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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

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

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost users into the air much quicker than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

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