ATCHED
Apex Legends
Apex Legends
28.1|Apr 7, 2026
View on Steam↗

Apex Legends: Legend Buffs and Elite Hemlok

3/5 Moderate

Gibraltar, Wraith and Wattson receive kit buffs, while the Elite Hemlok Breach AR joins the arsenal and Charged Up brings Vortex Shields to Wildcard.

Share:

Key Changes

  • 1Gibraltar gains Momentum Boost and a Dome of Protection cooldown reduction from 17s to 13s, alongside other kit and upgrade changes.
  • 2Wraith’s tactical cooldown falls from 20s to 15s and her ultimate cooldown falls from 2.5 minutes to 1.5 minutes as both upgrades join her base kit.
  • 3The new Elite Hemlok Breach AR features automatic fire, an integrated silencer and a recharging Breach Charge.
  • 4Wattson’s fence damage increases from 20 to 35, and her fences and ultimate can reinforce or rebuild Hardlight meshes.
  • 5Charged Up runs from March 31 to April 21 with Vortex Shields, EMP Blasts and nine new Wild Cards.
  • 6Olympus moves Elysium to the northeast corner near Rift and removes a minor POI from the area.
  • 7Enemy footsteps outside the player’s field of view are louder, especially when their source is farther behind.
  • 8The RE-45 Burst becomes the default RE-45 and remains an energy weapon.

All Changes

⚡Wildcard: Charged Up(11)

  • newVortex Shield: Charged Up runs from March 31 to April 21 on Broken Moon Wildcard, giving every Legend a Vortex Shield that catches and returns bullets and recharges by collecting EVO.
  • newEMP Blast: Charged Up gives Legends an EMP Blast that stuns enemies and damages placeable objects; its battery recharges through Vortex Shield blocks, EVO or Wild Cards.
  • newBigger and Better: Bigger and Better greatly increases Vortex Shield size and speeds up deployment and stowing.
  • newDuck and Cover: Duck and Cover increases the Vortex Shield’s protective area but disables return fire.
  • newEnergy Efficient: Energy Efficient makes EMP Blast cost 50% energy, allowing two uses per charge.
  • newSonic Boom: Sonic Boom increases EMP Blast damage and adds knockback.
  • newStatic Charge: Static Charge keeps the EMP Battery fully charged even when used.
  • newExtra Juice: Extra Juice grants EMP Battery charge from revives.
  • newBackground Process: Background Process adds passive EMP Battery charging that increases while sprinting.
  • newKinetic Converter: Kinetic Converter increases movement speed based on EMP Battery charge percentage.
  • newHeat Signature: Heat Signature lets players spend EMP Battery charge to highlight enemies through walls.

🎁Aftershock Event(2)

  • newAftershock Event: The Aftershock Event runs from March 31 to April 21, with new Legend and weapon cosmetics and a Fuse Prestige Skin with a custom Finisher and Dive Trail.
  • changeReward Shop: The Reward Shop exchanges Cells for rotating rewards from March 31 to April 10 and April 10 to April 21; Aftershock Milestone Collection offers and pack drops run from March 31 to May 5.

🛡️Legends(18)

  • buffGibraltar: Gibraltar gains Momentum Boost, increasing his speed after maintaining a sprint for a couple of seconds while unarmed or carrying a weapon without a sprint speed restriction.
  • buffGibraltar: Gibraltar’s punch deals double damage to Hardlight.
  • buffGibraltar: Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection cooldown is reduced from 17s to 13s.
  • buffGibraltar: Gibraltar’s ultimate gains its former size upgrade in the base kit, increasing radius by 20%.
  • buffGibraltar: Gibraltar’s ultimate missiles arrive faster, and he can throw the ultimate before its equip animation finishes.
  • newThunder Dome: Gibraltar’s Thunder Dome upgrade electrifies his dome, dealing 50 damage and slowing the first enemy to enter.
  • newHealing Dome: Gibraltar’s Healing Dome upgrade adds 4s to dome duration and doubles small meds healing for players inside.
  • newTriple Bombardment: Gibraltar’s Triple Bombardment upgrade splits his ultimate into 3 charges with reduced radius and missile count for each.
  • removeGibraltar: Gibraltar’s Big Bruddah, Bubble Bunker and Baby Bubble upgrades are removed.
  • buffWraith: Wraith’s tactical cooldown reduction is integrated into her base kit, reducing it from 20s to 15s.
  • buffWraith: Wraith’s ultimate cooldown reduction is integrated into her base kit, reducing it from 2.5 minutes to 1.5 minutes.
  • buffWraith: Wraith’s ultimate casting animation is faster.
  • newPhase Dome: Wraith gains the Phase Dome upgrade, creating a dome that sends entrants into the void for up to 30s or until she places her portal.
  • buffPhase Jumper: Wraith’s Phase Jumper upgrade increases her tactical’s void duration from 4s to 6s and grants a double jump while in the void.
  • buffWattson: Wattson’s fences reinforce Hardlight meshes and rebuild them if broken.
  • buffWattson: Wattson’s fence damage increases from 20 to 35.
  • buffWattson: Wattson’s fence deployment time decreases from 1s to 0.5s.
  • buffWattson: Wattson’s ultimate reinforces Hardlight meshes in its pylon zone and rebuilds them if broken.

