The Battle Royale's Specialized Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible During This Update
Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.
Introducing Mantle Boosting
Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.
"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."
Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics
What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.
"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"
The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility
Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and deadlier.
"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."
Valkyrie's Upgrades
To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.
"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.
Map Changes
Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says the game this update focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to compete in the competition.
"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.
The battle royale the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.
