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The game developers has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid movement will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature provides gamers a surge of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. This season, the team simplifies the process for everyone to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"Mantle Boosts existed in the game for a while, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced movement ability, opening up the mechanic and introducing fresh strategies to compete for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a previously obscure technique accessible to all players? Principal designer the development lead explains developers wants gamers to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we provide some of this power to a broader audience?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, certain 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 create a polished implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Mobility is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them in motion. The cooldown period on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and capability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt she was top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and Evac Towers, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's the game. This presented a really great opportunity for us to revisit a bunch of aspects [of her kit] and sort of bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn assessed each of her abilities and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing the player to remain longer in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy skill — which lifts teammates into the air for repositioning or retreat — now takes much less time to fire up. Additionally, she gains recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Valkyrie's equipment now delivers on the pilot experience," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with major changes that opens up bottlenecks and makes claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers says the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.

"Essentially, we examined Apex's core identity as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

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