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The game developers have an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

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

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the central theme in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But it's aerial this Legend receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources required to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we examined the game's core identity as a movement shooter," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.