Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for more players."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — 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 the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and the ability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.
"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn evaluated all her skills and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.
Olympus Improvements
Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game this update is all about giving players the tools they need to keep up with the competition.
"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.
