🔗 Share this article

Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it's possible without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost users upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been 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 current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.