Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. 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 Nov. 4.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky movement boosts.
"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible
Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, faster, and more lethal.
"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, enabling her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the resources required to keep up with matches.
"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.
