Apex Legends' Specialized Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream This Season

Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but the movement isn't easy to pull off and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique available to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a more official version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air much quicker than before. Her defensive walls now include a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling her 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 take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the resources required to compete in matches.

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

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.