🔫Weapons(8)

  • newHemlok Breach AR: The new Elite Hemlok Breach AR uses automatic fire with 23 body damage, 32 headshot damage and an integrated silencer, plus a Breach Charge with a 15-second cooldown, 38 player damage with radial falloff and a significant damage multiplier against Hardlight and structures.
  • changeHemlok Breach AR: The Hemlok Breach AR removes burst and single firing modes.
  • buff30-30 Repeater: 30-30 Repeater base damage increases from 41 to 43.
  • changeRE-45 Burst: The Elite RE-45 Burst becomes the default RE-45 and remains an energy weapon, with its Elite visual treatment removed.
  • buffP2020: P2020 Hammerpoints unlock at 425 points instead of 500.
  • buffP2020: P2020 base magazine size increases from 8 to 9.
  • buffEVA-8: EVA-8 base reload speed improves.
  • buffProwler PDW: Prowler PDW burst fire delay is reduced and its recoil improves.

🗺️Maps and Rotations(5)

  • changeOlympus: Olympus moves Elysium to the northeast near Rift, modifies the surrounding terrain and removes a minor POI from that location.
  • changeThe Pubs and Ranked map rotation consists of Olympus, Storm Point and World’s Edge.
  • changeMixtape: From March 24 to May 5, Mixtape features Skull Town, Fragment and Estates for TDM; Labs, Thunderdome and Lava Siphon for Control; and Monument, Skull Town and Thunderdome for Gun Run.
  • changeWildcard: Wildcard runs on Broken Moon Wildcard from March 31 to May 5.
  • changeApril Friends Day: April Friends Day is scheduled for April 1, 2026.

🔊Audio(2)

  • changeHardlight: Hardlight mesh shattering volume is lowered.
  • changeEnemy footsteps outside the player’s field of view are louder, with volume increasing further behind the player.

🐛Bug Fixes(10)

  • fixBloodhound: Bloodhound now triggers appropriate on-knock behavior when killing firing range dummies.
  • fixCatalyst: Catalyst’s Piercing Spikes no longer have a central dead spot where enemies could avoid damage.
  • fixCatalyst: Catalyst’s Piercing Spikes no longer activate when their owner approaches in the firing range with friendly fire enabled.
  • fixOctane: Octane’s Stim Surge no longer remains in the alternate hand while using Akimbo.
  • fixFuse: Fuse’s Reignition upgrade now works properly against firing range dummies.
  • fixSparrow: Sparrow’s SWAT scout skin no longer appears bright red at long distances.
  • fixNewcastle: Newcastle’s wall no longer destroys Mad Maggie’s wrecking ball when deployed too close to it.
  • fixCatalyst and Conduit’s Heart Machine skin no longer have visible portions while being revived by Mirage.
  • fixMirage: Decals on Mirage’s Destiny Gundam Spec II skin no longer remain visible while he is cloaked.
  • fixThe audio mix setting now saves properly on consoles.

✨Quality of Life(4)

  • change30-30 Repeater: The 30-30’s Long-Distance Agony skin iron sight is cleaned up to align with its other skins.
  • buffOctane: Players can use the double jump from Octane’s jump pad while healing.
  • changeAlternator SMG: Alternator SMG no longer displays extra blast-pattern hit markers in Double Tap mode.
  • changeVault Keys: Vault Keys no longer affect a deathbox’s colour.

🤖Apex Bots(5)

  • changeApex Bots: Apex Bots attempt to find cover and heal when damaged in combat.
  • changeApex Bots: Apex Bots make more intelligent target-selection decisions and are harder to sneak up on.
  • changeApex Bots: Apex Bots can move toward targets while strafing.
  • changeApex Bots: Apex Bots switch weapons based on their distance from a target.
  • changeApex Bots: Apex Bots use movement mechanics including ziplines, ziprails and jump towers to traverse and pursue.

⚙️Engine and Performance(4)

  • changeOn PC, microphone input uses WASAPI, enabling support for Windows 11 Voice Clarity.
  • fixStatic objects use bindless resources and batching to reduce draw calls and improve baseline CPU performance for map rendering.
  • fixOlympus: Olympus uses improved occlusion-culling data generation for slightly better CPU performance.
  • fixOn supported PC systems, ReBAR speeds GPU data uploads, potentially reducing model and texture pop-in and CPU time.

📅Coming Soon(1)

  • changeRanked Ladders: Ranked Ladders are coming later in the split, with Ranked Events 6–10 listed from April 2 through May 3.

Summary

Legends and weapons

Gibraltar gains a sprint passive, faster Dome of Protection resets and new upgrades. Wraith’s tactical and ultimate cooldowns are shorter, while Wattson’s fences deal more damage and interact with Hardlight. The Elite Hemlok Breach AR adds automatic fire and a Breach Charge; the 30-30, P2020, EVA-8 and Prowler also receive buffs.

Event and maps

Aftershock and Charged Up run from March 31 to April 21, with shields, EMP Blasts and Wild Cards in the limited-time mode. Olympus moves Elysium near Rift, and the notes list map rotations and upcoming Ranked Ladders.

Other changes

Enemy footsteps outside the player’s view are louder, Apex Bots gain combat and traversal improvements, and PC audio and rendering changes accompany Legend bug fixes.

← OlderApex Legends: Latest Update 04/03/2026Apr 4, 2026Newer →Recent Server IssuesApr 7, 2026

More from Apex Legends

View all patches →