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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and adding fresh strategies 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 says the team wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will boost players upward faster than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes the team evaluated all her skills and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," he comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Really, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

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