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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers 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 activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air faster than it used to. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, enabling her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.

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

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