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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official version?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving significant improvements now, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," he comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state the game this update is all about providing gamers the tools required to compete in matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.

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