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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team aims for gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current Apex. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, enabling the player to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the tools they need to compete in the competition.

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

Apex Legends the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.