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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat in store for Apex Legends players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped goes live on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a burst of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting has unofficially been a feature of the game for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers might not realize it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese explains. "We're adding a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to trigger the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers aims for players to experience empowerment — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" Mohan explains. "Because currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters Horizon, the defensive specialist, and the aerial combatant all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will boost users into the air much quicker than it used to. Her defensive walls now include a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, faster, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," says Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, 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 has also been upgraded to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts her entire squad into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires much less time to activate. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead says.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the lone airborne map, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with major changes that expands choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says Apex Legends Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer Josh Mohan.

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