The Battle Royale's Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible This Season
The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.
"This technique existed in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a once niche technique accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.
"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished version?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel users upward faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, faster, and more lethal.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states character developer the designer. "There's no doubt she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.
Map Changes
Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to compete in the competition.
"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," says principal designer the lead.
The battle royale the Amped season releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.
