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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead explains developers wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However it's the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, faster, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the resources required to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches November 4th at the specified times.