Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.
Unveiling Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what the community execute, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Mobility 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 her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, quicker, and more lethal.
"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says the team evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," he says.
Olympus Improvements
Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers state the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with matches.
"Really, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.
