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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of propulsion when scaling obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, enabling the player to remain longer in the air. Now she won't 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 launches her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says the game this update is all about providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.