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The game developers has an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air faster than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says the team assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

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

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.