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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to key developer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we wondered, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie receiving the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources required to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

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