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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since right now, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost players upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine 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 the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers state the game Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools required to compete in the competition.

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

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