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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains the team aims for gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"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 provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

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

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.