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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously existed of the game for some time, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in the game for a while, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to play for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team aims for gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are new.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Since currently, certain techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will boost users into the air faster than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and capability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time has arrived," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in today's the game. It was a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn assessed all her skills and implemented some powerful changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing velocity while airborne, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes much less time to activate. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that users can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. Respawn state Apex Legends Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the tools required to compete in matches.

"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a movement shooter," says principal designer the lead.

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