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

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. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting has unofficially existed of Apex Legends for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," the designer explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can easily see when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, 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? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan says developers wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we provide these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because right now, certain techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official version?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, faster, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but with the introduction of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team assessed each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting velocity during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, enabling her to spend more time aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive ability — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added 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 fulfills the pilot experience," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.