Season 16 of Apex Legends has been completely revamped: Revelry, with new characters added to the roster that have specific advantages and clearly defined roles. These changes, as well as many new perks and nerfs throughout the roster, have influenced Respawn's decision not to include a new Legend to the FPS game this season. Instead, players will be given time to adjust to the inevitable meta changes when the Apex Legends Season 16 release date comes on February 14.
During a Season 16 press conference last week, the dev team discussed the revamped class system in great detail, so we've included a lot of information here to help you understand what you can expect to see when the update goes live.
"The class roles have begun to become muddy with the addition of new Legends and the evolving meta," says Devan McGuire, Respawn's lead Legend designer. "This season, we want to take the opportunity to redefine what classes meant to the game."
Five new classes have been created to properly categorize the Legends: Assault, Skirmisher, Recon, Controller, and Support. Here's all you need to know about each class, including their distinct advantages and the creatures who can use them.
Apex Legends Classes Explained
- Assault – Bangalore, Revenant, Fuse, Ash, Mad Maggie
Assault Legends include mostly offensive kits that are used to push opposing squads. The Assault class includes a variety of new red weapon supply bins.
Lifeline used to open these red bins with her passive, but they also contain attachments rather than healing items. Members of this class can also possess an additional stack of ammunition per inventory slot, allowing them to stay longer in the battle.
- Skirmisher – Pathfinder, Wraith, Mirage, Octane, Horizon, Valkyrie
Skirmishers specialize in combat mobility and escape, as they often employ hit-and-run techniques to deal damage while avoiding it themselves. Legends in this class can spot incoming care packages from a long distance to see the highest-value item inside.
As Skirmishers examine care packages, a circular marker will appear, and once it's fully filled, the information will be provided. Legends can also tell if the high-value item has been taken already, which allows them to devise a strategy to either try and steal it or avoid getting in harm's way.
- Recon – Bloodhound, Crypto, Seer, Vantage
The Recon class prioritizes enemy information and tracking. Recon Legends used to be able to spot where the next ring would appear with survey beacons in Season 16, but this ability has completely changed.
The class can no longer view ring data, but instead, they can now scan modded survey beacons to ping enemies on the map for about 30 seconds. This effect is comparable to what happens when players interact with the computers in the Crypto's Map Room POI on Kings Canyon.
- Controller – Caustic, Wattson, Rampart, Catalyst
Controllers are experts when it comes to area setup and, well, control. These Legends may now make use of the old Recon ability – they may now see a new ring console device displaying their squad's next ring location.
This makes a lot of sense since Controllers must know where to start storing their area-denial abilities before the ring closes in. In previous seasons, these Legends had to rely on teammates for this valuable information.
- Support – Gibraltar, Lifeline, Loba, Newcastle
Support Legends focuses on team survival and supply, with a lot of emphasis on that aspect of survival. The most notable Support benefit allows players to create teammate banners even if they've expired. As long as you have crafting materials and access to a replicator, death is never the end for your teammates.
Lifeline's supply bin passive has become a class benefit for her and the other Support Legends, enabling them all to access the hidden shelf in blue supply bins that only Lifeline could access previously. High-value survival items will now show up inside, including phoenix kits, batteries, and medication kits.
Seven Legends have been upgraded through buffs and/or nerfs, in addition to the new class changes. Here's a quick rundown of which Legends will undergo changes in Season 16:
- Seer and Bloodhound – The nerfs here are aimed at reducing the frequency of scans without harming the characters. Seer’s heartbeat sensor will be audible to enemies and can’t give as much info, so you’ll really need to listen to the beats. Bloodhound’s ult no longer speeds up their tactical, and now, a white raven appears to guide them to the nearest enemy. The white raven is a new passive that exists in the world in enemy-free areas – it’ll also show up instantly when Bloodhound activates their ult.
- Wraith and Pathfinder – These two are getting buffs to take some weight off of Valkyrie. Wraith can place a portal twice as far and will speed up when placing it. Pathfinder can travel faster and farther as well, with a buff that lets him fire his zipline much farther.
- Horizon – Horizon’s gravity lift firing accuracy is reduced, but she can now lift higher. The goal is to avoid having her just sit up there and cause chaos.
- Mirage – Mirage is finally getting some unironic buffs. After a revive, he and his ally both remain cloaked for a few seconds, but you can’t draw your weapon or you’ll be instantly uncloaked. Also, bamboozled enemies will get tracked for a short time when they shoot a clone.
- Lifeline – Lifeline will benefit from a reduced slow penalty when reviving, and the range and speed of her care package have been buffed to keep her from feeling stuck. It drops almost instantly, making it feel like far less of a risk.
When Apex Legends Season 16: Revelry goes live early next week, you'll be able to test out all of these meta-altering changes in the updated firing range, new TDM mode, or regular battle royale. Be sure to check out our guide on all hero abilities to get you up to speed, as well as the Apex Legends tier list.