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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game this update focuses on providing gamers the resources required to compete in the competition.

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

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.