasonal updates for the battle royale title. Players who have preloaded the update can jump in immediately at launch, as EA pushed the update files late last night. Simply launch your console or PC to download the Overclocked patch.
Full Patch Notes for Apex Legends Season 29: Overclocked
Deathbox Respawns
Respawn dead teammates directly from their Deathbox. This is a high-risk maneuver: respawning is loud, visible to enemies, and takes 7 seconds. Gear remaining in the Deathbox is automatically added to your inventory upon respawn. A lockout timer increases with each additional death, resetting when you stay alive.
Respawn Beacon Dropship Adjustments
Animation timing has been tweaked: dropship arrival is shortened for faster re-entry, while hover time after respawn is increased.
Chain Healing
While healing, you can now queue another healing item to begin automatically. Three settings are available in the Gameplay menu: Off (disables), Single (manual queue), and Auto (continuous queue until full health or out of items).
Health Bar Updates
Health Bars now check line-of-sight more reliably. Effects like smoke and foliage will block the check more consistently, so health bars appear less often when enemies are obscured.
New Legend: Axle
Axle is a Skirmisher class Legend with abilities focused on sliding and speed manipulation.
- Passive – Drift: Increased control while sliding; Axle accelerates and moves faster than others while sliding, with enhanced lateral control.
- Tactical – Nitro Gate: Deploy a speed gate that sends users into a boosted slide for up to five seconds. The gate affects both friendlies and enemies, but only Axle gains increased slide control.
- Ultimate – Kickstart: Fire an enemy-seeking drone that travels close to the ground. Upon spotting an enemy, it seeks and detonates, knocking back targets, revealing them airborne, dealing explosive damage, and briefly stunning them.
- Upgrades: Level 2 offers Super Slider (second tactical charge) and Automata (second ultimate charge). Level 3 offers Jump Gate (double-jump from Nitro Gate) and Sliding Shooter (bullets shot while sliding come from inventory, capped at half magazine size).
Vantage Changes
- Passive: Tracking a team with Spotters Lens generates 70% of an ultimate bullet; 10-second cooldown per team.
- Tactical: Immune to hard landings when exiting; velocity increased to 21 m/s; double jump range increased to 7m; deceleration reduced by 25%; cooldown reduced to 17s.
- Ultimate: Toggle fire for Canted Sight (2x optic); rechamber time decreased to 1.1s; ADS time reduced to 0.4s; bullet scaling reduced drastically; normal sight ADS time reduced to 0.5s; weapon handling improved; default scope magnification increased to 4x.
- Upgrades: Herd Tracker replaces Tactical Cooldown – pinging an enemy tracks the entire team.
Conduit Changes
- Passive: New effect: Savior's Speed grants an additional 5% movement speed when sprinting toward a Skirmisher.
- Tactical: Split Charge incorporated into base kit (two charges); Regen Duration decreased to 6s; Regen decreased to 15/s; Cooldown adjusted to 27s; cooldown start delay removed.
- Upgrades (Level 3): Instant Barrier (gain temp shields instantly but regen duration reduced by 2s) and Enduring Barrier (temp shield regen persists through damage).
Alter Changes
- Tactical: Cooldown increased to 25s.
- Ultimate: Range decreased to 250m; Recall Time increased to 3s; Ally Recall Time increased to 4s; Chase Portal Open Time decreased to 4s.
- Upgrade (Level 3): Void Breacher movement speed reduced to 15%.
Ash Changes
- Passive: Cooldown reduced to 10s; velocity increased to 450.
New Mythic Universal Melee: Twin Razors
Traditional martial arts weaponry meets laser technology. Twin Razors feature rotating laser blades and are available in Overclocked Seasonal Packs.
Loot & Attachments
- Care Package Rotation: C.A.R. returns to floor loot; L-STAR enters care package.
- Gold Weapon Rotation: Devotion, Hemlok Breach AR, Alternator, Charge Rifle, Wingman.
- Light Ammo: Stack size reduced to 60 (from 72).
Weapon Changes
- Hemlok Breach AR: Breach Charge cooldown increased to 25s; now disperses gas and smoke; damage decreased to 22; magazine size reduced by 2; Trophy Systems intercept charge; recoil and hipfire spread increased.
- L-STAR EMG (Care Package): Damage increased to 20; added Redline Hop-Up (increased damage and projectile size when near overheating).
- P2020: Base damage increased to 24.
- C.A.R. (Floor Loot): Galvanic Gavel Hop-Up removed; magazine sizes adjusted: blue to 26, purple/gold to 30.
Locked Hop-Ups
- Double Tap Trigger: Points to unlock increased to 500 on Alternator.
- Turbocharger: Points to unlock decreased to 425 on Devotion.
Map Changes
- Storm Point: Tridents removed.
- Olympus: Tridents removed.
- Broken Moon: Ziprails removed from most rotations but remain at most POIs; two Redeploy Balloons added to west side; two new rotation options added.
Pubs & Ranked Rotation
Broken Moon, Kings Canyon, Olympus, Mixtape. Wildcard: Olympus Wildcard (5/5-5/19), Kings Canyon Wildcard (5/19-6/2).
Bug Fixes
- Fixed rare client error related to entity type.
- Improved Hardlight interactions with Legend abilities.
- Fixed incorrect Low/No Ammo notifications.
- Fixed Arc Star and Frag Grenade sound effects on Hardlight.
- Fixed Volt Death Enhancer skin visibility when cloaked.
- Fixed akimbo Mozambiques merging and firing as single weapon.
- Fixed weapon level drop in control mode.
- Fixed crash when sorting random favorite skins.
Legend Bug Fixes
- Newcastle: Fixed ultimate slam not destroying Catalyst reinforcements on empty door frame; added new VO for upgrades.
- Revenant: Fixed early tactical cancel allowing faster weapon readiness.
- Lifeline: Fixed self-revive animation and UI timing in Wildcard.
- Vantage: Fixed delay before ADS accuracy; fixed weapon equip in fight night; fixed Spotter’s Lens priority with Mirage decoys.
- Loba: Fixed black market stealing banners crafted by enemy squad.
- Octane: Added new VO for Stim Surge.
- Mad Maggie: Fixed Wrecking Ball not destroying doors at upper edges.
- Fuse: Fixed Motherload not penetrating some Legend abilities.
- Gibraltar: Fixed overlapping Thunder Domes allowing passage unharmed.
Quality of Life
- New Firing Range settings: Infinite Healing Toggle, Self-Revive Toggle, Rebuild Hardlight Button.
- Fixed thermite interactions.
- Missing Nessies returned.
- Improved CPU performance on physics calculations, reducing stutters on high-performance CPUs.
- Added logic to prevent Valkyrie and others from entering enemy respawn dropship.
- Added Legend voice lines for Hardlight reinforcement and cracking multiple shields.
Audio
- Ability to tweak individual voice chat volumes per player in squad menu.
- Improved voice chat clarity.
- Fixed HAVOC Rifle audio cutting out for the firing player.
Engine & Graphics
- Improved occlusion data structures for all maps, boosting CPU performance.
- Fixed occasional framerate dip at very high FPS (240+).
- Cleaner Ambient Occlusion with specular occlusion; faster except at High/Ultra at 4K.
- Improved cubemap reflection intensity, sky ambient lighting, and baked lighting for many props.
