Apex Legends Kicks Off the Amped Season with Major Updates and Reworks
Apex Legends is just hours away from launching its latest season, Amped. This new season will take players back into the skies with a reworked Olympus map, alongside some tweaked mechanics and balanced Legends. Among the updates, Valkyrie, Rampart, and Horizon are set to receive the most noteworthy changes, giving these characters a fresh lease on life for the new meta.
Recently, Legend Designer Ian Holstead, Lead Legend Designer Casey O’Brien, Lead BR Designer Eric Canavese, and Lead Ranked Designer Clement Bachellerie shared insights into some of the bigger changes coming to Apex Legends this week.
Big Changes to Valkyrie, Rampart, and Horizon
Shacknews: Can you go over some of the bigger changes to Valkyrie, Rampart, and Horizon? How did you decide to approach them for this changing meta, and what can players expect to see?
Ian Holstead, Legend Designer: Valkyrie is definitely the primary focus this season. She has a revamped jetpack with changed cooldowns and much higher speed, making her abilities feel quite different but much more powerful. She also received quality of life improvements and buffs to her Tactical ability, plus some cool upgrades and new features for her Ultimate. Overall, she should feel pretty fresh to play.
For Rampart, we focused on upgrading her walls to make them more usable in various situations, increasing the sense of safety they provide. There’s also a new mechanic where you get a sizable speed boost by dealing damage while fighting near your walls, alongside some interesting new upgrades.
Horizon received fun, movement-focused upgrades that help restore some of her power that had been nerfed over the years.
We chose to update these Legends because they had been somewhat neglected for a while, reflected in their lowered pick rates. They represented great opportunities to shine with the velocity and speed-focused changes we’re pushing this season. All three were exciting candidates for these improvements.
Introducing the Double Tap Hop-Up
Shacknews: What can you tell me about the Double Tap hop-up? It sounds like the team is really excited about it.
Casey O’Brien, Lead Legend Designer: The Double Tap hop-up is coming to the Alternator this season. It’s a cool addition we came up with, enhancing the Alternator’s close-range potential by allowing it to shoot from both barrels simultaneously. This effectively doubles the bullet output and damage, making it a powerful tool for close-quarters combat.
With the game pushing towards a more close-range meta — moving away from the current long-range meta — the Double Tap should bring a fresh, exciting feel to the Alternator. Simply put: double bullets, double fun — go shred through your enemies!
Shift Toward a Close-Range Meta
Shacknews: You mentioned moving toward a close-range meta. Which Legends do you think will benefit most from this shift?
Ian Holstead: Many Legends can thrive in different scenarios, but some are naturally better suited to close-quarters combat. For example, Gibraltar generally excels in shotgun metas. That said, most Legends will benefit from the meta shift in some way. It’s a bit challenging to single out one Legend that dominates SMG fights because the gameplay is very situational, but overall, the changes should positively impact a wide range of characters.
Mantle Boost: Enhancing Movement and Locomotion
Shacknews: Can you explain the Mantle Boost update and how the team is evolving movement mechanics?
Clement Bachellerie, Lead Ranked Designer: Movement is at the core of Apex Legends’ identity, so we’re always exploring ways to build on it. We’ve observed players inventing advanced techniques like supergliding and tap-strafing that are not always easy to perform—they often require complex keybind setups and precise inputs, sometimes even specific hardware.
With Mantle Boost, we’re making these advanced movements more official and accessible to a broader player base. It takes what many players are already doing in superglides and formalizes it as an official movement mechanic. Our hope is to get more players engaged with the fun, high-skill movement Apex is known for by lowering the barrier to entry.
Player Feedback and Ongoing Balancing
Shacknews: How does player feedback influence which weapons and Legends you balance?
Bachellerie: We’re increasingly transparent about our balancing decisions, and you’ll see more explanations in our patch notes. Often, decisions stem from a combination of player feedback and analyzing pick rates that seem unbalanced. We’re committed to continuously monitoring live data and player reactions.
Additionally, we’re prepared to make mid-patch balance changes if necessary to address any runaway imbalances. Going forward, we plan to provide even deeper insights into our decision-making process.
Impact on the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS)
Shacknews: With ALGS being such a significant part of the game, how do you foresee the pro scene reacting to these changes?
Casey O’Brien: From the weapon perspective, the nerfs to marksman and sniper rifles—both dominant in recent ALGS tournaments—will likely cause a meta shift towards close-range combat at the highest levels. Some pros will be excited for the fresh meta, while others might be less thrilled. It varies person-to-person, but a change is definitely coming.
Ian Holstead: On the Legend side, bans have already diversified picks in ALGS, and the Legends we’re buffing have all been popular at different points. Rampart still sees some play, but the other two have fallen off competitively. It’ll be interesting to watch how they make a comeback.
Overall, the Legend meta has always been quite diverse thanks to bans, so it’s often less black-and-white than weapon metas.
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With the Amped season about to launch, these updates promise a fresh and dynamic experience for both casual players and the competitive scene. From revamped Legends to exciting new mechanics like Double Tap and Mantle Boost, Apex Legends continues to evolve while staying true to its core of fast-paced, skillful gameplay.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146645/apex-legends-amped-interview
