Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic 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 climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.
"This technique existed in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a once niche technique available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead explains developers wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.
"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we create a more official version?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.
"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction 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 revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, enabling her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.
"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.
Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at the specified times.
