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The game developers have an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and gamers might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was dominant in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the tools required to compete in the competition.

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

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