The Battle Royale's Specialized Traversal Techniques Are Going Mainstream During This Update

The game developers has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated all her skills and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing 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 opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update is all about giving players the resources required to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

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