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The game developers has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this ability gives players a surge of propulsion when scaling obstacles. As explained key developer Eric Canavese, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or esports competitions. This season, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for a while, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see the timing to trigger the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and adding new ways to play for a much wider base."

Why Make It Accessible

What's the reason for making a once niche technique available to all players? Lead Legend designer the development lead explains the team aims for players to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"[The playerbase] is doing other crazy stuff like super-glides and tap-strafes, and we examined at our competition, observed what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Because currently, some of these techniques are kind of janky to access — you need to change controls and execute within one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the name of the game in this season, with Legends the gravity mage, the defensive specialist, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and this skill will propel players upward much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and the ability to grant movement bonuses to those nearby. But it's aerial Valkyrie who's getting the most attention this season, with various adjustments applied to make her stronger, quicker, and deadlier.

"In my opinion many agree that her moment has arrived," states character developer Ian Holstead. "Certainly she was top-tier in the past, but due to the addition of other characters, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. This presented a really great opportunity for us to reexamine multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer says the team evaluated all her skills and implemented significant changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates three times faster, allowing her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer be harmed from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to mark enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — requires much less time to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her rockets, or accelerate her ultimate takeoff time.

"Her jet pack now delivers on that jet-fighter fantasy," he says.

Map Changes

Even the game's only floating arena, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that opens up choke points and makes claiming the high ground more manageable. Respawn says the game this update focuses on giving players the tools required to keep up with the competition.

"Really, we were looking at the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer the lead.

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