Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream This Season
The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."
Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk accessible to everyone? Principal designer the development lead says developers aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are new.
"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what the community execute, and we wondered, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official version?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention now, with multiple tweaks applied to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.
"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer notes Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.
"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says the game this update is all about giving players the resources required to keep up with matches.
"Really, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer the lead.
The battle royale the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.
