Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible This Season
The game developers has a special treat in store for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it's possible without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible
What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a polished version?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and the ability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However it's aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.
"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.
Map Changes
Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools they need to keep up with the competition.
"Really, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer the lead.
Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.
