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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

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

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a more official version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was top-tier 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 an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn says the game this update is all about giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.

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

Apex Legends the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.