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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding fresh strategies to play for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because currently, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources required to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.