Apex Legends Strongholds Explained: How to Capture Them, When They Drop and What Loot Is Inside

Apex Legends: Cipher is live, and Season 31 adds a brand-new mid-game objective to Battle Royale. Apex Legends Strongholds are locked, bunker-style airdrops that fall onto the map, throw up cover around themselves and only open for the squad that controls the area around them. Inside waits some of the best loot in the game, including a Care Package weapon. This guide explains when Strongholds drop, how to capture one, what loot is inside, what Loba and Alter can and can’t do, and how to win the fight around them.

What Are Strongholds in Apex Legends?

Strongholds are a new type of airdrop in Apex Legends: Cipher. Each one lands locked, deploys cover, and only opens after a squad captures the zone around it. The capturing team gets a level up and access to rare loot, including a Care Package weapon and Gold weapons.

Respawn describes Strongholds as an addition to the existing Care Packages and Replicators, not a replacement. In its Cipher Designer’s Notes, the studio explains that it wanted to double down on the iconic Care Package moment: a big drop that pulls every nearby squad into one fight, with a big payoff for whoever comes out on top. Because the drop spot changes from match to match, the local terrain and the ring position at the time of the drop shape how each Stronghold fight unfolds.

When Do Strongholds Drop?

According to the official Cipher patch notes, Respawn adjusted the airdrop timing to make room for Strongholds. The schedule now looks like this:

• Round 1 closing: two Care Packages drop.
• Round 2 closing: one Care Package and one Stronghold drop.

That means you get one Stronghold per match, and it arrives around the mid game. If your squad wants it, start moving toward the safe side of the ring once Round 2 begins to close, so you are not the last team to arrive.

Watch where you stand when it lands. Strongholds crush and kill players and objects underneath them, so never wait directly under the drop.

Strongholds are bunker-style airdrops that only open for the squad that captures them.

How to Capture a Stronghold in Apex Legends

You can’t simply walk in and loot a Stronghold. It stays locked until a squad captures it by controlling the zone around the structure. Here is how the capture works, step by step, according to Respawn’s patch notes:

1. Enter the Capture Zone. The area around the Stronghold is the Capture Zone. Progress only builds while exactly one team is alive inside it.
2. Clear out the competition. As soon as more than one team is inside the zone, the capture is contested and progress stops building.
3. Bring your whole squad. Capture progress fills faster when several teammates are in the zone together.
4. Be there at 100%. Progress is shared globally and never decays. The team that is in the zone when the bar reaches 100% captures the Stronghold, even if another squad did most of the work.
5. Loot it. Once captured, the doors and the roof hatch open, and every living member of your squad gets a level up.

The shared progress is the most important rule to understand. Because the bar never goes down, a squad can build it up to 90%, get wiped, and hand the Stronghold to whoever finishes the job. Third parties are not just a risk here, they are part of the design.

What Loot Is Inside a Stronghold?

According to the Cipher patch notes, every Stronghold contains the same set of rare loot:

• 1x Care Package weapon
• 3x Gold Guns
• 3x Amps
• 2x Corrupted Attachments

On top of the loot, the capture itself awards a level up to each living member of the capturing team. With three Gold Guns in the box, a full squad can leave with a Gold weapon each, plus one Care Package weapon for whoever needs it most.

The Care Package lineup also changed in Season 31. The L-Star returns to floor loot, while the Akimbo Mozambique moves into the Care Package. Its Care Package version comes with the Executioner Hop-Up, which heals 15 shields per second. Respawn’s notes don’t spell out which Care Package weapon a Stronghold picks, so expect any weapon from the current Care Package rotation.

Strongholds and Your Legend: Loba, Alter and Cover

Two Legends would normally be able to cheat their way into a locked box. Respawn closed both loopholes:

• Loba can’t steal loot from a Stronghold until it has been captured.
• Alter can’t breach a Stronghold until it has been captured.

After the capture, these restrictions no longer apply. That means a Loba on an enemy squad can still be a threat to an open Stronghold that nobody has finished looting.

Strongholds also change the battlefield the moment they land. If there is enough space, a Stronghold deploys up to four indestructible barriers and two Hardlight frames around itself. This dynamic cover helps the squad holding the zone, but it also gives approaching teams somewhere to fight from.

Apex Legends Strongholds Tips: How to Win the Fight

Strongholds only went live with the start of the season, so these tips are our own recommendations based on the official rules rather than an established meta:

• Arrive early, but not on top of it. Getting to the drop first lets you claim the best cover. Just stay out of the landing spot, because the Stronghold kills anything underneath it.
• Clear the zone first, capture second. Progress only builds with one team alive in the zone. Pushing the bar while an enemy squad hides inside it wastes time.
• Stack the whole squad in the zone. More teammates means a faster capture and less time for third parties to arrive.
• Use other teams’ progress. Since the bar never decays, it can pay off to wait at the edge, let two squads fight it out, then clean up and finish the capture.
• Stay alive for the level up. Only living squad members get the level up on capture. If a teammate has been eliminated, it can be worth respawning them before you finish the capture, as long as it doesn’t cost you the zone.
• Loot fast and reset. An open Stronghold is a beacon. Split the Gold Guns and the Care Package weapon quickly, then heal up behind the indestructible barriers before the next squad arrives.
• Weigh the ring. If the Stronghold lands far outside the next circle, the loot may not be worth a long rotation through hostile ground.

Apex Legends Strongholds: Our Verdict

Strongholds give every Cipher match a clear mid-game flashpoint. One per match, locked until a squad holds the zone, and packed with a Care Package weapon, three Gold Guns, three Amps and two Corrupted Attachments, they reward teams that play the zone together and punish anyone who forgets about third parties. Want more Apex? Dive into our complete Apex Legends lore guide. This guide reflects Apex Legends: Cipher (Season 31) as of the 31.0 patch notes from November 2, 2026. Respawn tunes airdrops and loot regularly, so details may change with future updates.

Apex Legends Strongholds FAQ

How many Strongholds drop per match?
One. It drops during Round 2 closing, together with one Care Package.

How do you open a Stronghold in Apex Legends?
Capture the zone around it. Progress builds while only your team is alive in the zone, and the Stronghold opens once the bar reaches 100%.

Does capture progress reset if you leave?
No. Progress is shared globally and does not decay, so whichever team is in the zone at 100% wins it.

Can Loba steal from a Stronghold?
Not until it has been captured. Alter also can’t breach it before the capture.

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Picture Source: Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment