Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update

The game developers has a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without external guides," Canavese states. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? Principal designer the development lead says the team aims for gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a polished version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been 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. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," he says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update is all about providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer the lead.

The battle royale the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.