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The game developers has a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "We're adding a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team aims for players to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a polished version?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost players into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," states character developer the designer. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. It was an ideal chance for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer notes the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about giving players the tools they need to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

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