Apex Legends Classes Explained (2026): 5 Classes, 28 Legends

Every Apex Legends legend belongs to one of five classes, and each class carries perks that work on top of the legend's own abilities: extra grenades, a look at the next Ring, enemy positions from a beacon, or a guaranteed respawn beacon. This guide lists every class perk as EA describes it, sorts all 28 legends by class with their portraits, flags the two legends EA's own pages disagree on, and covers the Season 31 changes and how to use the classes in ranked.

Five classes, 28 legends

EA Help's legends guide puts it simply: "Legends are divided into five classes: Assault, Controller, Recon, Skirmisher, and Support", and "Classes determine a Legend's fighting style and give them unique perks." Classes only apply in Core modes such as Ranked and Unranked. Each legend still has its own three abilities: a passive, a tactical and an ultimate.

Where EA's own pages disagree. Two legends sit in different classes depending on which EA page you read. EA's legend pages (the characters hub, read on 2 November 2026) list Ash as a Skirmisher and Revenant as Assault. EA Help's legends guide, last updated about a month ago, lists Ash under Assault and Revenant under Skirmisher. This page follows the legend pages, as our order form does. The class counts are five Assault and seven Skirmisher either way; the class shown on the legend select screen settles it in game.

Assault: combat-focused

Assault perks, as EA describes them:

• More ammo per stack and extra grenade slots.
• Reload and movement speed rise for a moment when their shield breaks.
• Open the secret compartment of Supply Bins, which holds weapon attachments.

The Assault perks reward taking fights: more ammo and grenades to spend, a burst of reload and movement speed when your shield breaks, and better attachments from Supply Bins while you loot. Revenant is the class's biggest Season 31 story: EA cuts his tactical and ultimate cooldowns and removes the cap on his ultimate timer.

Skirmisher: in and out of fights

Skirmisher perks, as EA describes them:

• Spot incoming Care Packages.
• Move faster while using consumables, which helps them disengage.
• Allies move faster when moving towards them.

EA's summary is that "Skirmishers can get in and out of fights faster than other Legends". The consumable speed helps you heal on the way out, and allies moving faster towards you keeps the squad together. Axle is EA's newest legend: she arrived with Season 29 on 5 May 2026, and EA's 1 October hotfix made her fire Kickstart from farther away. Season 31 adds no new legend.

Recon: information

Recon perks, as EA describes them:

• Scan Survey Beacons faster without their location being revealed.
• Each scan reveals enemy positions three times, over a wide radius.
• Threat vision while aiming down sights (blocked by smoke, walls and range).

Survey Beacons are the class's ranked value: a scan shows where the squads around you are, three times per scan, without giving away your own position. In Season 31 Crypto is reworked: his drone runs on a 25-second battery, marks last eight seconds, and his EMP deals 50 shield damage to enemies outside the drone's line of sight. EA wants it to "put him into a more aggressive recon role and keep him with the team."

Controller: the Ring and the area

Controller perks, as EA describes them:

• Use Ring Consoles to find the next Ring location.
• An extra 25 HP shield overcharge inside the Ring, removed when they leave it.
• Pick up their traps and other nearby placeables remotely.

In our view, knowing the next Ring early is the cleanest rotation advantage in the game, and the 25 HP shield overcharge inside the Ring rewards holding ground there. Remote pickup lets a Controller reposition traps and other placeables without walking back to them. EA's Cipher notes list no Controller changes for Season 31.

Support: sustain and revives

Support perks, as EA describes them:

• Move faster while healing and revive faster.
• With a Support on the team, Mobile Respawn Beacons always spawn in ally death boxes.

Faster revives and healing on the move keep a squad fighting, and the beacon rule puts a Mobile Respawn Beacon in each fallen ally's death box, which makes a respawn far easier to set up. Season 31 moves in two directions: Lifeline gets a 10-second shorter tactical cooldown and an upgrade that cuts her ultimate cooldown by 60 seconds, while Loba goes from 25 to 30 seconds on her tactical and from 120 to 150 seconds on her ultimate.

Building a ranked squad from the classes

EA doesn't prescribe squad make-ups, so this is our boosters' view. The perks point to a simple shape for a ranked trio:

1. One information perk.

   A Recon (enemy positions) or a Controller (the next Ring) tells your squad where to go. Two of them is a luxury; none means rotating blind.

2. One Support.

   Faster revives and a guaranteed beacon in ally death boxes make a lost fight recoverable, which matters when every match costs RP to enter.

3. One fighter.

   An Assault for the long fights or a Skirmisher to take space and get out again.

4. A backup in another class.

   From Season 31, matches with Diamond or higher players run legend bans. Learn a second legend from a different class so a ban doesn't take your whole role.

Our Season 31 ranked picks look at which legends the top Predators actually played, and our rank-up guide turns the scoring rules into a plan.

Season 31 changes by class

EA's Cipher Designer's Notes (30 October 2026) list these legend changes for Season 31, which starts on 3 November 2026. The full patch notes may add detail.

Legend	Class	Change	What changes
Crypto	Recon	Rework	Drone on a 25 s battery (+10 s with an upgrade); marks last 8 s (12 s with an upgrade); the EMP deals 50 shield damage to enemies outside the drone's line of sight.
Lifeline	Support	Buff	Tactical cooldown 10 s shorter (the upgrade moves into her base kit); a new upgrade cuts her Ultimate cooldown by 60 s.
Revenant	Assault	Buff	Tactical 5 s shorter, Ultimate 30 s shorter; the 35 s cap on the Ultimate timer is gone and every knock adds 5 s while it is active.
Loba	Support	Nerf	Tactical cooldown 25 → 30 s, Ultimate 120 → 150 s.
Axle	Skirmisher	Nerf (1 Oct hotfix)	Kickstart has to be fired from farther away.

Axle's change came with the 1 October 2026 hotfix and is listed in the same notes. EA also points to Lifeline's ranked problem directly: "we're seeing her pick rate drop off pretty significantly the higher you go in Ranked."

Learn a class with help

When you order a rank boost from us you can name up to 5 legends you'd like played, and badge orders go on exactly the legends you pick. An hour with a Master+ coach is $16.90 today, and a boost from Silver IV to Gold IV $15.84, priced by the same engine as checkout. Boosting conflicts with EA's rules, which forbid sharing your login and paid account levelling, while coaching stays inside them. Read the Risk Disclosure and is Apex Legends boosting safe? first.

• Build a pool: 1-on-1 coaching on a second and third class.
• Climb: Rank Boost with the legends you name.
• Badges: 4K Damage Badge on any legend you own.

Related guides: Season 31 ranked picks · Season 31 ranked changes · 4K and 20 kill badges · how to rank up in Apex