Apex Legends: Overclocked – Everything You Need to Know

Apex Legends: Overclocked is Season 29 of the Apex Games, and it is one of the most mechanically significant updates the game has seen in some time. A new high-mobility Legend, a major rework to how you revive teammates, a cleaner healing system, and sweeping map changes all arrived together. Here is everything you need to know.

Overclocked launched on May 5, 2026, as a free seasonal update. Apex Legends is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the EA App, Epic Games Store, and Steam.

The biggest quality-of-life change this season is the ability to respawn fallen teammates directly from their Deathbox — no Respawn Beacon required. Respawning at a Deathbox is loud, visible to nearby enemies, and takes 7 seconds, so clearing the area before attempting it is essential. Any weapons and gear that remain unlooted in the Deathbox are automatically added to the respawned player's inventory. Each additional death increases the time before teammates can use Deathbox Respawn again, so staying alive resets the timer.

It is a high-risk tool, but in the right situation — when your squad controls an area and just needs one player back — it is significantly faster than the traditional Respawn Beacon route.

Chain Healing allows you to queue another healing item before your current one finishes, so it begins automatically once the first completes. There are three settings: Off, which leaves the current system unchanged; Single, which lets you manually queue one additional item; and Auto, which continuously queues the same item until your health pool is full or you run out. Single is the new default. Find it in your Gameplay settings and adjust to taste.

The Health Bar system has been overhauled to improve line-of-sight reliability. Effects like smoke and foliage now more consistently block health bars from appearing, meaning bars show less often when an enemy is obscured.

The Ziprails in Broken Moon have been reworked. They now stay strictly within POIs, removing their use as general travel paths — a change designed to reduce the silent third parties that made the map feel unpredictable.

Trident vehicles have been removed from both Olympus and Storm Point. The aim is to place greater emphasis on Legend movement and team composition for rotations, rather than vehicle-based mobility. If your squad has been relying on Tridents for quick repositioning, rotation timing will need to be more deliberate going forward.

Axle is a Skirmisher Legend built around high-speed, movement-heavy play. Her Drift passive enhances movement precision and slide control. Her Nitro Gate tactical is a throwable node that creates a high-speed slide, letting her launch into faster rotations and claim better positions. Her Kickstart ultimate deploys an enemy-seeking explosive drone, designed to flush targets out of cover and allow her squad to close the gap.

She rewards aggressive positioning and punishes passive play. If your playstyle is already built around pushing, she fits naturally. If you prefer to play from range or hold position, she will take some adjustment.

Vantage's ultimate now has increased responsiveness on deploy, stow, and ready-to-fire timing. The default scope magnification has increased from 3x to 4x, and a 2x canted sight has been added, giving her greater flexibility at close range. She is also now immune to hard landings when exiting her tactical, allowing her to immediately move into a sprint or slide.

The canted sight in particular opens up Vantage's ultimate for close-range engagements where the previous scope was unusable.

Conduit's Radiant Transfer now has two charges built into her base kit. The Savior's Speed passive also now grants bonus movement speed when sprinting toward a Skirmisher while active. The added charge increases her ability to keep teammates shielded in fast-moving fights without waiting on cooldowns.

Use Deathbox Respawns only after clearing the area. The 7-second channel time leaves you exposed. It is a finishing move on a fight you have already won — not a mid-combat tool.

Set Chain Healing to Auto if you are playing aggressively. It keeps your health climbing without requiring you to look away from the fight. Switch to Single if you prefer manual control over which items you use.

Respect the Trident removal. Olympus and Storm Point now demand more deliberate rotation planning. Getting caught between zones without a vehicle means your Legend kit has to do the work — build your squad accordingly.

Learn Nitro Gates even if you are not playing Axle. Understanding how they work means you can anticipate where Axle players are heading and cut off their angles before they arrive.

Play Vantage's ultimate differently now. The 4x default scope and new 2x canted sight mean you no longer have to disengage from a close-range fight when you draw the rifle. The canted sight makes it a viable option at much shorter distances than before.

Overclocked is a mechanically dense season. Deathbox Respawns change how teams think about positioning after a fight; Chain Healing removes friction from the healing loop; and Axle pushes the movement meta into new territory. Map changes on Broken Moon and the Trident removals mean rotations across several maps need rethinking.

For SCUF players, the extra inputs available through rear paddles matter more than ever in a season built around momentum. Keeping thumbs on sticks through Nitro Gate launches, maintaining aim while queuing heals, and managing Axle's kit without breaking movement — all of it is easier when your inputs are where you need them.