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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Fans of the battle royale's highly fluid movement can rejoice to discover that an innovative traversal feature is being implemented when the Amped season goes live on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature provides gamers a burst of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. As explained key developer the design lead, this technique has unofficially existed of the game for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. In this update, the team simplifies the process for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for a while, but executing it isn't easy to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "We're adding a visual cue so players can easily see the timing to activate the high-octane traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to everyone? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains developers wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs advanced techniques like super-glides and tap-strafing, and we looked around at other games, observed what our players execute, and we wondered, 'What if we extend these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Because currently, some of these techniques are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie receiving enhancements to maintain them in motion. Recovery time on her tactical ability has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include overhead protection and the ability to provide speed boosts to those nearby. But the spotlight is on the high-flying Valkyrie who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments implemented to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. It was an ideal chance for the team to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and sort of restore her to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, the developer notes the team assessed all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which lifts her entire squad into the air for repositioning or retreat — requires much less time to activate. She's also getting recently added perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her Skyward Dive takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on the pilot experience," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, receives a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that expands bottlenecks and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game Season 27 is all about providing gamers the tools they need to compete in the competition.

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

Apex Legends the Amped season releases Nov. 4 at the specified times.