Sony’s new God of War seems to be a stark contrast to the older games' hack-and-slash style of gameplay, instead opting to focus on strategy when battling enemies thanks to the introduction of Kratos’ son, Atreus. Now, it’s revealed the God of War will be relying heavily on Atreus when battling a new enemy, The Revenant.

The information comes courtesy of a new trailer from Sony, featuring Santa Monica Studio developers going over some of the character’s inspiration. Unlike the battle with the troll, which Kratos settles using brute force, this enemy will require a good deal of timing and focus to land attacks.

Her inspiration came from the idea of a pestilence witch, which relies heavily on poison and Seidr magic to drift in and out of the fight. She can sift through Kratos’ leviathan axe swings quickly, allowing her great mobility as she dodges throughout the battlefield. Players will need to rely on Atreus’ bow and arrows to hit her and leave her open to Kratos' attacks.

According to Creative Director Cory Barlog: "The Revenant is one of those enemies that the son has more aptitude with than Kratos... something that says like, look, Atreus is integrated into the loop for them."

Principal character artist, Rafael Grassetti, says the Revenant's dwelling place will be indicated by her signature poison pervading the area. This allows players to learn that they may be encountering her soon enough, and should ready Atreus to make sure his aim is true. Even with the bow, not every shot is guaranteed to land, so players will be sure not to neglect customizing and leveling up Atreus, as he'll be instrumental in taking down this foe.

Concept art for the Revenant enemy was revealed long ago, but with the game releasing so soon it's clear the developers see her as a worthy enemy to excite players for the game. It's also good to see that Atreus will be making active impacts during the battles instead of just being an afterthought. It seems nearly impossible to beat the Revenant without Kratos' son with him, further emphasizing the father-son dynamic which is so important to this game.

God of War releases on April 20th, 2018 exclusively for the PS4.