Preparation for the upcoming changes in Valorant has begun, with developers focusing on agents, providing a preliminary overview of expected changes in patch 8.11, which was published on the official Twitter channel.
Agent Updates
To better understand, this update aims to allow other Duelists to compete with agents like Jett and Raze, known for their high speed and mobility. These changes provide more opportunities for Duelists to occupy space for their team and stay ahead with their unique playstyles — whether it's stronger duels like Iso, a mix of speed and evasiveness in combat like Neon, or Reyna's ability to recover and retreat from combat.
Important: these are not the full patch notes for 8.11, they will be published on June 11, 2024. This is just a preview of the Agent updates coming in this patch.
Iso
In this patch, Iso receives only improvements, as he struggles in all skill ranges. Increasing the effectiveness of the agent's primary ability is intended to make him more reliable in contesting control points and winning early duels by instantly providing shields after activating the ability. Iso's improvement also remains active, and orbs continue to appear if he loses his shield and kills an opponent during the activation of Double Strike. Hitting orbs refreshes the duration of the improvement and shield.
Double Tap (E)
- Iso now receives a shield after a 1-second animation, during which he cannot use weapons.
- At the end of the channel, the sound of shield formation is audible when activated.
- Charges 2 > 1
- Added charge reset on kill in Double Strike (Iso regains charge if he kills 2 enemies).
- Iso now receives Wall Penetration tag instead of Heavy Penetration when shield is destroyed. This means he slows down more gradually after the shield is destroyed.
- Additionally, Iso now receives damage indicator towards the enemy who destroyed the shield.
- Iso can now reuse Double Strike while active to refresh shield duration.
- This is relevant if he gets a refreshed charge of Double Strike after killing 2 enemies.
Neon
Developers stated they want to improve Neon as an agent who excels in fighting enemies on the move, enhancing the unique value she brings to the game. They improved her slide strike to make it more effective when attacking enemies and removed all weapon movement errors during sliding, as well as made several other changes. Updates to her Quick Track (C) are aimed at making fights around her wall drops more intuitive for Neon's allies and reducing visual clutter in the game.
Improving her Relay Bolt (Q) for more reliable single charge usage is meant to give Neon more success when deciding to attack an enemy, as well as free up space for a second slide charge.
Fast Lane (C)
- Fast Lane (C) now disappears from behind to minimize visual clutter in combat space, providing cover for Neon.
- The sound of Fast Lane (C) has been updated to move along with the wall disappearing.
- Wall Duration 6 seconds > 4 seconds
- Wall Dissolve Time 1 second > 2 seconds
High Gear (E)
Sprint
- Neon no longer loses sideways movement speed while running.
- Maximum running speed during sideways movement 6.73 meters/second > 9.11 meters/second
- Time to full fuel regeneration 60 seconds > 20 seconds
Slide
- Slide charges 1 > 2
- Now Neon eliminates all weapon movement errors during sliding.
- This means she becomes more accurate during sliding.
- Cost of second slide: 150
- Weapon after sliding: Quick > Instant
- Slide equipment buffer > 0.2 seconds (0.2 seconds pass after sliding before her weapon appears)
Relay Bolt (Q)
- Charges 2 > 1
- Delay before activation 1.1 seconds > 0.8 seconds
- Stun Duration 3.0 seconds > 3.5 seconds
Reyna
Reyna receives both buffs and nerfs in this patch to reassess the strength of her kit. The goal of the changes is to reduce the level of dominance she can achieve in ranked matches, especially at low and mid ranks, while increasing some value in coordinated settings:
Healing has statistically been very strong in ranked matches with a greater impact at lower and mid ranks. This change should reduce her ability to snowball in these conditions.
Removing time restrictions on her Devour (Q) and Empress (X) should give you more flexibility to play to your team's rhythm and increase the base value of both in coordinated play, where rounds progress slower.
Dismiss (E) has been reworked to provide more movement speed but with a shorter duration. This should reward decisive and skilled Reyna players, unlocking faster and more powerful repositioning in combat.
Developers will monitor how these updates affect the agent across all different skill levels and game settings.
Devour (Q)
- Healing reduced from 100 to 50
- Full health regeneration time reduced from 3 to 2 seconds
- Armor overheal no longer expires on a timer.
Dismiss (E)
- Maximum speed increased from 9.1 meters/second to 12 meters/second
- Total Dismiss duration reduced from 2 s to 1.5 s
Empress (X)
- Empress no longer has a timer and remains active until Reyna is killed or the round ends.
Raze
As developers see players becoming increasingly adept at utilizing Raze's mobility with her grenades, it has been found that her overall speed and movement potential can disrupt the tactical cycle. These changes are intended to allow you to more reasonably counter Raze, whether with your own utility or gunfire. While we still want to preserve the fantasy of Raze's mobility with her grenades, it shouldn't be as unexpected when not supported by allied utility.
Blast Pack (Q)
- Raze's grenades no longer explode upon destroying an enemy.
- Raze's horizontal speed when using grenades has been slowed.
- The explosion audio of grenades has been updated to be audible from a greater distance to ensure enemies can hear the first grenade when Raze double casts.
Clove
Clove has immediately become relevant in ranked matches, their performance in ranked matches stronger than desired. Developers have reduced the excessive duelist-oriented power while still retaining controller-oriented power.
Pick-Me-Up (C)
- Cost 100 > 200
- Duration 10 s > 8 s
- Activation time after taking damage 10 s > 6 s
Not Dead Yet (X)
- Cost 7 > 8
- Detonation delay 7 > 8 s
- Bug fix: Clove's primary skill will no longer be active during combat if they receive assistance from smoke.
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