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The game developers has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will boost players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team assessed all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, 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 fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.