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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick movement will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding new ways 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 all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to access — you need to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge much quicker, enabling the player to remain longer aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added 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," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state the game this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

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