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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and gamers would never know it's possible without external guides," the designer states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states character developer 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 redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing her to remain longer in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay 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 ultimate activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the resources required to compete in matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," says principal designer the lead.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.