🔗 Share this article Apex Legends' Niche Traversal Techniques Are Going Mainstream During This Update The game developers have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th. Unveiling Mantle Boosting Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels 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's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to trigger 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 movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are new. "Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, some of these techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a polished version?'" Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant 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 players into the air faster than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier. "I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days." Enhancements to the Aerial Legend To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation. "Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says. Map Changes Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools required to compete in the competition. "Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says principal designer Josh Mohan. Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.