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The game developers 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 learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature 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 competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "We're adding a visual cue so players can easily see the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead says developers aims for gamers to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will boost users upward faster than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says the team evaluated all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state the game this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in the competition.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.