The Battle Royale's Niche Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible During This Update

Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer notes the team evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools required to keep up with matches.

"Really, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

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