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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick movement will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains the team aims for gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward faster than before. Her defensive walls now include a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But it's aerial Valkyrie receiving the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.