The Battle Royale's Niche Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible During This Update

Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer the development lead says developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost users upward faster than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer notes Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state the game this update is all about providing gamers the resources they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at 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.