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The game developers has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools required to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer the lead.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.