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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but the movement isn't easy to pull off and gamers might not realize it's possible without external guides," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However it's aerial Valkyrie receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, enabling her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update is all about giving players the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.