The Battle Royale's Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid 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 "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."
Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.
"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.
"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says the game this update focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to compete in matches.
"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer the lead.
Apex Legends the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.
