🔗 Share this article

The game developers has a special treat in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "We're adding a visual cue so players can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will boost players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update is all about giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

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