Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.
Unveiling Mantle Boosting
Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."
Why Make It Accessible
What's the reason for making a once niche technique accessible to all players? Principal designer the development lead explains developers wants players to experience empowerment β even those who are inexperienced.
"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access β it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a more official version?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Mobility is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend 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," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill β which launches her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape β now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.
"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn says the game this update focuses on giving players the resources required to keep up with matches.
"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.
