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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed 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 advanced movement boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the feature and adding fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure technique accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Since currently, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel users into the air faster than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, 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 in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we examined Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.