VALORANT Patch Notes 5.01

Phoenix, KAY/O, and Yoru on on the balance beams and some updated smurf detection.
Game Updates
Jeff Landa

AGENT UPDATES

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PHOENIX

We believe Phoenix's Curveball is the cornerstone of his kit, and as we explored adjustment options it became clear that Curveball being more powerful unlocks his kit as a whole. So we wanted to assess Phoenix in a world where Curveball is more competitive with the rest of the ecosystem to get a sense for the impact of the changes. We view Phoenix as an aggressive entry Agent, so the additional Run It Back and Blaze changes are intended to support his proactive intentions when taking space or fights early on into rounds.

Curveball (Q)

  • Flash Max duration increased 1.1s >>> 1.5s
  • Flash Windup decreased .7s >>> .5s

Blaze (C)

  • Phoenix will now equip his weapon earlier if he stops bending his wall

Run it Back (X)

  • Phoenix will now spawn at the marker with the amount of shields he had when the ability was cast

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YORU

We’ve noticed you Yoru players having a bit of friction achieving the dream of setting up a master plan while in ultimate. We’re hoping these changes will reduce a bit of that problem, rewarding you for using your flash during ultimate, while still preventing unhealthy play patterns that leave enemies without counterplay.

Dimensional Drift (X)

  • Increased duration of ultimate 10s >>> 12s
  • Reduced unequip time 1.2s >>> 0.8s

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KAY/O

KAY/O hasn’t had much of a quality of life pass since we’ve last had some changes so we wanted to reduce some pain and help you access more parts of the kit that haven’t felt as accessible.

FRAG/ment (C)

  • Zone diameter reduced 10m >>> 8m
  • Damage now applies without needing line of sight
    • We’ve noticed a lot of inconsistencies with how the FRAG/ment is communicating the actual damage zone on the ability. We wanted to be consistent with how the visuals were showing the damage zone, so we’ve removed the line of sight requirement to apply damage.

NULL/cmd (X)

  • Now, only allies will hear the full channel audio of reviving KAY/O, while downed
    • Enemies will only hear a short audio cue when the revive has started, matching a similar gameplay pattern to playing around ultimate orbs or tapping the bomb

GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS

  • New Smurf Detection functionality (North America)
    • This addition to our smurf detection systems is designed to make sure that new players (that means all new accounts) are matched up with players of the correct skill level, much faster than before.
    • We’re testing this change in North America first, to make sure everything is working correctly before a global rollout.
    • Testing begins the week of July 11th, 2022
  • Improved collision behavior when walking next to or behind another player.
    • This should heavily reduce the amount of jitteriness experienced when moving close to your allies (rushing a site as a group or moving out of spawn should feel better!).

GAME MODES

  • Twin Hunters in Spike Rush will now damage destructible walls

BUGS

PERFORMANCE

  • Fixed an issue where having the Raw Input Buffer setting enabled caused scrolling in chat or friends list to go directly to the top or bottom

YORU

  • Fixed a bug with Dimensional Drift where the invulnerability kicked in later than intended after it was cast

SOVA

  • Fixed issue with Sova’s Shock Bolt not damaging enemy traps and other game objects (other than players)

FADE

  • Fixed issue where Fade’s Haunt would sometimes reveal enemies that were on the other side of a thin wall