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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and a player might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the feature and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we examined at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'What if we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's the high-flying Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer the designer. "Certainly that she's been dominant previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in current Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can choose to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn state Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.

"Really, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.