🔗 Share this article

Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community execute, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. So we said, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he comments.

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer the lead.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at the specified times.