Apex Legends Season 18: Release Date, Revenant Reborn, Ranked Changes & More

Apex Legends Season 18 will launch in early August, and it looks like a promising season. It's especially important that Respawn does well here, because after the disaster that was Season 17 they can't afford to lose too many more players.

Apex Legends Season 18 will feature the usual set of new additions to the game that we get with every new season: A new battlepass, major balance changes, some collection events, and a new Legend (although this time we're getting a rework of Revenant). In this article, you can read up on everything we're getting in Apex Legends Season 18: Resurrection.

• Looking for an Apex-themed gift? Maybe even something for yourself? These Heirloom desk ornaments are great fun!

Apex Legends Season 18: Release Date & Start Time

Apex Legends Season 18 will launch on Tuesday, August 8 at 10 am PST (1 pm EST / 6 pm GMT / 7 pm CET). A preload of the update is availble now (12 GB), so if you want to play as soon as the new season starts make sure to get the download on a few hours before the Apex Legends Season 18 start time.

Apex Legends Season 18: Major Ranked Changes Are Coming

The devs have been listening; major changes to Ranked are coming in Season 18. They've noticed how many players have made it to the highest ranks, and they agree with the playerbase that something needs to change. Season 18 sounds promising so far.

• Apex Legends Season 18 Ranked Changes Seem To Win Community Approval

Ranked Update

• LP Table Adjusted: LP Gain overall has been reduced.
• Diamond+ Cost Adjustments: 50% increased losses.

• New: A small portion of Elimination bonus is exempted from bonus withholding due to mismatched MMR and LP. This value increases based on the player's MMR.
  
• Skill & Rating Bonuses have been dramatically reduced.

Apex Legends Season 18: Revenant Reborn

Revenant is being reworked for Season 18 because the devs don't feel like he's been able to keep up with the meta of the game. The vast majority of fans would agree, and so this too makes us think Apex Season 18 will be popular. Revenant will still now be a Skirmisher Legend, and his abilities will all change.

Here are Revenant's new abilities:

Revenant Reborn Passive Ability: Assassin’s Instinct

Revenant can see an outline of low-health enemies within 35 meters, he automatically pings enemies who he damages while they're low-health, he also gets a faster crouch walk, and an improved version of the wall running he had as his passive before. This is obviously just a massive buff; he get's a better version of what he had before, and then a whole other new (and powerful) ability.

Also, another great piece of news for Season 18: Revenant is unlocked for all players all season-long, and they can complete a set of challenges before the season ends to unlock Revenant permanently. Awesome, right?

Revenant Reborn Tactical Ability: Shadow Pounce

Shadow Pounce is literally just a huge jump, it lets you travel about the same distance as an Octane Jump Pad (without the double jump). You can tap your Tactical button/key to do a regular pounce, or hold it down and release to do a massive pounce. It looks simple, effective, and fun.

Revenant Reborn Ultimate Ability: Forged Shadows

Revenant creates shadows around himself that block damage and regenerate health (it's like having an extra armor vest you can just throw on in an instant - very strong and easy-to-use). When his Ultimate is active, knockdowns refresh his Tactical and the Shadows from his Ultimate reform.

We think the new version of Revenant looks much better. In fact, we might even see Revenant truly enter the meta with these abilities, but we'll need to see how it actually plays.

Maybe the Revenant Rework will make it to this "masterpiece"...

Apex Legends Season 18: Death Dynasty Collection Event

It's Apex, so naturally more skins are also on the way. The Collection Event coming in Season 18 is called "Death Dynasty", and it begins when the season launches and lasts for exactly two weeks. During the event a new type of shop will open, and 24 cosmetic items will be released that all share a similar theme. If you buy every item in the shop you unlock Revenant's new Heirloom (it costs about $160).

