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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers wants gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says the team evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn state Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the resources required to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.