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Respawn Entertainment has an exciting surprise in store for the popular battle royale players, arriving just in time for the holidays. Enthusiasts of this game's highly fluid traversal can rejoice to learn that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when the Amped season goes live on November 4th.

Unveiling Mantle Boosting

Named "Momentum Boosting" by the developers, this feature gives players a surge of propulsion when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of the game for quite a while, often called as "mantle jumping." However it's no easy feat for casual gamers, and typically employed by pro gamers in Ranked Mode or tournaments. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique existed in the game for some time, but the movement requires skill to perform and a player might not realize it's possible without outside knowledge," Canavese explains. "Now including a visual cue so players can easily see the timing to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the mechanic and adding fresh strategies to compete for more players."

The Reasoning Behind Opening Up Advanced Mechanics

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to everyone? Lead Legend designer the development lead says developers 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 other games, looked at what our players are doing, and we wondered, 'How can we provide some of this power to more players?'" the designer explains. "Because right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to use — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'What if we create a polished implementation?'"

The Amped Update Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in Season 27, with characters the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant receiving buffs to maintain them in motion. Recovery time 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 a roof and capability to provide movement bonuses to allies in range. But the spotlight is on the high-flying this Legend who's getting the most attention now, with various adjustments applied to make her more potent, quicker, and more lethal.

"In my opinion there's quite a consensus that Valkyrie's time has arrived," says character developer Ian Holstead. "There's no doubt that she's been dominant previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, movement[-based] passives, and redeployment tools, it seemed like she fell behind in current the game. It was a really great opportunity for us to revisit multiple elements [of her kit] and essentially bring her back to her glory days."

Enhancements to the Aerial Legend

To restore Valkyrie's relevance in the game's meta, Holstead says Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and introduced significant changes. Her jetpack have been upgraded, increasing her speed while airborne, and this equipment regenerates three times faster, allowing her to spend more time aloft. She can no longer take damage from her ultimate ability, which has also been upgraded to tag enemies who are hit from the missiles. Her Skyward Dive skill — which launches teammates into the air for redeployment or retreat — requires reduced delay to activate. She's also getting some new perk choices that players can select to reduce fuel consumption, widen the area of her Missile Swarm, or further speed up her ultimate takeoff time.

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

Olympus Improvements

Even the game's only floating arena, this location, receives a mobility-focused overhaul, with an extensive redesign that opens up bottlenecks and renders securing elevated positions more manageable. The developers says the game this update focuses on providing gamers the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we examined the game's fundamental nature as a movement shooter," explains principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale Season 27: Amped releases November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.