This is the start of VALORANT Episode 4 Act II, the one focused on cleaning house. It starts with the promised Yoru overhaul, a reshaping of the Controller role, and a renovation to Icebox (don’t skip that Ascent update though).
The pure changes are listed below, but we have two special dev articles lined up that will dive deeper behind the changes and goals for the Controller Agent and Icebox updates.
AGENT UPDATES
GENERAL
Improved the system used to place abilities at targeted ground locations. This update should make it easier to find valid placement locations in tight spaces. These are the abilities affected:
Omen’s Shrouded Step
Viper’s pit
Chamber’s Trademark and Rendez-vous
Every Killjoy ability
Yoru’s Gatecrash
Sage’s Barrier Orb
OMEN
As strategic diversity in VALORANT evolved, Omen has struggled to find his place within the meta. Many of you enjoy his gameplay loop, but have found it increasingly difficult to justify his selection in higher tiers of play. We want to increase his reliability as a Controller by rolling back a selection of early nerfs to Dark Cover, and sharpen his combat-focused abilities.
Dark Cover
Cooldown decreased 40s >>> 30s
Cost increased 100 >>> 150
Projectile Speed increased 2800 >>> 6400
Shrouded Step
Cost decreased 150 >>> 100
Pre teleport delay decreased 1s >>> 0.7s
Paranoia
Added forward spawn offset, so players adjacent to Omen are not hit
BRIMSTONE
Brimstone is in a healthy spot overall, but he wasn’t performing well in scenarios where we think he should excel. The limitations on his smoke deployment and his Stim Beacon’s versatility were leaving him too constrained. With these changes, we’re hoping Brimstone will be a competitive choice on a healthy portion of the map pool.
Sky Smoke
Deploy time decreased 2 >>> 1 second
Deploy radius increased 5000 >>> 5500
Smoke height increased to match other Controllers
Stim Beacon
Now also applies a 15% speed boost in addition to RapidFire.
ASTRA
With the mastery of Astra’s play patterns over time, she’s become an overwhelming force in both coordinated and high MMR play. She’s crowded out Brimstone and Omen by replicating their strengths and they simply couldn’t keep up with the map-wide impact of her utility. We’re taking steps to create clearer relative weaknesses in an attempt to carve more space for our other Controllers. This starts by reducing her overall utility output and increasing her ability cooldown , in the hopes that this will increase the importance of each move she makes. Paired with this, we’re taking the opportunity to provide some quality-of-life updates and bug fixes that we feel are long overdue.
Stars
Max Stars reduced 5 >>> 4
Cooldown on retrieving a Star increased 14 >>> 25
Astra can now pick up placed Stars during the Buy Phase to refund their charge immediately.
Max distance of Star Placement increased 10000 >>> 30000 to allow her to place Stars across the furthest corners of maps.
Gravity Well
Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45
Gravity Well Size Decreased 525 >>> 475
Gravity Well no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Gravity Well.
Nova Pulse
Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45
Nova Pulse no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Nova Pulse.
Nebula
Cooldown Increased 14 >>> 25
Nebula cooldowns are now sequential instead of simultaneous
Nebula size increased 410 >>> 475
Astral Form
While in Astral form, pings are no longer blocked by level geometry that Astra cannot see
Astra’s targeting ring in Astral form is reduced to one ring that reflects the now unified size of all her utility
Astra’s targeting ring no longer randomly disappears when aiming across some map locations
Increased the speed of the overlay that covers Astra’s screen when transitioning in and out of Astral form
Fixed an issue where Stars were placed slightly above the location Astra was targeting.
VIPER
We like Viper’s hybrid Controller/Sentinel role on the roster, really. But her buffs and our newest map additions have turned her into a must-have Controller and best-in-class Sentinel in more situations than we think a dual-role Agent should fill. With the below changes, we hope to create stark decision points on when Viper should manage her fuel as well as provide clearer counterplay opportunities and attack windows for her enemies.
Fuel
Fuel drain increased 50% when Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud are both active.
Viper’s fuel bar now turns red when she does not have enough fuel to activate her abilities.
Toxic Screen
Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8
Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.
Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8
Toxic Screen now has yellow lights that indicate when it is on cooldown
Removed delay on Toxic Screen disabling when Viper is suppressed.
Added a unique VO line that plays when her smoke is disabled by suppress.
Poison Cloud
Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8.
Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays.
Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8
Poison Orb now has a yellow light to indicate when it is on cooldown.
Removed delay on Poison Orb disabling when Viper is suppressed.
Added a unique VO line that plays when her smoke is disabled by suppress.
Snake Bite
Duration decreased 6.5 >>> 5.5
YORU
Yoru is here with a few more tools in his belt, ready to Gatecrash his way back into your hearts (WHO WROTE THIS?) Fakeout is now a mirror image of Yoru and should help with adding a way to punish deceived enemies. Gatecrash’s teleport beacon—now with the ability to fake the teleport cues—will allow Yoru to create pressure around the map, confusing enemies as they second guess their backline safety. Dimensional Drift now gives Yoru full vision and access to his utility, allowing him to take space with his team while creating pressure on the backlines. We’re happy to be able to lean heavy into Yoru’s deception fantasy and are excited to see him back in your hands!
Fakeout
Charges reduced from 2 >>> 1
Decoy HP: 150
Decoy is now a full running version of Yoru and can only be sent running forward
Right -click to place a stationary marker for the decoy
Reactivate similarly to footsteps to create the decoy that runs forward
Upon taking damage from an enemy gun, the decoy winds up, turns towards the enemy that shot it, and explodes after a short delay.
Enemies within the cone are flashed
Gatecrash
Charges increased from 1 >>> 2
Cost: 200 Credits
Cooldown charge refresh removed, switched back to 2-kill reset
Gatecrash can be faked by pressing F, while hovering over the beacon
Fake teleport will play audio and portal visuals as if Yoru is attempting to teleport.
Time it takes for teleport beacon has decreased 1.5 >>> 0.5 seconds
Teleport beacon’s in-game audio while traveling reduced 22.5m>>>12.5m
Teleport beacon’s speed has been increased 675 >>> 800
Upon activating a fake teleport, the beacon creates a small decal on the floor for 30 seconds to indicate location of the fake teleport
Dimensional Drift
Duration increased 8 >>> 10 seconds
Yoru is not revealed to enemies
Unequip delay time increased 0.6 >>> 1.2 seconds
Yoru is now able to cast all utility out of his ultimate
Yoru’s footsteps can now be heard within 15m of Yoru’s location
Cast delay added upon casting Dimensional Drift, preventing the invulnerability frame on cast
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