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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team aims for gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'How about we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will propel players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches her entire squad into the air for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to activate. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Really, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

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