The game developers have an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "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 new ways to compete for more players."
What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer the development lead explains developers aims for gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"
Movement is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will boost players upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, faster, and more lethal.
"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer notes Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.
"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.
Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in the competition.
"Really, we examined the game's core identity as a movement shooter," says principal designer the lead.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.
A tech enthusiast and gaming aficionado with over a decade of experience in digital media and content creation.
