Apex Legends Recon Legends Guide (2026): Scans, Beacons, Intel

Recon is the information class of Apex Legends. Every Recon legend can scan Survey Beacons to see where the squads around them are, and each brings a second kind of intel in their own kit: a cone scan, a drone, heartbeats, tracker darts, rocket scans or a sniper's mark. This guide goes beyond our overview of all five classes: it shows what each scan reveals and for how long, every Recon kit and upgrade in Season 31 “Cipher”, Crypto's Season 31 rework, Bloodhound's new cloak, and how to turn intel into calls your squad can act on.

What Recon brings: the first look

Most Apex fights are decided before the first shot, by which squad knew more about the other. A squad that knows where the nearest teams are can pick the weakest one, avoid the strongest, and take a rotation nobody is watching. Recon legends are the class that buys that knowledge, and they buy it in two ways: the Survey Beacon perk, which tells you about the squads around you, and their own abilities, which tell you about the squad in front of you.

The difference matters. A beacon answers where should we go? A Bloodhound scan or a Crypto mark answers should we take this fight, right now? Good Recon players use both and keep them apart: the beacon at the start of a rotation, the ability at the start of a fight.

BoostPirate's one-line definition: the Recon player decides which fights the squad takes. The Assault decides how to win them.

Survey Beacons and threat vision

Only Recon legends can use Survey Beacons by default. Pathfinder (Field Research), Alter (Eye to Another World) and Mirage (Renaissance Man) can unlock them with a level 2 upgrade, so a squad without a Recon isn't locked out — it just spends an upgrade to get what a Recon has for free. Perks apply in Core modes such as Ranked and Unranked.

All six Recon legends

Each card shows the kind of intel the legend brings, its kit and the latest change. Timers are EA's where EA published them, otherwise the community Apex Legends Wiki as read on 8 November 2026.

Intel fileCone scan

Bloodhound

Tracking and a squad cloakReworked S30

Tracker. Enemy tracks and lingering trails; White Ravens fly up to 400 m towards enemy squads.

Eye of the Allfather 25 s — A cone scan: a full-body scan (4 s since the 25 Aug hotfix), then snapshot scans.

Allfather's Cloak 120 s — Cloaks anyone who enters: 12 s after leaving, 20% speed, threat vision.

3 Aug 2026 Season 30 rework: trails, snapshot scans and the new Allfather's Cloak

Intel fileDrone marks

Crypto

Drone scouting and the EMPS31 rework

Neurolink. Enemies the drone sees are shown to the squad; a speed boost towards teammates is now base kit.

Surveillance Drone 25 s battery — Flies until its battery runs out, then recalls; marks enemies in its sight for 8 s.

Drone EMP 180 s — Full shield damage and a strong slow with line of sight, 50 damage and a light slow without.

2 Nov 2026 Cipher rework: drone battery, 8 s marks, line-of-sight EMP, two new upgrades

Intel fileFocus reveal

Seer

Heartbeats and silence

Heart Seeker. Hear and see enemy heartbeats while aiming down sights, up to 75 m.

Focus of Attention 20 s — A delayed blast through walls that reveals and silences.

Exhibit 180 s — A 25 s sphere that reveals enemies who move fast or fire.

25 Aug 2026 Hotfix: the turn slow on Focus of Attention removed

Intel fileDart trails

Sparrow

Tracker darts and a stinger

Double Jump. A second jump, or a launch off a wall.

Tracker Dart 3 charges · 35 s each — A dart that reveals enemies who pass it; it can activate Survey Beacons from range.

Stinger Bolt 150 s — Six electric bursts of 20 damage that slow everyone in sight, Sparrow included.

Intel fileRocket scan

Valkyrie

Jetpack and squad redeployNerfed S30

VTOL Jets. A jetpack that refills on the ground.

Missile Swarm 12 rockets — A rocket barrage that damages, slows and scans; 15 damage on the first hit since Season 30.

