Revenant is in for a serious ability revamp according to a well-known Apex Legends leaker who recently shared info about the character that allegedly came from official Apex Legends playtesters. New features currently in testing reportedly include the ability for the artificial assassin to manipulate the void, along with a beloved feature from the Titanfall franchise: wall-running.
The reworking of Revenant’s abilities is reportedly being referred to as “Revenant Reborn” by Respawn, and although these abilities may sound far-fetched at first, there’s actually a good bit of evidence to support the claim. The leaker and Apex content creator ThordanSmash has frequently reported on new gameplay features weeks and sometimes months before they actually appear in-game.
“There’s a character [on the legend selection screen] where [playtesters] are getting a unique Revenant whose ultimate is a one-on-one fight in the void with whoever it hits,” the YouTuber explained.
But the leaker’s excellent track record isn’t the only evidence supporting the Revenant Reborn ability changes–they make sense in the context of both Revenant’s current abilities and the game’s lore. One of the first glimpses fans got of the friendly neighborhood murderbot was footage of him climbing the exterior of a skyscraper in the Season 4 launch trailer. In-game, his passive Stalker ability allows him to climb faster–and farther–than the rest of the legends. Revenant can scale the entire height of the multi-story parking structures on the World’s Edge map quickly and with ease, so wall-running likely wouldn’t pose much of a challenge for the agile assassin. Even humans are known to wall-run in the Titanfall series (which takes place in the same universe as Apex Legends), so it’s a perfectly believable ability for a well-engineered murder machine like Revenant, who is already known to observe his fellow legends while hiding in the shadows of walls and ceilings.
Bangalore’s episode of Stories From The Outlands also features wall-running. A character named Scryer hunts Bangalore and her brother Newcastle down while running across walls throughout the chase. Though Scryer was ultimately killed, last year’s massive lore leak included a legend roster featuring his name and portrait, so it’s possible that limited wall-running abilities are planned for more characters than just Revenant, especially if Scryer ends up coming back from the dead.
As for the void, ThordanSmash’s playtesting sources say Revenant’s new ultimate ability sees the simulacrum hit an enemy with an object (perhaps a modified version of his totem) that then transports both Revenant and the enemy into the void for a 1v1 battle–a great method to even the odds when Revenant’s outnumbered or his squad is getting third-partied. One of Apex Mobile‘s exclusive characters, Fade, has a similar ability that sees multiple enemies temporarily transported to the void via his Phase Chamber (though Fade cannot harm enemies while they’re trapped inside).
While potentially surprising to some, there’s also plenty of in-game evidence supporting the fact that Revenant may have the ability to use some sort of phase-tech (the technology that lets Ash, Fade, and Wraith enter the void). The first clue has been there since day one: Revenant’s default finishing move sees him approach his downed target with a metal finger held to his lips before disappearing into a trail of orange light similar to the wisps of blue energy Wraith and Ash leave when phasing. He then reappears behind his unlucky victim and promptly rips off their face. But where exactly does he disappear to while traveling from point A to point B? Presumably the void.
All phase-tech–from Wraith and Ash’s abilities to the Phase Runners on Olympus–emits a blueish-white stream or circle of void energy when in use. But Revenant’s abilities all leave an orangey-black trail in their wake, so it’s easy to assume that his powers are unrelated to phase tech. But it’s worth remembering that not only is Revenant 300 years old–he’s also the first simulacrum ever created, and it took 20 years for Hammond Robotics to stabilize his brain enough to make use of him. Revenant is effectively the “rough draft” of simulacra, which is likely why Ash’s appearance and abilities are more modernized, as is her phase-tech. Wraith’s new Hope’s Dawn Heirloom Set–a recolored version of her original blue Kunai Heirloom–also suggests that not all portals are blue.
However, there’s one more bit of lore standing in the way of “Revenant Reborn” becoming a reality: What about his ability to respawn via his Death Totem? Revenant’s totem (and the multiple factories filled with extra shells for his consciousness to transfer to upon each death) is a pivotal part of Revenant’s stories. Every death further deteriorates his emotional state, and each respawn is agonizing mentally and physically. The totem itself transfers players from point A to point B in a similar manner to Wraith’s portals and Ash’s phase tears, but knowing how old Revenant is (and how obsessed Hammond Robotics is with phase-tech), it’s possible his totem is the result of Hammond’s first-ever attempt at implementing void-based technology–just like Revenant was their first-ever simulacrum. But when it comes to the game’s lore, how could Respawn justify trading out his Death Totem for phase-tech abilities?
