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Respawn Entertainment has a special treat prepared for the popular battle royale gamers, perfectly timed for the holidays. Fans of the battle royale's super-slick traversal can rejoice to learn that a new movement mechanic will be introduced when the Amped season launches on November 4th.

Introducing The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Mantle Boosting" by the developers, this ability gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over obstacles. As explained lead battle royale designer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of the game for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." But it's no easy feat for the average player, and is mainly used by competitive players in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, the team is making it easier for everyone to execute these tricky movement boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but executing it requires skill to perform and gamers would never know it [is in the game] without outside knowledge," the designer states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the high-octane movement ability, opening up the mechanic and adding new ways to compete for more players."

Why Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche technique available to all players? Principal designer the development lead says the team wants players to experience empowerment — including ones who are new.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafes, and we examined at other games, observed what the community are doing, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer explains. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to change controls and hit precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official version?'"

The Amped Update Emphasis on Mobility

Movement is largely the central theme in this season, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and Valkyrie all getting buffs to maintain them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift has been decreased, and the Gravity Lift will boost players into the air much quicker than it used to. Rampart's Amped Cover now include a roof and capability to grant movement bonuses to allies in range. But it's aerial Valkyrie receiving significant improvements this season, with various adjustments implemented to enhance her as more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"I think many agree that her moment is here," states character developer the designer. "Certainly she was dominant previously, but due to the addition of other characters, mobility perks, and redeployment tools, it felt like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. It was a really great opportunity for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to former prominence."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To reclaim her competitive status in current strategies, Holstead says Respawn evaluated all her skills and implemented some powerful modifications. Her jetpack have been upgraded, boosting her speed while airborne, and the jets themselves regenerates much quicker, allowing her to remain longer aloft. Now she won't take damage from her own Missile Swarm, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from it. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches her entire squad skyward for repositioning or escape — requires reduced delay to fire up. She's also getting recently added Legend Upgrades that users can choose to reduce fuel consumption, expand the spread of her rockets, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

"Her jet pack fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," Holstead comments.

Olympus Improvements

Additionally, the only floating arena, Olympus, receives a mobility-focused facelift, with an extensive redesign that expands bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers state Apex Legends this update focuses on giving players the resources they need to keep up with matches.

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

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