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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it's possible without external guides," the designer explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche technique accessible to all players? Principal designer the development lead says developers aims for gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends 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 players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends this update is all about giving players the tools they need to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer the lead.

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