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The game developers have an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche technique available to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air faster than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie receiving significant improvements now, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer says the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state the game this update focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer the lead.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.