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The game developers have a special treat in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick movement will be pleased to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Named "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when scaling obstacles. According to lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, often called as "ledge boosting." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these advanced movement boosts.

"Mantle Boosts have been in Apex for some time, but the movement isn't easy to perform and a player might not realize it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify the timing to activate the high-octane movement ability, making accessible the feature and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche movement quirk available to all players? Principal designer the development lead says the team wants players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, observed what the community execute, and we said, 'How can we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — you need to change controls and hit precise timings. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is primarily the name of the game in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel users upward faster than before. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. However the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time is here," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was dominant previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she fell behind in current the game. This presented a really great opportunity for the team to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim Valkyrie's relevance in current strategies, Holstead notes Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her VTOL Jets have been upgraded, increasing her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates much quicker, enabling her to remain longer in the air. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag enemies who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — now takes reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting some new Legend Upgrades that users can select to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

"Her jet pack fulfills the pilot experience," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that expands choke points and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers state the game Season 27 focuses on providing gamers the resources required to keep up with matches.

"Essentially, we were looking at Apex's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.