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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team aims for players to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer clarifies. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel users into the air much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements now, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment has arrived," says character developer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant in the past, but with the introduction of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer notes the team evaluated all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing the player to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state the game this update focuses on giving players the tools they need to compete in the competition.

"Really, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

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