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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding new ways to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains the team aims for gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since right now, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back 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 jetpack received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge 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 was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources required to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.