Apex Legends' Specialized Traversal Techniques Are Going Mainstream During This Update

Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid movement will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward faster than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, allowing her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to compete in matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

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