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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Fans of this game's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to execute these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it's possible without external guides," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing new ways to compete for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team aims for gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we said, 'How can we extend some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and hit one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, 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 propel users into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls feature overhead protection and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and sort of restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, the developer says Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, 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 own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to mark enemies who take damage from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts teammates into the air for redeployment or escape — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends this update is all about providing gamers the resources they need to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped launches Nov. 4 at the specified times.