Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.
Unveiling Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.
"This technique existed in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to play for more players."
The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible
What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.
"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is primarily 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 her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.
Map Changes
Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools required to keep up with matches.
"Really, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.
