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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been 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 players can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

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

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's Apex. It was an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, enabling her to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to compete in the competition.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

Apex Legends the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.