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Respawn Entertainment have a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic is being implemented when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. 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 "ledge boosting." However it's challenging for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in Apex for a while, but executing it isn't easy to pull off and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains developers wants players to feel powerful — even those who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Because currently, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — you need to remap your keybinds and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a polished version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability is shorter, and this skill will boost users upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to provide speed boosts to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment is here," says Legend designer the designer. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant in the past, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in current Apex. This presented an ideal chance for us to revisit multiple elements in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in current strategies, the developer notes the team evaluated all her skills and implemented significant modifications. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing the player to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new Legend Upgrades that users can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about giving players the resources required to compete in the competition.

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

The battle royale the Amped season releases November 4th at the specified times.