Apex Legends' Niche Traversal Techniques Are Going Mainstream This Season

Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says the team assessed all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to compete in the competition.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.