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The game developers have an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a previously obscure technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says the team aims for players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players into the air faster than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's aerial this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or retreat — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state the game this update focuses on providing gamers the resources required to compete in the competition.

"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.