Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible This Season
Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.
"This technique have been in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to play for more players."
The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible
What's the reason for making a once niche technique accessible to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers wants players to feel powerful β including ones who are new.
"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access β it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"
The Amped Update Movement Focus
Mobility is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will boost players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and the ability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie receiving the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and more lethal.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead notes Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability β which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or escape β requires much less time to activate. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.
Map Changes
Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.
"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.
Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at the specified times.
