Based on documents published up to May 4, 2026
Season
Season 29: Overclocked
Season start:
Overclocked is Season 29, live from May 5, 2026. The RP formula itself stays put; what got touched is seeding and matchmaking, including a fix for players near a tier boundary being placed too low at the season reset. In the match, the headline is a new base rule: reviving a teammate straight out of their deathbox. Six ranked ladders of three days each.
At a glance
- Six ranked ladders of 3 days. The first opens May 14, nine days into the season; the last closes June 21
- The season-reset placement bug is fixed: players near a tier boundary could be seeded below others
- Later in the split, solo queuers are matched against a slightly lower skill tier in both Ranked and Unranked
- Deathbox Respawns arrive: 7 seconds, loud and visible to anyone nearby
- The new Legend is Axle, a Skirmisher. Ranked rotates Broken Moon, Kings Canyon and Olympus
Ranked ladder calendar
| Ladder | Window | Span |
|---|---|---|
| Ladder 1 | 5/14 – 5/17 | 3 days |
| Ladder 2 | 5/21 – 5/24 | 3 days |
| Ladder 3 | 5/28 – 5/31 | 3 days |
| Ladder 4 | 6/4 – 6/7 | 3 days |
| Ladder 5 | 6/11 – 6/14 | 3 days |
| Ladder 6 | 6/18 – 6/21 | 3 days |
The dates exactly as the patch notes print them. No timezone is given there.
Ranked ladders — six 3-day windows, each opening Thursday and closing Sunday
Six three-day windows from May 14 to June 21. Last season, Amped, ran twelve windows of the same length, so the shape is unchanged and the count is halved. The totals and gaps below are our arithmetic on the two seasons' own date tables.
- changedWindow length: 3 days, unchanged
- changedWindows: 126 (total competitive days: 3618)
- changedThree days between windows, and a nine-day run-up to the first
- changedNothing in the notes changes RP maths, promotion or demotion
Sources: Apex Legends™: Overclocked Patch Notes / Apex Legends™: Amped Patch Notes
Reset seeding — the bug placing players near a tier boundary too low is fixed
Seeding across a season boundary had a bug: players sitting near a tier line could start lower than comparable players. The notes list it as fixed. The principle behind seeding — place on tracked skill, not on the RP balance you finished with — is unchanged since Season 25.
- changedScoped to placement right after the reset; in-season promotion and demotion are untouched
- changedThe effect lands once, at the reset, so it shifts only where a season opens
Solo queue — queue alone and you face a slightly lower skill tier
To offset the disadvantage of facing full squads, solo queuers are matched against a slightly lower skill tier in both Ranked and Unranked from later in the split. The notes also warn that tightening the skill bands at the top can add a few minutes to queue times. Bot testing continues in Unranked in some regions, never on your own team.
- changedRolls out later in the split, not at season start
- changedHigh-skill queues can run a few minutes longer than before
- changedUnranked bots only ever fill the opposing side, never your team
Deathbox Respawn — revive on the spot, but it takes 7 seconds, loudly
A downed teammate can be brought back at their deathbox instead of at a respawn beacon, and any gear still unlooted comes back with them. The cost is time and exposure: it is loud, it is visible, and each additional death lengthens the lockout before the team can use it again.
- changedTakes 7 seconds
- changedUnlooted weapons and gear return to the inventory automatically
- changedEach further death increases the lockout before the next use
“Respawning at a Deathbox is loud, visible to nearby enemies, and takes 7 seconds”Maps — Broken Moon, Kings Canyon and Olympus, with the rides taken away
Three maps in the Ranked and Unranked rotation, and less transport on them: Tridents are gone from Storm Point and Olympus, and Broken Moon loses ziprails from most rotations while keeping them at the majority of POIs. Broken Moon gains two redeploy balloons and two new rotation options in exchange.
- changedRanked and Unranked: Broken Moon, Kings Canyon, Olympus
- changedTridents removed from Storm Point and Olympus
- changedBroken Moon: ziprails cut from most rotations, two redeploy balloons added
Sources: Apex Legends™: Overclocked Patch Notes / Apex Legends™: Amped Patch Notes
Legends and loot — Axle arrives, Vantage goes up, Alter comes down
Axle arrives as a Skirmisher, Vantage and Ash get buffs, Conduit is reworked and Alter is nerfed. On the weapon side the C.A.R. returns to floor loot and the L-Star EMG moves into the care package. The quiet one that matters is the light ammo stack: how much you can carry changes.
nerfedAlter
- nerfedUltimate range 300m250m
- nerfedTactical cooldown 20s25s
buffedVantage
- buffedUltimate rechamber 1.2s1.1s
- buffedScope magnification 3x4x
Weapons and ammo
- nerfedLight ammo stack size 7260
- changedC.A.R. to floor loot
- changedL-Star EMG into the care package
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.