Respawn Entertainment has revealed the patch notes for the upcoming January 2026 update for Apex Legends. Besides launching the Winter Wipeout Event, the developer is making significant changes to Octane, Newcastle, and Crypto. While it remains to be seen what the reception to these alterations will be, they will likely have an impact on the Apex Legends meta.
Apex Legends is currently in Season 27, which was released on November 4 of last year. While the seasonal update did not introduce a new Legend, several characters received notable alterations. Specifically, Horizon, Valkyrie, and Rampart were buffed to make them more viable in the meta. In addition, Respawn made substantial changes to Olympus, adding new POIs and changing the layout of some areas. While Season 28 is likely to launch sometime in February, the developer has unveiled some big changes coming to the current season, including buffs to several characters.
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Octane Buffs Explained
Respawn has shared the patch notes for its upcoming January 6 update for Apex Legends, revealing some big alterations for Octane, Newcastle, and Crypto. While all the changes look to buff the characters, Octane’s rework could cause the biggest change to the game’s pick rates. According to the patch notes, the Skirmisher is receiving a new Tactical: Stim Surge. This new ability can be used after a player activates Stim. By using Stim Surge, players gain Fortified, initiate Swift Mend, and continue to heal through damage. Beyond this, the regular Stim is being buffed, and Octane’s JumpPad is being improved by incorporating the Mad Hops and Aerial Agility upgrades into the base kit. Players will also be able to store two JumpPads at one time, making it easier to flee from or push into a fight. With these changes to the base Ultimate, Respawn has introduced new upgrades for the Legend, with a couple focusing on improving his teamplay in Apex Legends.
Crypto Buffs Explained
Besides Octane, Crypto will see changes to his kit to make it quicker for him to start piloting his drone. The Recon-class Legend will also have his Off the Grid upgrade brought to the base kit, allowing him to cloak whenever controlling the drone. Furthermore, the development team is adding long-range Threat Vision to drone view and is bringing Satellite Imagery to the base kit, making it easier to spot enemies. Some of the other changes for the character include new upgrades and the ability to collect EVO Harvesters with the drone. According to Apex Legends Status, Crypto has one of the lowest pick rates in the battle royale at 0.6%, so it will be interesting to see if these changes will make him more fun to play.
Newcastle Buffs Explained
The last Legend seeing some buffs in the January update is Newcastle. While Respawn acknowledged that the character was “top tier” in ALGS, his popularity falls off in regular matchmaking. With this in mind, the developers have looked to improve his abilities to be a “pub savior” in response to Octane’s newly energized kit. Specifically, the update is incorporating his Heroes Hustle and Swift Shield upgrades into his base kit. This will let him move faster when using the Revive Shield. The changes also increase the movement speed of his Mobile Shield. With these upgrades now in the base kit, he is getting a couple of new ones that increase the effectiveness of his Revive Shield.
While it remains to be seen how these respective changes will play out in the battle royale, they could make these Legends more appealing to some players. It should be noted that Respawn is slightly nerfing Revenant in this upcoming update as well. The patch notes reveal that the maximum charge duration for his Tactical will be increased from 1.3 to 1.7 seconds, and his Ultimate will take 10% longer to deploy.
The January 2026 update for Apex Legends is also making some other notable changes to the battle royale. Some more highlights include slight damage buffs to the R-301 and Flatline, along with improvements to the Rampage, L-STAR, RE-45 Burst, Mozambique, and Prowler. Respawn is also adjusting Respawn Beacons, allowing each team to use each beacon once, regardless of whether another squad has used it previously. The spawn rates of extended and weapon supply bins have been decreased, while some tweaks have been made to the Olympus map in Apex Legends based on fan feedback.
Winter Wipeout Event is Coming to Apex Legends
All of these changes come as Apex Legends begins the Winter Wipeout Event. The festivities run from January 6 until January 27 and feature some big changes to the Wildcard mode in Apex Legends, including HoverBoards and new Wildcards. Additionally, new cosmetics are being added to the shop, with the spotlight on the new Apex Stellaris Prestige Skin for Horizon. Time will tell if these latest changes and new additions can attract more players back to the battle royale ahead of Season 28.
