Based on documents published up to Feb 9, 2026
Season
Season 28: Breach
Season start:
Breach is Season 28, live from February 10, 2026. On the ranked side the change that mattered was a removal, not an addition: Drop Zones, introduced in Season 26, are gone and the drop returns to a single dropship under Jump Master control. In the match, Hardlight Mesh — breakable windows — reshapes building fights, and Fuse is rebuilt from the ground up.
At a glance
- Drop Zones are disabled; the drop goes back to one dropship and a Jump Master
- Ten 3-day ranked windows, February 19 to May 3, with an 11-day gap in the middle
- Whether Masters and Predators match with Diamond depends on that band's population
- Hardlight Mesh arrives: 200 HP bare, 1250 HP once a Controller reinforces it
- Knockdown shields leave the loot pool and are tied to Legend level instead
Ranked ladder calendar
| Ladder | Window | Span |
|---|---|---|
| Ladder 1 | 2/19 – 2/22 | 3 days |
| Ladder 2 | 2/26 – 3/1 | 3 days |
| Ladder 3 | 3/5 – 3/8 | 3 days |
| Ladder 4 | 3/12 – 3/15 | 3 days |
| Ladder 5 | 3/19 – 3/22 | 3 days |
| Ladder 6 | 4/2 – 4/5 | 3 days |
| Ladder 7 | 4/9 – 4/12 | 3 days |
| Ladder 8 | 4/16 – 4/19 | 3 days |
| Ladder 9 | 4/23 – 4/26 | 3 days |
| Ladder 10 | 4/30 – 5/3 | 3 days |
The dates exactly as the patch notes print them. No timezone is given there.
Drop Zones out — the drop is the Jump Master's again
The system introduced in Season 26 — squads assigned to POIs before the match — is switched off. The drop returns to a single dropship with the Jump Master choosing where to land. Two seasons from arrival to removal, with no reason given in the notes.
- changedIntroduced in Season 26 (Showdown), removed two seasons later
- changedThe even loot spread with no Hot Zones goes with it
- changedThe notes list no change to the RP formula itself
Sources: Apex Legends™: Breach Patch Notes / Apex Legends™: Showdown Patch Notes
Windows — ten 3-day runs, with an 11-day gap dropped in the middle
The notes head these Ranked Events rather than Ranked Ladders, but the shape of the dates matches what the seasons either side print under the ladder heading. Ten windows from February 19 to May 3, with a single 11-day gap between the fifth (ending March 22) and the sixth (opening April 2). The spans and the gap are our arithmetic on that table.
- changedWindow length: 3 days, Thursday to Sunday
- changedTen windows, 30 competitive days in total
- changedNormally four days between windows — except the 11 between the fifth and the sixth
- changedA nine-day run-up to the first, with the season starting February 10
Sources: Apex Legends™: Breach Patch Notes / Apex Legends™: Amped Patch Notes
Top-tier matching — which Diamond ranks meet Masters depends on the population
When the top-tier restrictions kick in, and exactly which Diamond ranks can meet Masters, is decided by when that band has enough players to sustain good matchmaking. Not a fixed threshold — something that moves during the season.
- changedThe boundary is not fixed for the season; it moves with the population
- changedThe notes give no population figure
“The timing of when these restrictions kick in, as well as exactly which Diamond ranks can match with Masters, will depend on when the population of those players is high enough to sustain good matchmaking.”Sources: Apex Legends™: Breach Patch Notes
Hardlight Mesh — breakable windows land in buildings: 200 HP bare, 1250 reinforced
Translucent panels at set locations that stop both bullets and bodies. They break, but what you break them with matters enormously — Legend abilities and explosives are far and away the most efficient. Controller Legends alone can reinforce one, which takes it past six times the health. They take ring damage, and cannot be repaired inside the ring.
- changedDefault health: 200 HP
- changedDamage multipliers: Legend abilities 10.0x, explosives 8.5x, snipers 3.5x, shotguns 2.5x
- changedReinforced health 1250 HP, at most four per player, four-second rebuild delay
Sources: Apex Legends™: Breach Patch Notes
Starting gear — knockdown shields and the white backpack stop being loot
The white knockdown shield and the white backpack leave the floor: the first now comes with Legend level, the second is in the starter kit. That much less of the early game is decided by what you happened to find. Revive Evo also starts tapering per team.
- changedThe white knockdown shield is tied to Legend Level 1
- changedThe white backpack is in the starter kit and off the floor
- nerfedRevive Evo: the first two per team give the full 100, then 25 less each time
Sources: Apex Legends™: Breach Patch Notes
Legends and loot — Fuse rebuilt, marksman rifles down, shotguns up
Fuse stops being slowed by explosive damage, and his tactical detonates sooner and harder. Bloodhound and Catalyst get partial reworks. Marksman rifles are nerfed as a group, the G7 Scout moves into the care package and the P2020 returns to the floor, while shotguns go the other way.
buffedFuse
- buffedNo longer slowed by explosive damage
- buffedTactical explosion delay 1.7s1.0s
- buffedTactical base damage 1015
buffedBloodhound
- buffedUltimate cooldown 4 minutes → 2.5 minutes
buffedMastiff
- nerfedPellets per blast 65
- buffedDamage per pellet 1619
nerfedMarksman rifles
- nerfedBocek max damage 6560
- nerfed30-30 Repeater base damage 4341
In and out
- changedG7 Scout into the care package
- changedP2020 back on the floor
Sources: Apex Legends™: Breach Patch Notes
Sources
Each entry is a summary with our own commentary, not a translation of the original. The primary documents it rests on are listed at the end of the write-up.