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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to key developer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can clearly identify the timing to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says the team evaluated all her skills and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update focuses on providing gamers the tools required to keep up with matches.

"Really, we examined Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

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