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The game developers have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel players upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie receiving significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer says the team assessed all her skills and introduced significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing her to remain longer in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — now takes much less time 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 ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the tools required to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.