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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. According to key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, Respawn simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky 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's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see the timing to trigger the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

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

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'What if we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost users upward faster than before. Her defensive walls feature a roof and capability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. However the spotlight is on aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to make her stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements in her abilities and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes the team assessed all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time aloft. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that users can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that opens up choke points and makes securing elevated positions a bit less daunting. The developers state the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we were looking at the game'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.