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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement 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 Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, some of these techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward faster than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies 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 fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the tools they need to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.