The Battle Royale's Specialized Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.
Unveiling The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.
"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Movement is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will propel users into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's aerial this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as stronger, faster, and more lethal.
"I think many agree that her moment is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.
"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.
Olympus Improvements
Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.
"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," says principal designer the lead.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.
