Apex Legends Season 28 early patch notes: Legend changes, destructible walls, Ranked changes

Apex Legends Season 28, called Breach, puts close-quarters combat at the center of the game with a new destructible environment mechanic, major Legend updates, and sweeping changes to Ranked, weapons, and loot. Check out the patch notes below.

Launching on February 10, the season introduces Hardlight Mesh windows across the Outlands, allowing players to smash through buildings or reinforce positions defensively.

Breach also marks the seventh anniversary of Apex Legends, with permanent Legend unlocks, a themed event, and a new Battle Pass.

Hardlight Mesh

Hardlight Mesh windows are new destructible and repairable structures added to buildings. When intact, players can see through Hardlight Mesh but cannot shoot or move through it.

Hardlight Mesh can be destroyed by dealing damage, with explosives, snipers, shotguns, and melee attacks speeding up the process to create new entry points and sightlines. Controller Legends can repair broken Hardlight Mesh or reinforce it beyond its original strength, allowing teams to rebuild or fortify positions mid-fight.

Lead BR Designer Eric Canavese said the goal is to reshape familiar maps by introducing new offensive and defensive routes that change how buildings are approached and held.

There’s something very Highguard about this too…

Legend Updates

Several Legends receive targeted updates designed to complement the new close-range combat focus.

Fuse gains new offensive tools, including the Knuckle Jumper upgrade, allowing him to leap past enemy defenses. His Ultimate has been reworked to better clear fortified positions, with new upgrades enabling flame deployment from the Ultimate and recharging it through explosive damage.

Respawn Entertainment

Bloodhound’s tactical scan is being upgraded.

Bloodhound receives improvements to their Tactical scan and a significantly reduced Ultimate cooldown. The tactical should now feel “faster and more fluid,” the devs said, while scoring a knock during Beast of the Hunt extends the Ultimate, enabling chained eliminations. New upgrades include extended White Raven range and healing on knock during the Ultimate.

Catalyst’s Piercing Spikes can now be thrown further and trigger faster. New upgrades allow spikes to remain hidden until activation or deal increased damage. Her Dark Veil Ultimate can now be deployed horizontally to seal chokepoints, reducing incoming bullet damage and reinforcing defensive setups.

Controller Legends also gain new interactions with Hardlight Mesh, allowing them to repair and reinforce shattered windows to rebuild defensive strongholds.

Ranked Changes

Drop Zone has been removed from Ranked play.

Ranked matches will return to the traditional drop ship, aligning the mode with public matches. Developers cited feedback around RNG-heavy outcomes, uneven loot distribution, and ring pressure as key reasons for reverting the system.

Bot Royale Evolved

Bot Royale has been expanded to support between one and five full human squads per match, with the remaining squads filled by updated Apex Bots tuned for low and mid-skill players.

Respawn Entertainment

XP caps and challenge progression restrictions have been removed, allowing players to earn XP and progress challenges in the mode. Badges and stats remain disabled.

Weapon Meta Updates

Several shotgun hop-ups are returning, including Dual Shell for the Mastiff, Disruptor Rounds for the Peacekeeper, and Double Tap for the EVA-8 Auto.

At the same time, Marksman weapons are being toned down. The Bocek, Triple Take, and 30-30 Repeater receive reductions to fire rate and damage, while the G7 Scout moves to the Care Package.

Loot Pool Clean Up

Knockdown Shields have been removed from the loot pool. Knockdown Shield strength is now tied to a player’s Legend Level, scaling as they gain Evo.

White backpacks are now equipped at the start of each match and have been removed from ground loot to reduce early-game clutter and streamline looting.

7th Anniversary Event

The 7th anniversary event allows players to permanently unlock up to four Legends by completing weekly challenges.

Legend unlock schedule:
• Week 1: Valkyrie
• Week 2: Revenant
• Week 3: Conduit
• Week 4: Sparrow

The event also introduces community-created cosmetic rewards, new tactical skins, and the Mythic Peacekeeper. Players can earn a Reactive Weapon Pack through the milestone reward track.

Breach Battle Pass

Split 1 Premium includes Legendary skins for Octane and Seer, a Legendary EVA-8 skin, 10 Exotic Shards, and the Reactive Bocek skin at Tier 60.

Split 1 Ultimate includes all Premium rewards, plus 1,200 Crafting Metals and 14 Apex Packs.

Split 1 Ultimate+ adds Ultimate+ skin variants for Octane and Seer, 10 extra Battle Pass levels, and unlocks all Legends during Split 1.

Apex Legends: Breach launches February 10 at 10am PT across all platforms.