Ask VALORANT - Jan. 28

Q

Last month, you mentioned you’re working on decreasing the running+shooting accuracy, can you update us on the progress or what you are looking to adjust?

A

We have some changes planned for Patch 2.02 that should help address sentiment on running accuracy with rifles. Keep in mind, we're making sure not to change too many systems at once to ensure that shooting doesn't feel so dramatically different that you’ll have to relearn habits. As always, we'll keep an eye on the change and will continue to adjust as necessary.

Q

At the start of the Act, it seems like I can rank higher and faster with my alternate accounts, whereas I’m stuck in the much lower ranks for longer with my main account. Is the new ranked system working as intended?

A

We saw this weird pattern developing soon after launch and made changes to help solve this with Patch 2.01. It should actually be optimal now for the highest ranked players to use their main account instead of their alternate due to the now reduced queue times—and their higher MMR will actually help them earn rank rating faster.

We will also be increasing the effectiveness of convergence, expected to hit in one of the next patches. This will make it so previous season Immortal+ players, that still have a high MMR, will start to earn more Ranked Rating per win and less per loss then their lower MMR counterparts. Ultimately they will climb the leaderboard faster, and make it so that the most effective way to climb the leaderboard is to have skill and high MMR. This will affect all ranks, so if you really are hardstuck Silver—but your MMR says you should be Gold or Plat—you will get there quicker.

Unfortunately, one week under the slightly wonky Patch 2.0 system was enough time for top players to rally behind the effort to rely on their alternate accounts for quicker rank. When people played on an alt, they may have been finding matches quicker and ranked up faster. Now, in the long run, their alt will be at a lower MMR and earn less ranked rating per win then they would have if they were on their main account (with higher MMR).

That being said, we know there are a few recent Competitive changes around Episode and Act starts that some of you are unhappy about. We’re looking at adjusting how we place you at the start of a new Act and how quickly leaderboards become available. We’ll also have a more detailed follow up to share ahead of Episode 2 Act II.

—Jon Walker, Senior Designer, and Ian Fielding, Senior Producer