Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.
"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible
What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.
"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.
"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with matches.
"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.
