Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream This Season
Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.
"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."
Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a once niche technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are new.
"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will propel players into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.
"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.
"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.
Olympus Improvements
Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the resources required to compete in the competition.
"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer the lead.
The battle royale the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.
