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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer the development lead says developers wants players to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Because currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. So we said, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost users into the air much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the tools required to keep up with the competition.

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

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