Skyward Dive 150 s — Launches her and her squad into a new skydive, 15% lower since Season 30.

3 Aug 2026 Season 30 nerf: missile damage 25 → 15, dive height −15%

Intel fileSniper's Mark

Vantage

Sniper scouting

Spotter's Lens. Scope in without a weapon to see bullet drop and mark enemies.

Echo Relocation 17 s — Launch to her bat, Echo, for a fast reposition.

Sniper's Mark 6 rounds — A personal sniper; marked targets take bonus damage from the whole squad.

5 May 2026 Echo Relocation 20 → 17 s

Crypto's Season 31 rework

Crypto is the Recon legend Respawn changed most for Season 31 “Cipher”. The designer's notes (30 October 2026) give two reasons: a very low pick rate for several seasons, and players who "camp" in his drone instead of fighting with their team. Respawn's chart shows barely above 0% for most of February 2025 to October 2026, with one short rise around January 2026 (Ranked and Trios). The 2 November 2026 patch notes rebuild the kit around shorter, team-facing drone flights:

The drone now scans all around it (360°) but no longer scans loot bins or doors, and marks enemies in its line of sight for 8 seconds with a 4-second cooldown between marks. The speed boost towards teammates, Ally.MoveTo, moved from an upgrade into his base kit in a slightly weaker form. The EMP can be fired three ways: with the Ultimate button while piloting, on the deployed drone from outside it, or by deploying a fresh drone with the Ultimate button, which fires the EMP after a short delay. It deals full shield damage and a heavier slow to enemies the drone can see, 50 damage and a lighter slow to those it can't. Crypto takes no damage from his own EMP.

How to play the new Crypto, in BoostPirate's view: fly short scouting hops instead of one long flight, mark what you see, and get back to your body while the marks are still up. The marks outlast the drone, so a drone that dies after marking a squad has still done its job. Save the EMP for the moment your squad can push, and fire it where the drone can see the enemy — the line-of-sight version is the one that breaks shields. In the first days of the season apexlegendsstatus had Crypto in 1.6% of top-100 Predator games and 4.5% of all games.

Bloodhound and Valkyrie: one rework, one nerf

Season 30 (3 August 2026) changed the other two Recon legends Respawn watches most. Bloodhound got a full rework because, in the designer's notes, he was nearly absent from Platinum and above, with the lowest pick rate from Gold up; Respawn's Plat+ chart shows close to 0% in Platinum and above from Season 27 to July 2026. Enemy clues now leave lingering trails, White Ravens fly up to 400 metres towards enemy squads and can be activated by looking at them, and Eye of the Allfather follows its full-body scan with snapshot scans — the 25 August hotfix lengthened the scan by a second. His new ultimate, Allfather's Cloak, cloaks anyone who walks into its area: the cloak lasts 12 seconds after leaving it, gives 20% movement speed and threat vision, and breaks when you take damage or fire.

Valkyrie went the other way. EA wanted to curb her long-range "artillery" play: Missile Swarm's base damage dropped from 25 to 15, the rockets can no longer arc over tall cover as easily, Skyward Dive's base height fell by 15%, and her Eyes in the Sky upgrade now scans only 100 metres through walls (250 metres with line of sight). Skyward Dive is still the only Recon ultimate that repositions the whole squad. In the first days of Season 31 she was in 2.7% of top-100 Predator games, ahead of Bloodhound's 0.2%.

Upgrade choices at level 2 and level 3

Every legend chooses one of two upgrades at EVO armor level 2 (450 EVO on the wiki) and again at level 3 (1,700 EVO), reset every match. The highlighted choice is BoostPirate's ranked default.

