The Battle Royale's Niche Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream This Season
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature 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. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to play for more players."
Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.
"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"
The Amped Update Movement Focus
Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will propel players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.
"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.
Olympus Improvements
Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that opens up choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the tools required to compete in matches.
"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.
The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.