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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements now, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt 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 former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game this update focuses on providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.

"Really, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.