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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead says developers wants players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. This presented a really great opportunity 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 reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

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

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.

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

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.