VALORANT launch Patch Notes 1.0

VALORANT launches today and new content is abundant for players who got a taste of the game in the closed beta. On June 1, Riot Games released VALORANT Patch Notes 1.0 which outline changes made for the launch. Developers have balanced five of the ten agents from the beta, changed up Split, and fixed some issues with hit registration. Along with these changes, they introduced a new map, agent, and game mode.

VALORANT Patch Notes 1.0

Fans can look at the official VALORANT patch notes to see all changes made to these five agents. Each agent adjustment helps balance the gameplay out for ease of use while also challenging players to think harder before using abilities. The update also helps with the competitiveness of the Spike plant game mode. Although veterans of the beta may want to dive right in, competitive will be locked. New players will be able to practice before going on a rampage in ranked play.

Phoenix

Each of Phoenix’s abilities got a slight upgrade for launch. Blaze, the flame wall, got a duration increase, staying up for eight seconds instead of six. His healing and damage suffered a nerf on Blaze. The change to his healing over time was to make it less effective than his AoE incendiary Hot Hands.

Hot Hands heal over time was changed from 3 health every 0.25 to 1 every 0.08 seconds. Curveball now has a longer flash duration, changing it from 0.8 seconds to 1.1. Phoenix’s ultimate Run It Back now reloads all of his weapons upon respawn. This helps Phoenix’s ability to rush back into combat once his ultimate is finished.

Sage

The resident healer got a nerf in this patch. Her healing and barrier both took a hit, making it so that Sage players need to plan ahead when using her abilities. Healing Orb’s cooldown changed from 35 seconds to 45, making it harder for her to heal multiple allies in one round.

Barrier Orb lost time in duration and now lasts 10 seconds less than in beta. Each segment of the barrier has also lost some health. The pieces now have only 800 health instead of the hefty 1,000 from before. At least, the barrier now appears on the minimap for teammates. This makes it known to the team where and when it falls.

Jett

Jett saw a much-needed buff to Cloud Burst. Her smokes’ duration has increased from 4 to 7 seconds. This allows players to play around her smokes without fear of them dropping and being caught out in a rotate or entry. Tailwind also got buffed, giving Jett the ability to break Cypher traps while dashing. She is now able to break them without worry about slowing down.

Omen

How Dark Cover works for Omen is now changed to let players choose better areas for his smokes. Omen enters a “phaser” world where he can see through walls during his decision. His primary and secondary fires now let the player control the distance of his smokes instead of the bar players had to work with.

Shrouded Step also allows the player to see where they are teleporting exactly. Omen’s ultimate From the Shadow is now cancelable. With this, Omen can play mind games with the enemy though he does lose all of his ultimate’s points in the process.

Raze

Despite the almost overwhelming amount of damage Raze can do, she only received one change to her utilities. Blast Pack’s damage radius is lowered, decreasing from two meters to one.

VALORANT Split Map Changes

Across all maps, the developers have fixed bugs and optimized areas for players in these VALORANT patch notes. There are fewer chances for exploits like leaving playspace or placing a Cypher cam in a spot where it’s unable to be shot.

Image credit to Riot Games.

Split received the most love in the patch. The choke point in the middle of the map was widened to give the attacking team more room. This changes the entire playstyle on the map with an open mid.

“We felt like Defenders were able to effectively plug up the main choke point in mid for a large percentage of the round,” developers commented. “The new layout hopes to alleviate this issue. These changes open up the space quite a bit and provide an additional path to get around stalling abilities on the stairs. It also gives Attackers a few different angles to help siege B Tower and Vents.”

VALORANT Ascent

Set in Italy, Ascent features an open mid area which gives players a skirmish point to earn control of the Spike sites. By controlling the new map’s middle section, players open up new routes to both A and B sites. Upon launch, Ascent will be more common in rotation than the three former maps. This gives returning players the chance to try out the new map as quickly as possible.

Improvements, nerfs, buffs, and more abound in VALORANT patch notes 1.0, coming right before the official launch. Players and developers alike are excited about the game, and with its free-to-play access, everyone is able to join in on the fun.

Written by Alana Thompson