The Battle Royale's Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
The game developers have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.
"This technique existed in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.
"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, 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 polished implementation?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting significant improvements now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.
"I think many agree that her moment is here," states character developer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. It was an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, enabling her to remain longer in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he comments.
Map Changes
Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools required to keep up with matches.
"Really, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.
