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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Since currently, certain techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

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

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.