Riot Games unveil details of Patch 7.04 aimed at agent balance

Riot Games have released the details of Patch 7.04 on the official Valorant website and announced that the changes will affect a majority of the agents. The modifications are geared towards reducing the influence of abilities on the match outcome by decreasing their duration and increasing their cost.

Currently, only the agent-specific changes are known for balancing them, but the developers have informed that more comprehensive information about Patch 7.04 will be shared next week. Here's the list of agents and their respective alterations:

BREACH

• Aftershock (C) Ticks reduced from 3 to 2 Damage increased from 60 per tick to 80 
• Rolling Thunder (X) Ultimate points increased 8>>>9

BRIMSTONE

• Orbital Strike (X) Ultimate points increased 7>>>8

FADE

• Prowler (C) Time to re-equip gun takes slightly longer after using the ability

GEKKO

• Mosh Pit (C) The impacted area does 10 damage per second before exploding 
• Wingman (Q) HP reduced 100>>>80 
• Thrash (X) Thrash’s explosion had a little makeover to make it easier to see and understand the area it has affected

KILLJOY

• Lockdown (X) Ultimate points increased 8>>>9

OMEN

• Paranoia (Q) No movement velocity imparted when casting

Skye

• Guiding Light (E) Max duration while casting reduced 2.5s >>>2s

• Trailblazer (Q) HP reduced 100>>>80
  

• Seekers (X) Ultimate Points increased 7 >>>8 Seeker Health decreased 150>>>120

Sova

• Recon Bolt (E) Total number of scans reduced 3>>>2
  

Viper

• Viper’s Pit (X) Ultimate points increased 8>>>9

Astra

• Gravity Well (C) Startup time increased .6>>>1.25 Gravity time duration decreased 2.75>>>2.0

• Nova Pulse (Q) Startup time decreased from 1.25>>>1.0

• Cosmic Divide (X) Audio now is blocked completely by the wall rather than muffled

Jett

• Tailwind (E) Dash window decreased 12s>>>7.5s Activation windup increased 0.75s>>>1s
• Updraft (Q) Charges decreased 2>>>1
  
• Blade Storm (X) Ultimate points increased 7>>>8
  

Such changes will have a significant impact on the agent meta, especially on Jett, who has seen the most substantial modifications. Many players feel that this agent will become a less popular choice and will lose its title as the most popular agent in the game.

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Negative reactions from professional players about the patch

Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev, a player from the Fnatic, criticized the developers on his Twitter account, claiming they decided to "kill" the agent Jett.

I guess the ppl who “balance” the agents are the same ones who make VCT scheduling - everything at once

Don’t see any reason why we can’t experiment with smaller changes than killing an agent as a whole and possibly not seeing it for a long time in the game instead of making more variety on what to play, like did they forget about Phoenix?

Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev

Mehmet "cNed" İpek, a player from the NAVI, also expressed his opinion about Patch 7.04.

They are thinking killing agents will make other agents playable i think and its so wrong

Mehmet "cNed" İpek

When will Patch 7.04 be released?

The release of Patch 7.04 is scheduled to coincide with the launch of Act 2 of Season 7, specifically on August 29-30, with the release date varying by region.