The Battle Royale's Niche Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream This Season
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.
Unveiling The Mantle Boost
Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky movement 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 outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible
Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.
"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. So we said, 'How about we create a more official version?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.
"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and essentially bring her back to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling her to remain longer in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.
"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," he says.
Olympus Improvements
Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources required to compete in matches.
"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at the specified times.
