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The game developers have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will boost players upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead notes Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

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