No new character is joining the fray in Apex Legends Season 18, as Respawn slows down the pace of updates and instead focuses on fixing the roster it already has. Revenant has been out of the loop for a while now, and made doubly redundant by the fact that Seer took his silence abilities in a recent rework. While there are numerous tweaks to the weapon meta and the Kill Code narrative continues in Apex Legends Season 18, Revenant Reborn is the biggest and most impactful change of all.
Gone is the Death Totem, here is a hyper-aggressive solo pusher who can quickly close the gap between himself and his opponent before taking them out. He’s got the scare factor an assassin should, and seems to work better solo than with teammates. If you solo queue in Season 18, be sure that the Revenant on your team will be aggro, w-key into fights without you, and likely toxic when you call to fall back or regroup.
His new abilities include a wallhack passive that indicates low-health enemies nearby, a giant pounce that can fling him across the map, and a shield of protection that increases his hitbox but also blocks damage. As an added bonus, Revenant is free for all players in Season 18, and if you complete a number of challenges using the character, he’ll be yours to keep.
Here’s a quick reminder of his abilities:
Passive - Assassin’s Instinct: Highlights nearby low health enemies, improves crouch walk speed and wall climbing
Tactical - Shadow Pounce: Unleash a powerful leap forwards, charge to leap further
Ultimate - Forged Shadows: Protective shadows that block damage, knockdowns recharge both his tactical and his protective shadows
The big change to Revenant’s passive is that he now highlights low health enemies nearby. If he does damage to them, this wallhack extends to his whole squad – Revenant’s only team ability. However, his wall climbing has also been increased, with game designer Evan Funnell saying that his horizontal climbing is improved and that he sticks to walls a little while falling. This seems like it might negatively impact high level plays like wallbounces, but Respawn did not confirm.
The tactical is interesting, as you charge the pounce by holding down Q. The longer you hold, the further you pounce. At its furthest, the Shadow Pounce can take you about as far as an Octane Jump Pad, according to Funnell. Recharging with every knock may come in handy if you’re third partied and need to get out of Dodge, but when you are the third party, this acts as Revtane all in one. Obviously your teammates can’t join you and you don’t get that Death Protection any more, but this will be a brutal tactic for solo pushes and the reason why Revenant’s new form will be so toxic for opponents and teammates alike.
That solo push is mitigated somewhat by the Forged Shadows that protect Revenant when he uses his ultimate. They look like a swarm of bees around his head and shoulders, like when a character is confused or stunned in a cartoon, but they protect him from damage. The footage we were shown made it look like the shield protected him for around 75 HP of damage, but this wasn’t confirmed by Respawn. With its regenerative capabilities for knocking opponents, a strong gunfighter will need little else to take on 1v3s away from their teammates in Season 18.
Revenant’s rework is a clear statement of intent from Respawn, which is doubling down on the wallhack meta that pervades the game. Legends without wallhacks – abilities that allow them to see opponents through walls – have fallen to the wayside as the likes of Seer are dominating. It’s not a foolproof system, Crypto is still barely used and Horizon sees plenty of matches, but instead of dealing with the meta, it’s adding more scans to characters who previously didn’t have them. Is Respawn out of ideas for how to make Revenant competitive but not broken, or is this its vision for the game’s future?