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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players into the air much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says character developer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes the team assessed all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at the specified times.