Apex Legends' Niche Movement Mechanics Become Widely Accessible This Season

Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to 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 is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends this update is all about giving players the tools required to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.