The Battle Royale's Niche Traversal Techniques Are Going Mainstream During This Update

The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without external guides," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing new ways to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says 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, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.