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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche technique accessible to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

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

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the tools required to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.