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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement 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 Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead says the team wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current the game. It was an ideal chance for us to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that opens up choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to compete in matches.

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

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.