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The game developers have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However it's aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt 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 us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

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