The Battle Royale's Niche Traversal Techniques Are Going Mainstream This Season
Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but the movement isn't easy 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 players can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a once niche technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are new.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"
The Amped Update Movement Focus
Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial Valkyrie 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," says Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.
"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools required to compete in the competition.
"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says principal designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.
