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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer the development lead says the team aims for players to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt 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. It was a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers state the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.