Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream During This Update
The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.
Unveiling Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed 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 outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.
"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Mobility is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air faster than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.
"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead says.
Olympus Improvements
Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with matches.
"Really, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.
