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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says the team wants players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel players upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But it's aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in the competition.

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

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