The Battle Royale's Specialized Movement Mechanics Are Going Mainstream This Season

The game developers have a special treat 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 a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, this technique was previously 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 pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to play for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers wants gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a more official version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says character developer the designer. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers 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 movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

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