VALORANT Patch 8.11 is focused on balancing agents, meaning some big agent changes that will impact gameplay. The full patch notes are not out yet, but here is what you need to know about the upcoming agent changes coming to Riot’s FPS.
Iso is receiving strictly buffs this patch because he’s underperforming across all skill brackets. Leaning into increasing Iso’s signature ability output is intended to make Iso more reliable at challenging contested spaces and winning opening duels by granting his shield immediately after channeling the ability. Iso’s buff will also remain active and orbs will still spawn should he lose his shield and secure a kill during Double Tap’s uptime. Shooting the orbs will refresh the duration of the buff and the shield.
We want to sharpen Neon as an Agent who excels at taking mobile fights directly to her opponents by buffing the unique value she brings to the table. We’ve made her slide more effective at sliding directly into opponents by making it more combat-ready, and by removing all weapon movement error when sliding as well as a few other changes. The updates to her Fast Lane (C) are intended to make fights around her wall dropping feel more intuitive for Neon’s allies while reducing the visual noise it creates in game.
Sharpening her Relay Bolt (Q) to be a more premium and reliable one-charge ability is intended to allow Neon to have more success when she does decide to commit to a fight with her slide, as well as make some room for the second slide charge.
Reyna is receiving both buffs and nerfs this patch to reshape the power of her kit. The goal of the changes is to reduce the level of dominance she can achieve in Ranked, especially at low and mid ranks when outperforming her enemies, while pushing some of her value in coordinated settings:
Healing has proven very strong statistically in Ranked with higher impact at low and mid ranks. This change should reduce her ability to snowball round-over-round in these settings.
Removing the time restrictions on her Devour (Q) and Empress (X) should allow you more flexibility to play at your team’s pace and increase the baseline value of both in coordinated play where rounds play out slower.
Dismiss (E) has been re-tuned to provide a greater movement speed boost, but has a shorter duration. This should reward decisive and skillful Reyna players by unlocking faster and more powerful combat repositioning.
We’ll be tracking how these updates affect Reyna across all the different skill levels and settings of play.
As we’ve seen you get better and better at Raze’s satchel mobility, we’ve found that her total speed and movement potential can undermine the tactical loop. These changes are intended to allow you to more reasonably counterplay Raze, whether through your own utility or gunplay. While we still want to maintain the sandbox movement fantasy of Raze’s satchels, she should not be as surprising when not supported by allied utility.
While we’re excited with how Clove has been immediately relevant in Ranked and how much you’re enjoying playing them, their performance in ranked play is stronger than we’d like. We’re trimming some extraneous power from their selfish, Duelist-oriented outputs while preserving the Controller-leaning power in their kit.
OLIVIA RICHMAN
Olivia is a long-time esports journalist and editor who covers just about every game but has a deep love for the FGC. Her goal is to find community-driven stories that bring a new perspective to the esports scene. In the past, she has worked for Team Liquid, Rogue, Inven Global, Dot Esports, Upcomer, and more.
Outside of esports, Olivia enjoys Kirby, Pokemon TCG, Fallout, and writing science fiction. She can be found trying out new foods, traveling, or hanging out with her two orange cats.
Fun fact: Olivia can do some video game and cartoon impressions!
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