Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's super-slick movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.
"This technique existed in the game for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible
What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to everyone? Principal designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.
"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and more lethal.
"I think many agree that her moment is here," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling the player to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.
"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.
Olympus Improvements
Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn says the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to keep up with the competition.
"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.
The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.
