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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick movement will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it's possible without external guides," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer the development lead explains the team aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to access — 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

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air faster than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine 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, the developer notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing the player 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 the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state the game Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources required to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.