🔗 Share this article

The game developers have an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was dominant previously, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, enabling her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

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