Apex Legends January 2026 Update – Patch Notes
BALANCE UPDATES
Active Gold Weapon Rotation
We cycle our gold weapons between releases to keep the loot pool feeling fresh and to showcase weapon changes. This season the rotation includes the R-301 and Rampage to highlight their balance updates and the Triple Take to celebrate its return to floor loot at the start of the season.
- R-99 SMG, R-301 Carbine, Mastiff Shotgun, Triple Take, and Rampage LMG
GAME UPDATES
Respawn Beacons
Dev Note: Over the years we have worked towards making respawning more accessible in the BR. We feel like this change will address a major pain point that has been felt in the respawning loop, “Why is the closest respawn beacon on the other side of the map?” Mobile Respawn Beacons remain unchanged (single use).
- Map placed Respawn Beacons can now be used once per team (previously once per game).
Extended Supply Bins & Weapon Supply Bins
Dev Note: We previously increased the spawn rate of extended & weapon supply bins when we removed the icons from the map so that they still felt consistent. Now that the icons have returned, we are seeing a few too many, so we are bringing that number back down.
- Reduced the spawn rate of extended and weapon supply bins.
LEGENDS
OCTANE
We did not forget! Since his release, movement in Apex Legends has become more dynamic with dashes, jumps, glides and jets. Octane needed something special to be the “run and gun” icon that he is meant to be. As Octane is a risk taking adrenaline chaser, we did not want to just throw away his health cost either. Instead we wanted to add a payoff by enabling his abilities to be stronger the less health he has. Octane is all about going fast and living dangerously – so go get ’em Octane mains!
Passive
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Swift Mend now heals more the less HP you have.
- Swift Mend base healing increased from 1.5 HPS to 3.0 HPS
- Swift Mend max healing heals for 9 HPS
TACTICAL – STIM SURGE
- Added a new ability for Octane Stim Surge: If Octane uses his tactical again, while stim is already active, he uses a new mixture which grants him Fortified, triggers Swift Mend, and allows Swift Mend to continue healing through damage.
• Stim Surge lasts 6s
• Costs 0 HP to use
• Reapplies Stim effect for entire duration
• Has a 20s cooldown but does not put Stim on cooldown
• Fortified reduces damage by 15% and grants immunity to bullet slow
• Players can hold tac button to automatically buffer Stim Surge
Dev Note: It’s very easy for Octane to run into danger faster than he should. Stim Surge gives Octane more agency to survive in those situations so he can hold W confidently.
TACTICAL – STIM
- While stimmed, Octane can sprint and use consumables.
- Reduce the time before Octane can reuse his Stim from 1.8s to 0.7s
- Stim speed increased by 5%
Dev Note: Going slow is for everyone else, not Octane. Healing while sprinting lets Octane maintain his tempo at the cost of consumables and gives him elusiveness in close quarter fights.
ULTIMATE
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Incorporated Mad Hops and Aerial Agility into the base kit.
- JumpPad now has two charges
- JumpPad has improved handling when double jumping
- JumpPads are useable immediately after hitting the ground
UPGRADES
Four new upgrades to replace all the base upgrades
- Thick Skin: Stim costs 10 less health to use
- Squad Rush: Everyone who uses your JumpPad gains Stim on land
- Daredevil: Gain fast reload on shield cracks and increase Stim Surge duration the less HP you have
- Triple Jump: Gain a third jump from JumpPads
Dev Notes: Octane was previously a fairly selfish pick. With the Ultimate changes, Squad Rush and Triple Jump, Octane can flex into strong team-wide mobility for coordinated teams comps.
NEWCASTLE
Newcastle is in an interesting spot right now. He’s chosen rarely in matchmaking but in ALGS, he is a top tier Legend. We wanted to make him more enticing without making him over powered in coordinated play. By incorporating all his speed upgrades into his base kit, it opened up space to create new upgrades that give him stronger rez plays. It felt right that in a season where the OG pub stomper Octane is coming back that a “pub savior” be around to protect the team.
