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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid movement will be pleased to discover that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique has unofficially been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "ledge boosting." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. This season, Respawn is making it easier for everyone to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for a while, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure technique available to all players? Principal designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to experience empowerment — even those who are new.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, certain techniques are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with characters Horizon, 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 this skill will propel users into the air much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However it's the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — now takes much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with the competition.

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

The battle royale the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.