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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but the movement isn't easy to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel players upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt she was dominant in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state the game this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

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