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Respawn Entertainment have an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale players, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Introducing Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to key developer the design lead, this technique was previously existed of the game for some time, usually referred to as "ledge boosting." But it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese states. "We're adding a visual cue so users can easily see when and how to trigger the fast-paced movement ability, making accessible the feature and introducing new ways to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a previously obscure movement quirk accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team wants gamers to feel powerful — even those who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we extend some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters Horizon, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will boost users upward faster than it used to. Her defensive walls feature a roof and capability to grant speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving significant improvements this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that Valkyrie's time is here," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in today's Apex. This presented an ideal chance for the team to reexamine a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented significant modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, allowing her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Map Changes

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the resources required to compete in matches.

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

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