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

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. 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 casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to pull off and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements [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 each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state the game this update focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer the lead.

The battle royale the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.