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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat in store for Apex Legends players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of Apex Legends for quite a while, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in Apex for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'How can we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. So we said, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's aerial Valkyrie receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for the team to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes the team assessed all her skills and introduced some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, increasing her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added perk choices that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn says the game this update is all about providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," says lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.