• Apex Legends Mobile May Have A Comeback

Apex Legends Season 18: Pacth Notes

Map Rotation

The following maps will be available for public matchmaking in the Battle Royale mode:

• Broken Moon
• Kings Canyon
• Olympus

Ring Update

Ring behavior across maps in the BR has been updated with targeted tunings; including ring size, damage, and timings to several game phases to improve pacing in early and mid game. Here’s an in-depth look:

• Ring Size Changes
  • Ring 1 has increased 10% in radius per map, resulting in ~20% larger Ring 1 surface area
  • No other Ring sizes changed
• Ring Damage Changes
  • Ring 2 Damage increased from 3 per tick to 4 per tick
  • Ring 4 Damage reduced from 20 per tick to 15 per tick
• Timing Changes
  • Round 1
    • Preshrink time reduced from 90s to 75s
    • Shrink speed on small Maps reduced from 167 to 160
    • Shrink speed on large Maps reduced from ~180 to ~165
    • Shrink time standardized to ~260s on each map
  • Round 2
    • Preshrink time reduced from 165s to 120s
    • Shrink speed reduced from 160 to 140
    • Shrink time increased by ~25s per map
  • Round 3
    • Preshrink time reduced from 135s to 90s
  • Round 4
    • Preshrink time reduced from 105s to 90s
    • Shrink speed reduced from 100 to 85
    • Shrink time increased from 40s to ~50s
  • Round 5
    • Preshrink time reduced from 90s to 75s
    • Shrink speed reduced from 50 to 40
    • Shrink time increased from 40s to 50s
• Maximum match length has been shortened
  • Small maps: reduced to ~19.0 mins (was ~21.5 mins)
  • Large maps: reduced to ~20.0 mins (was ~22.5 mins)

Balance Update

Armor Changes

• White to Blue evo points required increased to 200 (was 150)
  • Crafted evo points increased to 200
• Fixed overflow damage on level up applies to the next tier

Crafting Rotation

• Rampage and R-99 leave the crafter and are back on the floor
• Nemesis and Mozambique with Hammerpoint Rounds enter the crafter
• Double Tap Trigger and Hammerpoint Rounds removed from rotation
• Boosted Loader and Disruptor Rounds added to rotation
• Medkit price increased to 20 (was 15)

Care Package Weapon Rotation

• Hemlok Burst AR returns to the floor
  • ADS Recoil increased
  • Damage reduced to 22 (was 23)
  • Headshot multiplier reduced to 1.75 (was 1.8)
• Prowler Burst PDW enters the care package
  • Damage increased to 16 (was 15)
  • Select Fire Enabled defaulting to Full Auto

Gold Weapons Rotation

• Hemlok, Peacekeeper, Alternator, Rampage, Charge Rifle

Loot Spawn Changes

• Blue and Purple Weapon Attachment spawn rate reduced by 20%
• Blue and Purple Armor spawn rate reduced by 30%

Weapons

Charge Rifle Rework

• New ballistics and projectile
  • Removed hitscan
  • Removed pre-fire laser
  • Projectiles have player passthrough: 80% damage retained
  • Opens doors
• Projectiles gain damage with distance
  • 50 meters: 75 Damage
  • 300 meters: 110 Damage
• New charge mechanics
  • Holding the trigger down will increase charge
  • Releasing the trigger will decrease charge
  • Fires at 100% charge
• Added Extended Sniper Mag attachment slot
  • Base: 4
  • White: 5
  • Blue: 6
  • Purple/Gold: 8
• Ammo Consumption per shot reduced to 1 (was 2)
• Handling timings adjusted
  • Tactical reload time decreased to 3.5 (was 4.0)
  • Empty reload time decreased to 4.6 (was 5.1)

All SMGs (R-99, Alternator, CAR, Volt)

• Strafe Speed: ADS strafe scale reduced to 0.75 (was 0.85)
• Headshot multi reduced to 1.25 (was 1.5)

R-99

• Vertical Recoil slightly increased
• Ammo capacity reduced
  • Base Ammo reduced to 17 (was 19)
  • White Mag reduced to 20 (was 21)
  • Blue Mag reduced to 23 (was 24)
  • Purple/Gold Mag reduced to 26 (was 27)

M600 Spitfire

• Added Barrels for improved stability
• ADS Recoil improved
• Hipfire spread slightly improved

Mastiff

• Blast pattern tightened

HOP UPS

Boosted Loader (Hemlok, Wingman)

