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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer the designer. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, 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 a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says the game this update focuses on giving players the tools required to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.