Respawn removes three tiny Storm Point POIs from Ranked drop pool
The tweak, announced via ApexLiveComms on March 27, 2026, pulls three unnamed POIs out of the Ranked drop ship POI pool for Diamond and higher while leaving the areas playable in Public matches.
Respawn adjusted Storm Point’s Ranked drop ship pool on March 27, 2026 by removing three small, unnamed points of interest from the locations the drop ship can choose for Ranked games.
We just pushed an update to address the following:
❗REMOVED
Based on community feedback, we removed some Ranked POIs on Storm Point to improve the player experience (see below image)✅FIXED
Wattson will no longer lose the benefits of her Energized Healer upgrade after leaving… pic.twitter.com/P0dvnCOPoU— ApexLiveComms (@ApexLiveComms) March 27, 2026
Those three POIs are tiny clusters of buildings rather than full, named zones. One sits between Checkpoint and The Wall, another lies below Command Center near the river, and the last is on the far edge of the map below Lightning Rod. Removing them from the Ranked drop ship POI pool means Diamond-ranked players and above won’t be forced to start in those underwhelming pockets as often. The physical areas remain present on the map for both Ranked and Public matches.
The edit followed Respawn’s mid-season 28 update and continues ongoing tweaks to how drop ships and POI selection work in Ranked. The drop ship draft began as an ALGS rule to keep teams from pre-splitting popular locations. Respawn later brought a POI draft into Ranked, then adjusted the system again to give players more early-game freedom, and most recently mixed drop ships with Drop Zones in Ranked, a change covered in a recent internal preview about how Respawn would mix Dropships and Drop Zones in Ranked.
Respawn’s note also included an unrelated fix for Wattson’s Energized Healer upgrade that had been lost after leaving certain areas. The developer’s social post grouped both items under a brief update on March 27, 2026. If you play Ranked on Storm Point and hit Diamond or higher, this should reduce the number of matches that begin in those small, low-loot corners of the map. For most other players, Storm Point’s layout and those locations will remain unchanged.
Please share your thoughts in the comments and tell us whether this change improves your Ranked drops. Follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.
Apex Legends
Developed by Respawn Entertainment
Conquer with character in Apex Legends, a free-to-play Hero shooter where legendary characters with powerful abilities team up to battle for fame & fortune on the fringes of the Frontier.
Master an ever-growing roster of diverse Legends, deep tactical squad play and bold new innovations that go beyond the Battle Royale experience—all within a rugged world where anything goes. Welcome to the next evolution of Hero Shooter.
- Genre: Shooter, Tactical
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
- Modes: Multiplayer, Co-operative, Battle Royale
- Release: 2019-02-04
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
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Age Rating:
PEGI 16 / CERO D / GRAC 19+ / USK 16 / CLASS_IND 14 / ACB MA 15+ / ESRB T
- IGDB Rating: 75.5/100
