Valorant Patch 2.0 is here, and with it comes a new Agent, a complete overhaul of Valorant’s ranking system, and some love for one of Valorant’s least played Agents, Brimstone. In addition, the Classic has received a heavy nerf. Hopefully, that’ll shake up the pistol round moving forward. This patch is a big shake-up to Valorant’s current meta to the point where you’ll be feeling the changes in any match you play.
For the full list of changes, be sure to visit the Patch Notes available on Valorant’s home screen.
New Agent: Yoru
Yoru joins the Valorant roster!
Valorbuff will put up a full guide on Yoru shortly, but I’ll give a quick summary of his kit here. Yoru is all about stealth and style. He strikes hard and fast, with the ability to catch players that aren’t paying attention by surprise. With his ability to flash, teleport, and mimic footsteps, Yoru forces you not to trust your ears and pay attention to your surroundings. All this combined with an ultimate that lets Yoru enter another dimension and re-enter the battle seemingly out of nowhere, this Agent will be a force to be reckoned with.
Agent Changes
Brimstone
Stim Beacon
Will now quick cast (no equip time)
Molotov
Cost reduced: $300 > $200
Sky Smokes
Cast range increased: 4200 > 5000
Smoke duration increased: 14.25 secs > 19.25 secs
Sound
Brimstone no longer makes a sound that enemies can hear when confirming the location of his smokes
Brimstone finally gets some love! He’s been one of Valorant’s lowest play rate characters, and it’s a shame considering how much utility he brings to the table. Brimstone now has the longest duration smoke in the game by a mile, and the molotov cost reduction is a welcome change. At the time of writing, Brimstone’s play rate sits at a rather low 16.3%, making him the 4th lowest play rate Agent in Valorant.
Here’s how he stacks up against the other lowest-play rate Agents:
Left % column is pick rate; right column is win rate.
We’ll have to see whether or not Brimstone’s play rate and win rate is affected by these significant buffs. That said, Brimstone isn’t the only Agent that seems to need a little help.
Viper
Viper has consistently held the lowest play rate and one of the lowest win rates since Valorant’s release. The Viper changes this patch are… nothing? Riot decided not to make any changes this patch, but they’ve made sure to let us know they’re looking at ways to make Viper a viable pick in high-level play. Look for Viper changes in the coming weeks.
Omen
Paranoia
Cost increased $200 > $400
Dark Cover
Projectile speed decreased: 4000 > 280
Omen has been dominating competitive queues for a while, and he owes that success to his well-rounded kit design. It doesn’t feel like Omen does anything poorly. Or didn’t. Riot seems to have focused Omen’s nerfs toward making him feel more like a Controller and less like a Breacher. Dark Cover’s speed made him a better Breacher than many of Valorant’s Breachers, so the nerfed projectile speed makes Dark Cover less of an initiation ability and more of a zoning tool.
The Paranoia cost increase doesn’t feel like a big nerf, but it’ll make players think harder about when they use this ability. This should be an especially big deal in the earlier stages of the game. 200 creds is more than you’d think. These nerfs are heavy, but Omen should still be a prominent pick in high-level play. He still has a wide set of tools to swing fights his way. For a guide on how to play this solo-queue monster, read our article on Omen here.
Weapon Updates
Classic (Alt. Fire)
Jumping error increased: .4 > 1.0
Increased input queue on right-click: .065 > .225
Firing consecutively now jumps in error, starting at 1.9 for the first burst, 2.5 for the second, and then the third/fourth burst will be at a 6.0
Right-click now has a recovery curve starting at .1secs
So, what do all these numbers mean? Well, the Classic has seen prominence in high-level play as what boils down to a sniper shotgun. This thing could 1-shot headshot about as well as the Ghost at up to 10 or so meters, and its jumping accuracy was much higher than it should have been. For good players, the Classic has been a lethal option.
These changes are intended to bring the Classic more in-line with where it should be as a free starting pistol. Riot wants the Classic’s alt-fire to finish targets rather than be the primary mode of fire. Here’s a short clip showing the Classic’s heavy bullet deviation while alt-firing consecutively, as well as a showcase of how inaccurate jump shots are post-patch:
Competitive Updates
New Competitive regional leaderboards
Rank system updated, including rank progress bar, numerical progress, and further distribution changes to make it easier to climb out of the lower ranks
Immortal and Radiant ranks are now capped at a premade size of two
New ranked rewards for Episode 1 (part of Gun Buddies based on your highest Act Rank achieved during Episode 1)
This patch is great for anyone trying to climb the ranked ladder, whether you’re a Bronze player or you’re trying to get the elusive Radiant rank. Having a number attached to ranked progress makes the grind a bit easier to keep track of, and limiting premades to a party of two in Immortal and Radiant ranks will keep pro teams from grouping up and stomping the highest tiers of competitive ranking. We’ll have to see how well these distribution changes work, but these changes seem very positive for Valorant’s ranked system across the board.
Overall, Valorant’s 2.0 patch seems positive across the board. Some players are still questioning how balanced Yoru’s kit is, but he seems very fun to play. It’s good to see Riot branching out and using subtle advantages like mimicked footsteps that can only work in a game like Valorant.
Patch 2.0 is now live. Good luck on the ranked grind!
