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The game developers has a special treat in store for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously existed 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. In this update, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it's possible without external guides," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so players can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the feature and adding new ways to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to everyone? Principal designer the development lead explains developers aims for players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the central theme in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to help keep them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players upward much quicker than before. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," 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 felt like she's not very relevant 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 former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says the team assessed all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, enabling her to spend more time in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, 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. The developers state the game this update focuses on providing gamers the tools required to compete in matches.

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

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