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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can easily see when and how to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we wondered, 'How can we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and the ability to grant speed boosts to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing velocity during flight, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools required to compete in matches.

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

Apex Legends Season 27: Amped launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.