Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked changes on 3 November 2026, when the Cipher season begins. Respawn is removing Road to Ranked challenges and bringing access back to a single requirement: Account Level 20. At the same time, high-ranked lobbies are getting Legend Bans, Challenger and Goliath RP adjustments, and clearer demotion protection.
EA confirms that Season 31: Cipher launches on 3 November 2026. That’s when Level 20 replaces the Road to Ranked challenge requirement, and the other match changes arrive. The full rank ladder redesign, including Iron and Emerald, waits until Season 32 in early 2027. Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked is about access, Legend Bans and fairer RP entry costs, not the new ladder.
How to unlock Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked
For Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked, the new unlock requirement is straightforward: reach Account Level 20. Once the Season 31 change goes live, you won’t need to finish the separate Road to Ranked challenge set to gain access. If you’re already at or above Level 20 but were stuck on those tasks, the announced update removes that extra challenge barrier.
Account Level 20 is still compulsory. If you’re below that level, keep playing to level up; if you’re already Level 20 or higher, the extra Road to Ranked challenges will no longer be required once the new season starts.
If Road to Ranked still appears before 3 November, the new unlock system hasn’t gone live yet. This is part of the Season 31 launch in November, not an immediate switch made when Respawn published the roadmap.
Why are Road to Ranked challenges being removed?
Road to Ranked was designed to help new accounts learn the rules of Battle Royale Trios and gain some experience before entering competitive matches. Respawn’s review found that the required challenges weren’t providing the skill check it wanted, and that some tasks demanded too much time and effort from players.
For Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked, remember that reaching Level 20 only opens Ranked. Legend Bans are restricted to qualifying Diamond+ matches, and the Iron, Emerald and Grandmaster tiers don’t arrive until Season 32.
Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked Legend Bans in Diamond+ lobbies
For matches with Diamond+ players, Respawn is adding a pre-match Legend Ban vote. Each player chooses one Legend they would like to ban. Once everyone has voted or the timer expires, the game shows each nominated character’s probability of being banned; the actual result is selected randomly using those weighted odds.
More votes raise the chance of a particular Legend being removed from the lobby, but they don’t automatically guarantee a ban. After the result is chosen, the remaining Legend Selection phase begins and no player can pick a banned Legend for that match. These qualifying lobbies also use Drop Zone deployment.
The full voting process is covered in our Apex Legends Season 31 Legend Bans guide. It’s a change to Diamond+ matches, not a new requirement for somebody opening Ranked for the first time at Account Level 20.
Challenger and Goliath matches: why RP entry cost changes
Ranked lobbies will display a Lobby Tier based on the median rank tier of their squads. If your squad’s rank is two or more tiers below that lobby tier, it’s labelled a Challenger Match and you pay a reduced RP entry cost. If your squad is two or more tiers above the lobby tier, it’s a Goliath Match with a higher entry cost.
For example, Respawn describes a Gold-tier lobby. A Bronze squad is two tiers below and qualifies as Challenger, while a Diamond squad is two tiers above and qualifies as Goliath. Silver, Gold and Platinum squads are close enough to the median to avoid those special labels. This adjustment is based on the lobby you’re joining, not a permanent tag on your account.
Check the RP entry cost shown as you load into each match. It reflects whether your squad has landed in a Challenger or Goliath lobby, so two games at the same visible rank can carry different risk. Our Challenger and Goliath guide explains the calculations.
Demotion Protection now shows its three shields
Demotion Protection already exists in Ranked; Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked makes the mechanic easier to see. If a loss could drop you to a lower rank tier in a single match, protection activates and you have three Demotion Shields. Each time you would lose enough RP to drop a tier, one shield is consumed instead.
After all three shields are exhausted, another qualifying loss can cause the demotion. Protection can also end sooner if you earn enough RP that a single loss would no longer drop you. This is a clearer visual presentation of an existing safeguard, rather than an entirely new three-game immunity rule.
Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked – What is changing in Season 32?
Season 31 isn’t the start of the new rank names. Respawn says the bigger tier overhaul comes in Season 32, in early 2027. Rookie is replaced by Iron, Emerald sits between Platinum and Diamond, and Grandmaster is the new top-ranked tier. An Apex Predator badge will require finishing among the top 750 Grandmaster players.
Ranked will also split into Open League for Iron through Emerald, and Pro-Am League for Diamond through Grandmaster. Open League keeps Dropship starts; Pro-Am will feature Drop Zone and Legend Bans. Respawn also plans changes to scoring, including fixed RP amounts for kills and placement, team-wide kill credit and entry costs adjusted by division. Those new systems should not be confused with the November Season 31 access update.
For the exact proposed ranks and league boundaries, see our Season 32 rank changes guide. Dates and numbers that Respawn has not yet finalised, including the exact Season 32 launch date and full RP tables, should be checked against later patch notes.
Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked still locked? What to check
Before November, check which version of the Ranked unlock requirements your game currently uses. Once Season 31 is active, your Account Level is the requirement identified in the roadmap. If you’re below Level 20, continue playing eligible modes to raise your account level. If you’re already past Level 20, check that the Season 31 update has actually reached your game before treating a remaining Road to Ranked prompt as a bug.
For Apex Legends Season 31 Ranked, the first thing to remember is that Level 20 unlocks access; it doesn’t place you in Diamond or turn on Legend Bans in every lobby. Match restrictions depend on the ranks of the people in a particular game. The Iron, Emerald and Grandmaster ranks are planned for Season 32 in early 2027, not this launch.
Related Guides
Official source: EA and Respawn’s October 20 Apex Legends Ranked roadmap.
