Valorant’s newest patch brings Agent updates for Viper and Yoru

Valorant’s latest patch is here and it brings some much-needed changes to Yoru and Viper. Both Agents were desperate for an update, and Riot’s new patch offers plenty of changes to both of them. The patch also nerfs the Bucky shotgun (finally).

The patch’s most substantial update is aimed at Viper. Riot buffed her poison to now instantly inflict 50 decay — temporary damage — as soon as an enemy comes into contact with it. On top of that, she can now pick up her Poison Cloud grenades from slightly further away, and her Toxic Screen wall now stretches further than it did before.

Yoru got a slightly smaller update this patch. His Blindside ability is now slightly quicker, and flashes enemies for a longer time. Meanwhile, his Gatecrash ability lasts 30 seconds now, instead of 20, and replenishes itself every 35 seconds, so he can have it active almost all the time.

Another very welcome change for many players is Riot’s aggressive Bucky nerf. The pump-activated shotgun has been one of Valorant’s strongest weapons for several patches now, but Riot’s hoping to bring it in line, especially at long range. After the patch, the weapon’s right-click shot, its long-range attack, shoots 5 pellets instead of 15, which should make it less powerful.

For a full look at all of the balance changes coming in Valorant patch 2.06, check out Riot’s full patch notes.

Agent Updates

Viper

Toxin (passive)

• Enemies that cross through Viper’s Poison Cloud, Toxic Screen, or Viper’s Pit are
• instantly inflicted with at least 50 decay. Their decay level increases the longer they
• remain in contact with toxin.
• While in cloud, Decay over time decreased 15 >>> 10
• When out of Viper’s cloud, delay before health regen decreased 2.5 >>> 1.5

Poison Cloud (Q)

• Can now immediately be redeployed when picked up, but grants a temporary charge instead of a permanent charge
• If active when Viper dies, Poison Cloud now remains up for an additional 2 seconds, or until Viper runs out of fuel.
• Pickup distance increased 200 >>> 400

Toxic Screen (E)

• If active when Viper dies, Toxic Screen now remains up for an additional 2 seconds before deactivating
• Full blind distance from the wall increased to better match the blind distance from the edge of smokes

Snakebite (C)

• Equip time decreased 1.1 >>> .8

Practice Tools

• In custom games with cheats and infinite abilities enabled, Viper can hold down “activate” on Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen to recall them
• In custom games with cheats and infinite abilities enabled, Poison Cloud’s landing location is shown on the minimap while equipped

Yoru

Blindside (Q)

• Flash activation time decreased 0.8 >>> 0.6 seconds
• Flash duration increased from 1.1 >>> 1.5

Gatecrash (E)

• Gatecrash is no longer refreshed on kills and is instead replenished every 35 seconds
• Lifetime of the Gatecrash fragment increased 20 seconds >>> 30 seconds
• The range at which the Gatecrash fragment is revealed from stealth decreased 7m >>> 4m
• Visuals for visibility range added to the moving fragment

Dimensional Drift (X)

Ult Points reduced 7 >>> 6

Yoru can now reactivate Gatecrash while in Dimensional Drift

Killjoy

Nanoswarm (C)

• Killjoy can now pick up deployed Nanoswarm grenades during the buy phase to get the charge back.

Weapons Updates

Bucky

• Primary fire (left-click) bullet spread decreased 3.4 >>> 2.6
• Decreased spread on Alt-fire (right-click) 3.4 >>> 2.0
• Updated damage curve for both primary and alt-fire

0m–8m is 20dmg per pellet

8m–12m is 12dmg per pellet

Beyond 12m is 9dmg per pellet

• Reduced amount of pellets in a right click shot from 15 >>> 5

Modes Updates

Escalation

Abilities

• Raze’s Showstopper now comes with two Blast Pack Charges which refill when you touch the ground. Practice those boosts!
• Snowball Launcher now comes with Skates—the increased mobility should give you an edge against the generally more lethal weapons.
• Big Knife now comes with one Tailwind (Jett Dash) charge which refills on kill. Close all the gaps!
• Loadout variations will be a bit of a surprise, and they’ll show up rarely. Let us know which ones you like!

Competitive Updates

• You can now view a person’s career from the in-game Leaderboard

If you are on the the Leaderboard, but don’t want to give away who you are, you can leverage our in-client toggle to label yourself a ‘Secret Agent’

Quality of Life

• To improve legibility, the megamap now consistently uses a mouse pointer instead of a crosshair for map pings

Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF)

[An HRTF video demo will go live to coincide with the notes]

• Added an audio toggle located in the Audio settings panel to enable HRTF

HRTF allows players wearing headphones to play audio in a simulated surround sound audio space.

Currently, only footsteps, reloads, and Deathmatch respawns will be rendered in 3D with HRTF enabled.

It’s recommended that players please turn off any other “3D Audio” processing while using this feature.

Bugs

• 20 assorted bugs for Agents, QoL, Competitive, and more fixed for this patch