Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible This Season
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. According to key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.
"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"
The Amped Update Movement Focus
Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will boost users upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and essentially restore her to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game this update is all about providing gamers the tools they need to compete in the competition.
"Really, we examined Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at the specified times.
