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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward faster than before. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex'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.