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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to play for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community 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 these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes Respawn assessed each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources required to compete in the competition.

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

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.