The Battle Royale's Niche Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream During This Update
The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of this game's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.
"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"
Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks applied to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.
"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer says the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," he says.
Olympus Improvements
Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.
"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," says principal designer the lead.
The battle royale the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.
