Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream This Season
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and adding fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead explains developers aims for gamers to feel powerful β even those who are new.
"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access β it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"
The Amped Update Movement Focus
Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost players into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to make her stronger, faster, and deadlier.
"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and essentially bring her back to former prominence."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability β which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or escape β now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.
"Really, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says principal designer Josh Mohan.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.
