Riot Games has today continued Valorant’s post-launch support with a new update aimed at tweaking the balance of gameplay. Patch 1.07 both buffs and nerfs a number of different agents, while also making notable changes to shotgun performance, adding a match remake feature, and introducing some qualify of life improvements and bug fixes.
Easily the biggest takeaway is yet another nerf for Sage, reducing her heal to 60 from 100, as well as lessening the size of her slow orb. It’s another move from Riot to change Sage’s role more toward that of a sentinel rather than a pure healer.
The developer has said in the past that it plans on adding a dedicated healing agent to the game moving forward, so perhaps we’re edging closer to that?
Other noteworthy agent updates include Killjoys first nerf, and to the surprise of nobody it’s the Nanoswarm ability that’s been given some much-needed attention. Now there’s a small delay with an audio cue before it starts doing damage, which should hopefully stop her from killing opponents trying to defuse the bomb from halfway across the map. Urgh.
There are also minor tweaks to Breach and Sova, but it’s Viper who picks up yet another buff. Her Toxic Screen now initiates faster, and team mates caught in her Decay won’t take damage anymore, either.
Elsewhere, shotguns’ aimpunch has been given an update so that their long range effect is further nerfed. The Judge is now 100 credits more expensive, too, and the Shorty is slightly less accurate.
Another focus for today’s patch is the on-going efforts to improve hit VFX and registration clarity. For example, headshot VFX (which is now smaller) will stick with the character as they move when before they used to remain where the shot took place. A new spark animation is added so that you can still see exactly where the bullet landed.
Patch 1.07 also debuts a new Competitive feature called Remake match, which allows players to vote to quit a game at no penalty if a match begins with, say, 4v5. No XP or MMR adjustments will be made if a vote is approved, nor will it show in match history.
Finally, there has been a bunch of small quality of life improvements and bug fixes. You can read all the specifics in the full patch notes here.
Today’s update follows on from Valorant’s Patch 1.06.
