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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and adding fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says developers wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'What if we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial this Legend receiving the most attention now, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, enabling her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.