The Battle Royale's Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, the team is making it easier 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 a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.
"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished version?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes Respawn evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.
Olympus Improvements
Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools required to keep up with matches.
"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.
The battle royale the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.
