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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community execute, and we wondered, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics 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 polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward faster than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.