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The game developers has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost users into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been top-tier 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 an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says the team assessed all her skills and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

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