Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream During This Update
The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.
Unveiling Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained 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 casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.
"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing new ways to play for more players."
Why Make It Accessible
What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead explains the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official version?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel users into the air faster than before. Her defensive walls now include a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.
"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or retreat — 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 accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead comments.
Map Changes
Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the resources required to keep up with the competition.
"Essentially, we examined 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.