Bloodhound

LVL 2

Hidden Sightthe cloak refreshes your scan, hidden from enemies

Bird's EyeWhite Ravens split to the two nearest squads

LVL 3

Hunter's Agilityfaster scan, −5 s cooldown

True Predatorshooting only interrupts the cloak

Crypto

LVL 2

Network Expansion+25% Neurolink and EMP range

Got Eyes On Youmarks last 4 s longer

LVL 3

Power Couplingultimate charge from beacons and drone scans

Charged Up+10 s of drone battery

Seer

LVL 2

Lasting Beatsenemies leaving Exhibit stay highlighted 5 s

Energizing Focus25 shields when the tactical hits

LVL 3

Home Basetactical every 8 s inside Exhibit

Split Focus+1 tactical charge

Sparrow

LVL 2

Hunt Targetfaster when running at a darted enemy

Extra Traps+1 dart charge and +1 dart in the world

LVL 3

Life Syphonhealth and shields back from Stinger damage

Alternate Modethree smaller Stinger Bolts

Valkyrie

LVL 2

Eyes in the Skysee enemies while skydiving, 100 m through walls

Full Coveragea bigger rocket pattern

LVL 3

Supersoniclaunch 40% faster

Aerial Expertfaster horizontal jets

Vantage

LVL 2

Controlling my Preygain the Controller perks

Improved Markmarked enemies briefly shown through walls

LVL 3

Herd Trackermarking one enemy marks the whole squad

Sniper Covera gun shield on Sniper's Mark

The pattern behind our picks: take the upgrade that keeps intel on screen longer or shares it with more of the squad. Got Eyes On You stretches Crypto's marks to 12 seconds; Herd Tracker marks a whole squad from one target; Lasting Beats keeps enemies highlighted for 5 seconds after they leave Seer's Exhibit; Hidden Sight refreshes Bloodhound's scan when he cloaks. Vantage's level 2 alternative, Controlling my Prey, is worth taking instead if nobody else in the squad can read Ring Consoles.

When to scan in a ranked match

EA doesn't publish a scan schedule. This is BoostPirate's timeline for a Recon in a ranked match on this split's maps (Storm Point, E-District Night and Broken Moon):

1. Landing
   Ability first, beacon second

   Use your tactical to check the landing zone is clear or contested, loot, then find the nearest beacon on your way out.

2. Round 1–2
   Beacon before every rotation

   Scan, then pick the route that avoids the closest squads. The three reveals tell you which way they are moving.

3. Mid-game
   Scan before you commit

   Before a third party, scan the fight to count players and see who is cracked. Strongholds and Care Packages pull squads together — scan them before you go.

4. Final rings
   Short, frequent reads

   Few beacons are left inside the last circles, so lean on your own kit: Seer's heartbeats, Crypto's marks, Bloodhound's snapshots. Call every change.

Turning intel into calls

Information only helps if the squad hears it in time. BoostPirate's format for Recon calls is number, place, state, said in that order, in under three seconds. Ping it as well, so teammates without voice see it.

Our comms and pings guide covers the ping wheel and callouts in depth, and the third-partying guide shows how to use a scanned fight.

Who plays Recon right now

Pick rates from apexlegendsstatus, a community stats site, read on 8 November 2026: top-100 Predator ranked games per platform in the first days of Season 31 (read 8 November 2026), and all players in all modes. Neither is EA data.

Bloodhound

0.2%

1.5%

Crypto

1.6%

4.5%

Seer

3.1%

2.3%

Sparrow

1.1%

2.3%

Valkyrie

2.7%

2.0%

Vantage

0.9%

2.6%

Top-100 Predators, ranked, early Season 31 All players, all modes

No Recon legend reaches 5% at the top: Seer (3.1%) and Valkyrie (2.7%) lead, while Pathfinder, the most-picked legend there, and Alter can borrow the Recon perk through an upgrade instead. Among all players Crypto (4.5%) is already the most-picked Recon a few days after his rework. That gap is good news if you main a Recon — your legend is unlikely to be banned in Diamond+ matches.

Common Recon mistakes

Related guides: all five classes explained · Support legends · Season 31 ranked changes · reaching Master and Predator