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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, this technique was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and adding new ways to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk available to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as stronger, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment now recharge much quicker, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can choose 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," he says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

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