The Battle Royale's Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible This Season
The game developers has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.
Introducing The Mantle Boost
Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.
"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player might not realize it's possible without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."
Why Make It Accessible
Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead explains the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.
"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a more official version?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel users into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, enabling her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.
"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.
Map Changes
Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with matches.
"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.
The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.
