Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.
Unveiling The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.
"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it's possible without external guides," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."
Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a once niche technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.
"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official version?'"
The Amped Update Movement Focus
Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost users upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to make her stronger, faster, and deadlier.
"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, the developer notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.
Map Changes
Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with matches.
"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.
