Apex Legends' Specialized Traversal Techniques Become Widely Accessible During This Update

The game developers has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says the team evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends this update is all about giving players the resources they need to compete in the competition.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

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