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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex 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 users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But it's aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer says the team assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

Apex Legends the Amped season releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.