VALORANT Patch 1.08 Notes: Better Matchmaking and Raze Nerfs

VALORANT Patch 1.08 notes are out and Riot Games made slight changes to maps, weapons, and characters to create better balance in the game. While this patch isn’t as massive as previous patches, new map randomization means players won’t be stuck on the same map every time they play. Raze is receiving a nerf, particularly on her Blast Packs, and the Guardian sees a fire rate buff as well as a slash on its price.

Patch 1.08 changes up things for Raze, beefs up the Guardian, and makes map randomization even more random.

Get the full info here: https://t.co/t7KDwLeB6Q pic.twitter.com/MLKjJJRiJ5

— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) September 16, 2020

VALORANT Patch 1.08 Notes

In another attempt to bring the Guardian into the VALORANT meta, Riot is increasing its rate of fire to 5.25 rounds per second from 4.75. The buff means that it is now a mid-range weapon with more thrust. Riot wants to make the gun more viable by reducing its price by 100 credits. The gun also received accuracy recovery buffs. It will now take .2925 seconds to recover accuracy after misfiring compared to a previous 0.35 seconds to recover. Better weapon recovery, combined with a higher rate of fire, will increase the versatility of the weapon.

Players often complained about Raze’s ability to damage enemies without giving them a fair chance of play. Now, Blast Pack’s damage rate has been throttled down to 15 with a 0.2-meter inner radius initially. Players will have to use more packs for higher damage or aim better. Blast Pack’s new maximum damage is 50. Anyone shooting the pack will also detonate it instead of fizzling and destroying it. These nerfs to the Brazilian agent are necessary to make the game more competitive and give enemies a chance to counterattack.

? #VALORANT Patch 1.08 is here!

– Raze Blast Pack nerf
– Guardian buff
– New map rotation changes & more!

Full patch notes: https://t.co/VUGSsUN0wq pic.twitter.com/GEPJRYKhYW

— Valorant News (@ValorantUpdates) September 16, 2020

Gameplay Improvements

Besides Guardian buffs and Blast Pack nerfs, Riot is replacing the pure-random map structure with pseudo-random in VALORANT Patch 1.08. Basically, players do not have to suffer from being tossed onto the same map over and over again. VALORANT will now deprioritize the last map when players requeue. The pseudo-random feature applies to all game modes. This minimizes the chance of players having to play on the same map in a row. With four maps on the game, diversity is low, but players hope that Riot will soon introduce new maps.

Riot Games’ VALORANT Patch 1.08 notes bring nerfs to Raze, buffs to Guardian, and a better matchmaking mechanism, shifting gears towards setting the competitive and esports meta. At the moment, developers will observe the impacts of these patches to inform them of future changes.

Written by Daniella Johnson