Apex Legends' Specialized Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible This Season
The game developers has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.
Unveiling The Mantle Boost
Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.
"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to play for more players."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.
"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what the community execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.
"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," states character developer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.
Map Changes
Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.
"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at the specified times.
