The Battle Royale's Specialized Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible This Season
The game developers has an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of this game's super-slick movement will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."
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 gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost players into the air faster than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer notes the team assessed all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead comments.
Olympus Improvements
Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state the game Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources required to keep up with the competition.
"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.
