Posted in: Games, Riot Games, Valorant, Video Games | Tagged: Riot Games, Valorant

Valorant Releases New Patch With Agent Updates & More

Riot Games released a new patch update today for Valorant as they have made a number of changes to characters and other improvements. The improvements were made to essentially bring in a balance to four specific characters as there are changes to Skye, Kay/O, Reyna, and Yoru. We have those notes for you below from the Valorant team, and to check out the entire list of changes to the game with this patch, you can read them here.

SKYE

Light's destructibility didn't feel like meaningful counterplay, instead overtly punishing when Skye tried to throw them at a longer range. By increasing the top-end output and rewarding Skye for bending her birds into the right spots, we intend to foster more teamwork and differentiate her Guiding Light from other flashes in the game—especially when compared to Duelists.

• Guiding Light (E) flashbang scaling paradigm changed
  • The max flash duration of Skye's Guiding Light now scales from 1s to 2.25s over a .75s charge up after being cast
  • Guiding Light can no longer be shot and destroyed
  • New VFX, UI, and sounds added to communicate new gameplay intent
  • Unequip Delay out of Guiding Light increased .75s >>> .85s

KAY/O

KAY/O's underhanded FLASH/DRIVE (right-click) has been overperforming relative to other "pop" flashes (example, Phoenix's flash or Yoru's flash). And we feel as though labbed out left-click overhand throws aren't generating a powerful enough reward for the mastery required to get them to pop in the right place. This tuning weakens the right-click when compared to pop flashes from Duelists, with the belief that KAY/O should pay a cost for his versatility.

• FLASH/DRIVE (Q)
  • Underhand (right-click) flashbang max duration decreased 2s>>>1.25s
  • Overhand (left-click) flashbang max duration increased 2s>>>2.25s
  • Unequip Delay out of both flashes increased .6s >>> .85s

REYNA

Reyna's flash underperforms as a selfish entry-tool, especially at higher skill levels. This set of changes is intended to give Reyna more agency around how she decides to peek after casting Leer. Also, it should sharpen Leer as a powerful angle-breaking tool against Operators on maps with longer sightlines. We've also felt like individual casts of the eye remain in the world for too long when the eye isn't destroyed. If Reyna is now able to make more selfish plays off her Leer, we then wanted to reduce some of the value it has when thrown for teammates.

• Leer
  • Wind-up of nearsight effect decreased .6s >>> .4s
  • Range Restriction on Leer removed
  • Nearsight unequip delay decreased: .7 >>> .5
  • Duration decreased 2.6s >>> 2.0s

YORU

Yoru is a tricky agent, as we need to balance him around his capability to throw flashes during his ultimate. We opted to go with a simple duration increase for Blindside as we feel maintaining the turning counterplay around his flash and clone is important to avoid excessively frustrating situations.

• BLINDSIDE (Q) duration increased 1.5s >>>1.75s
• Flash Visual Updates
  • 3P visuals for flashed enemies and allies now render behind the player's head the moment that the flash starts to fade. This should give a clearer indication if players are fully flashed or if the flash has started to fade.
  • 1P visuals when fully flashed now shrink overtime to give a better indication of when the full flash will end and the flash fading out will begin. ○ Increased the window for awarding assists on flashes, nearsights and concussed from 1 >>> 3 seconds after the debuff starts to fade.
  • We felt the assist window on these debuffs didn't reflect their actual duration of impact, and want to make sure the supportive players are more often recognized and rewarded for setting up situations their teammates capitalize on.

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