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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it's possible without external guides," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique accessible to everyone? Principal designer the development lead says developers wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing her speed during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he comments.

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.