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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, 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 technique accessible to everyone? Principal designer Josh Mohan says developers aims for gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Since currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel users into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie receiving the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, the developer notes Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling her to spend more time in the air. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about giving players the tools they need to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we examined Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," explains principal designer the lead.

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