Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.
Unveiling The Mantle Boost
Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.
"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official version?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But it's aerial Valkyrie receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.
"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer notes the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing her speed during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players 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," Holstead comments.
Olympus Improvements
Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources required to keep up with the competition.
"Essentially, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.