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The game developers have a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier 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 requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it's possible without external guides," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. So we said, 'How about we create a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and implemented some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update focuses on providing gamers the tools required to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at the specified times.