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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost users into the air much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the resources required to compete in matches.

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

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at the specified times.