🔗 Share this article Apex Legends' Niche Traversal Techniques Are Going Mainstream This Season Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4. Introducing The Mantle Boost Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts. "This technique existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base." Why Make It Accessible Why make a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are new. "Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Since right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'" Season 27 Movement Focus Movement is largely the central theme in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, faster, and deadlier. "In my opinion many agree that her moment has arrived," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence." Valkyrie's Upgrades To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time. "Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead says. Olympus Improvements Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends this update is all about giving players the tools they need to compete in matches. "Really, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead. The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.