Revenant has gone through quite a substantial transformation with the start of Apex Legends Season 18, adopting brand-new abilities to match his monstrous new form. As part of that change, the previously Assault class legend has moved over to the Skirmisher category. According to Respawn, this change was done to better reflect Revenant's depiction in the battle royale game's story.

"As far as changing him over to Skirmisher, that didn't come [because] we wanted to move him to Skirmisher and that [decision] influenced the rework," Apex Legends game designer Evan Funnell told me. "It was mostly that we had a goal in mind for where we wanted Revenant to be to match him closer to the lore--or to his fantasy--and to his narrative."

There's a tricky distinction between both Assault and Skirmisher. Unlike the other classes where legends have fairly distinct roles, legends in both the Assault and Skirmisher classes can have similarly movement-oriented and damage-dealing abilities. After this past season--which saw Mirage move from Skirmisher to Support--it seemed like the main difference between the two classes when movement-oriented abilities were involved was in how they are usually used. Assault legends primarily use their abilities to initiate fights while Skirmisher legends can use their abilities to initiate or escape.

That definition doesn't quite match the new Revenant, however. Now boasting an ultimate ability that allows him to tank hits, a passive ability that alerts him and allies to weakened foes, and a tactical ability that allows him to leap into the fray and chase down those weakened targets, it seems like Revenant is still a combat initiator. He actually feels more like a combat initiator than he did before. His leap can be used to escape a firefight but it's far more valuable at chasing down other squads, feeling more similar to Mad Maggie's Wrecking Ball ultimate ability than Octane's Jump Pad.

With the changes to Revenant and the start of Season 18, the Assault and Skirmisher classes seem to have changed definitions once again. Both are still oriented toward playing aggressively, but the difference seems to be in how supportive that character is regarding their teammates. Those who can help get their teammates into a fight are Assault class while those who specialize in solo hit-and-run tactics fall into the Skirmisher camp.

"[Revenant's] new demeanor and his new play patterns pushed him to be more of that Skirmisher style--somebody who can get into a fight, get a quick kill, and then be able to disengage and move around the battlefield a lot more effectively," Funnell said. "Assault tends to be more characters that help bring the whole team into the fight or engage heavily to start the fight. Whereas Revenant's new play pattern is a lot more about finding those weak enemies, those stragglers, those people on the edges and trying to [kill] them off."

It's a loose definition but it's a definition and it's one that helps to explain how such an offensive-focused rework for Revenant moves him out of the Assault class. Alongside the Revenant rework (which is excellent, by the way), Apex Legends Season 18 adds a new battle pass and sees the Disruptor Rounds hop-up attachment make its terrifying return.