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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and a player might not realize it's possible without external guides," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan says the team aims for gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since currently, certain techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will boost players into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments implemented to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy skill — which launches her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game this update is all about providing gamers the resources required to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.