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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane 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 available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. So we said, 'How about we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says character developer the designer. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, enabling her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 is all about giving players the tools they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.