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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and introducing new ways to play for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since right now, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the central theme in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel users upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus 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 Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says Apex Legends this update focuses on providing gamers the resources they need to compete in the competition.

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

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