It’s really quite simple: As revealed in the Apex Legends lore book, Pathfinder’s Quest, Revenant doesn’t have infinite shells. Each time he dies (inside or outside of the Apex Games), one of his spare bodies is used to replace the destroyed one. This means that even if he never finds his source code, he’s still found a way to achieve his ultimate goal: death. Each match gets him one step closer to permanently inhabiting a deathbox, and in a Transition Screen from Season 16’s battle pass, it’s revealed that Revenant only has about 10,000 spare bodies left. Based on the numbers, Revenant has died roughly 300 times each year he’s been a simulacrum. The Transition Screen’s text also points out that nearly 78% of Revenant’s deaths were avoidable, so it’s clear he’s actively seeking to destroy himself one way or another.
What happens when he runs out of shells? The answer to this question can also be found in Pathfinder’s Quest. When Pathfinder asks Revenant what will happen when he runs out of shells, he replies, “I assume I’ll still be a program… I’ll find a way.”
This gives Respawn a perfect opportunity to use Revenant running out of spare bodies as a narrative tool to explain his sudden drastic ability changes if the new ability leaks leaks turn out to be something Respawn actually implements. As far as the narrative, it’s clearly possible Revenant may soon run out of shells. But legends like Ash, Caustic, Crypto, Horizon, Wattson, and Wraith–all of whom are familiar with simulacrum creation and/or phase-tech–could play a part in rebuilding Revenant, just like they rebuild Ash during Season 5’s Broken Ghost questline.
Of course, all leaks should be taken with a massive grain of salt. It’s important to remember that even if the playtesters’ claims are accurate, all of the new Revenant Reborn features may be altered before they hit the game–or simply be scrapped altogether. Alternatively, the “reborn” version of that Revenant playtesters are allegedly encountering could be a completely new character in disguise. Some of the other new “reborn” features, like a tactical ability that repels enemies instead of preventing them from using their abilities, seems a little out of place. There’s also the possibility that the abilities are part of a future LTM. ThordanSmash has an interesting theory of his own:
“What we’re theorizing right now is that this is going to be the shadow Revenant from the Halloween mode, as it does fit with the ultimate wall-running,” the leaker opined in his YouTube video.
Still, there’s one more piece of evidence that strongly suggests Revenant can enter the void. In addition to Wraith‘s new orange-red Heirloom Weapon, Apex’s new Imperial Guard Collection event includes a very unique Revenant-exclusive banner frame supporting the theory that Revenant can access the void or use some sort of phase-tech. A set of glowing candles similar to those found during Shadow Royale decorates the foreground, but the banner frame’s background features a massive portal that is identical to Wraith’s. Well, almost identical. There is one little difference about the portal in Revenant’s new banner frame: It’s orange. This portal has the same lava-like glow as the edges of Wraith’s new knife (which rips tiny portals open when meleeing enemies) and the orange trail of light that appears when Revenant uses his totem or finisher. The release of this banner frame marks the first time Apex has ever depicted a portal as any color other than the standard indigo shade used by Ash, Fade, and Wraith.
The banner frame’s title, “Ancient Portal”, also appears to indicate that phase-tech existed over 300 years ago, which may explain the color change–perhaps early phase-tech prototypes originally created orange portals. Given Hammond Robotics’ penchant for co-opting ancient alien tech via the IMC’s secretive ARES Division (which Wraith once worked for), it’s very unlikely that Ash was the first and only simulacrum to have phasing abilities. In fact, it seems to suggest that Revenant wasn’t just Hammond’s first attempt at creating a simulacrum–he may have also been one of their first attempts at controlling phase-tech.
Regardless of whether “Revenant Reborn” actually appears in-game, his ability to teleport to his totem, disappear into thin air during his finisher, and summon at will a new body from various Revenant factories all over the Outlands, makes hard to deny that he has some sort of connection to the void. But until Respawn confirms the ability changes, it’s probably safe to assume this friendly neighborhood murderbot’s apparent void-hopping skills won’t actually affect gameplay.
Apex Legends is free to play on console and PC. A mobile version of the game, Apex Legends Mobile, is available to play on Android and iOS devices, but will be sunset on May 1.
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