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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to pull off and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan explains. "Because right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air faster than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention now, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her stronger, faster, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer the designer. "Certainly she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes much less time to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state Apex Legends this update is all about giving players the resources required to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a movement shooter," explains principal designer the lead.

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.