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The game developers has an exciting surprise prepared for Apex Legends gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. 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

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a burst of forward momentum when scaling ledges and walls. According to lead battle royale designer the design lead, this technique was previously been a feature of the game for quite a while, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." But it's challenging for the average player, and typically employed by pro gamers in competitive play or esports competitions. This season, Respawn is making it easier for players of all skill levels to successfully perform these advanced speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to perform and a player would never know it's possible without outside knowledge," the designer explains. "Now including a visual cue so users can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, opening up the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for more players."

Why Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche technique accessible to all players? Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan explains the team wants players to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community is doing other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we looked around at other games, looked at what the community are doing, and we wondered, 'What if we provide these capabilities to a broader audience?'" Mohan clarifies. "Since currently, certain advanced [movement] mechanics are somewhat awkward to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and hit one-frame windows. So we said, 'What if we create a more official implementation?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Mobility is primarily the name of the game in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to help keep them mobile. The cooldown period on her tactical ability has been decreased, and this skill will propel users into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover feature overhead protection and capability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. However it's aerial this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to enhance her as stronger, quicker, and more lethal.

"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 previously, but with the introduction of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. This presented an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially bring her back to former prominence."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To reclaim her competitive status in the game's meta, Holstead notes the team evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant modifications. Her jetpack received improvements, boosting her speed during flight, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, enabling her to remain longer in the air. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to mark opponents who take damage from it. Her squad redeploy ability — which launches her entire squad skyward for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that players can choose to conserve resources, widen the area of her rockets, or accelerate her Skyward Dive activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills the pilot experience," Holstead says.

Map Changes

Even the game's lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly facelift, with major changes that opens up choke points and renders claiming the high ground a bit less daunting. The developers state the game this update is all about providing gamers the tools they need to keep up with matches.

"Really, we were looking at the game's fundamental nature as a fast-paced FPS," explains lead Legend designer the lead.

Apex Legends the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.