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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says the team wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide 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 precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

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