Apex Legends' Specialized Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible This Season
Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.
Unveiling The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains the team aims for gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.
"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to access — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a polished version?'"
The Amped Update Movement Focus
Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.
"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to compete in matches.
"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at the specified times.
