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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers aims for players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished version?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.