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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to play for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel users into the air much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes Respawn evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the resources required to compete in matches.

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

Apex Legends the Amped season releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.