Reloading when near empty will speed up reloading and overload the next magazine

• Hemlok overload ammo: 9
• Wingman overload ammo: 3

Disruptor Rounds (Alternator, Peacekeeper)

Increases shield damage

• Alternator shield damage increased by 20%
• Peacekeeper shield damage (per pellet) increased by 25%

Double Tap Trigger (EVA-8, G7 Scout)

• Removed from floor and crafting bundles

Grenades

• Frag Grenade
  • Outer Radius increased to 350 units (was 320)
  • Inner Radius increased to 125 units (was 96)
• Thermite
  • Adjusted fire VFX to better match damage area

Legends

Revenant has been reborn

• Updated class to Skirmisher (was Assault)
• New abilities (see above)

Ultimate Cooldowns

• Bangalore: Rolling Thunder to 240s (+60s)
• Catalyst: Dark Veil to 150s (+30s)
• Gibraltar: Defensive Bombardment to 180s (-90s)
• Horizon: Black Hole to 210s (+30s)
• Loba: Black Market Boutique to 150s (+30s)
  • Ultimate Accelerants grant 25% ult charge (up from 20%)
• Mad Maggie: Wrecking Ball to 120s (+30s)
• Pathfinder: Zipline Gun to 180s (+60s)
• Wraith: Dimensional Rift to 180s (-30s)

Tactical Update

• Ballistic’s Whistler
  • Reduced delay before an overheated weapon starts cooling down to 1s (was 2s)
  • Reduced how long it takes an overheated weapon to cooldown to 8s (was 12s)
• Loba’s Burglar’s Best Friend
  • Cooldown reduced to 25s (was 30s)
• Seer’s Focus of Attention
  • Slow Duration reduced to 0.5s (was 2.5s)
  • Silence Duration reduced to 8s (was 10s)
  • Firing Speed increased to 1.4s (was 0.9s)

Maps

• Broken Moon
  • Maps added to Mixtape: Production Yard & The Core (Read more about these maps in our highlights blog here)
  • Multiple rat spots removed
• Kings Canyon: multiple rat spots removed
• World’s Edge: smoothed Legend movement on road edges

World Systems

• Crafting Workbenches, Survey Beacons, Ring Consoles
  • Removed ‘exclusion radius’ that caused some POIs to get these objects more than others
  • All POIs now have an equal chance of receiving a Ring Console, Survey Beacon or Crafting Workbench

Modes

• Control
  • Capture Bonus bounty reduced ~20%
  • Capture time reduced to 10 seconds (was 20 sec)
  • Score limit reduced to 1000 (was 1250)
  • Spawn waves removed: players should spawn instantly at the location they choose including Home Base, Captured Points, and MRB (Note: MRB will still use the dropship)
  • Timed events: Airdrops, MRB, Capture Bonus should all start ~30% sooner in match-time

Quality Of Life

• Firing Range
  • Dynamic dummy spawning now remains off when you die
  • Legend ultimates will be fully charged after loading into the Firing Range, swapping Legends, and dying
  • A new nessie… and more!
• French
  • In-game/lobby chat now available when language is set to French on console
  • Corrected French translation for R-301 Mastery Challenge Level 20
• Kill feed will now call out when a player has been removed from the match
• Multiple stickers can now be placed
• Players can no longer interact with enemy holosprays through walls
• Ranked progress bar no longer bounces value while sitting on Match Summary screen
• Seer: Exhibit AR throw indicator is no longer offset from ground
  • (no longer gives false impression of where the Ultimate will land)
• Support Perk - Crafting Banners: after grabbing the first banner, you can now immediately grab the second one as well
• Weapon Mastery:
  • New animated celebration sequences when unlocking and completing trials, as well as mastering weapons
  • New animated icon in the HUD weapon element when a weapon is level 100

Apex Legends Season 18: New Battlepass

Last but not least, we are of course getting a Battlepass with 100 rewards for $10. The theme of the Battle Pass is basically "Villainy"; lots of evil-looking skins and a few "don't take sh*t from nobody" voice lines.

The new skins in the Season 18 Battle Pass are for Pathfinder, Valkyrie, Octane, Caustic and Mad Maggie. Awesome.

Well, that about does it for Apex Legends Season 18. We hope you found it helpful.