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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves 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 tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update is all about giving players the tools required to keep up with matches.

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

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.