Apex Legends' Specialized Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.
Unveiling Mantle Boosting
Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.
"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to everyone? Principal designer the development lead says the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.
"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states Legend designer 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 Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
Enhancements to the Aerial Legend
To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.
Map Changes
Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game this update is all about providing gamers the tools they need to compete in the competition.
"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer the lead.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at the specified times.
