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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer the development lead explains developers wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However it's aerial Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, allowing her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.

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

Apex Legends the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.