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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? 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, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. So we said, 'How about we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

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