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, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.
"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it's possible without external guides," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."
The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
Why make a once niche technique accessible to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.
"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished version?'"
Season 27 Movement Focus
Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will boost users into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.
"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer notes the team evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing her speed during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.
"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools they need to keep up with matches.
"Really, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.