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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's super-slick movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for some time, but the movement isn't easy to pull off and gamers might not realize 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 high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing new ways to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the tools they need to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.