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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese states. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

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

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since right now, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will propel players into the air faster than before. Her defensive walls now include a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states character developer the designer. "There's no doubt she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.

"Really, 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 Nov. 4 at the specified times.