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The game developers have a special treat prepared for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can easily see when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — you need to change controls and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with Legends Horizon, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will boost players into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and the ability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says the team assessed all her skills and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added perk choices that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game this update focuses on giving players the resources required to compete in the competition.

"Really, we examined the game's core identity as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at the specified times.