Valorant Patch 5.06 Introduces Major Changes to Pearl & Buffs Stinger; KAYO Knife Bug Also Finally Fixed

It’s been a while since Valorant received an update that truly altered the ebb and flow of gameplay, but Patch 5.06 certainly delivers some impactful new changes. For starters, Pearl, Valorant’s latest map added right at the beginning of Episode 5, is getting a pretty substantial overhaul that should help make it feel more balanced.

Elsewhere, the Stinger, a weapon that has long suffered since a big nerf over a year ago, might become meta once again thanks to a buff that sees it shoot more accurately. And one final notable takeaway from today’s new patch is that the KAYO Knife bug, which often meant the number of enemies suppressed was incorrectly displayed to teammates, has finally been fixed.

Here are the full Patch 5.06 notes:

Weapon updates

Stinger

• Primary Fire error adjusted from 1.6 error after seven bullets > 1.3 error after six bullets
  • “Our goal for the Stinger is to feel controllable and appropriately lethal at short ranges, but currently, even in close-quarters, it can feel out-of-control. Lowering the top spread should make it feel more reliable at the appropriate range once you’ve overcome the learning curve of the recoil.”
• Alt Fire first shot error adjusted from 0.5 > 0.35
  • “For an option that’s about being more accurate, it felt like the first shot had more variance than we’d like, especially at the ranges you’d want to use the burst fire mode.”

Map updates

Pearl

Pearl is getting a handful of updates that aim to reduce some complexity and make it easier to move through a few areas for both attackers and defenders.

• B Main – “Lowered waist-high wall on the left side of B Main so that it can no longer completely hide anyone.”

• Mid Shops – “Clearing this area in Mid Shops is harder than we intended. By extending the platform, we’re still keeping some of the holding power for attackers, but making it easier to push this area.”

• Mid Shops to Mid Plaza – “This is another spot on Mid Shops that’s proven to be painful to clear when trying to move through mid. So we’ve removed one of the corners.”

• Mid Top – “Mid currently favors attackers so we’ve pushed in a wall on Mid Top, to remove a 50-50 check. This should make it slightly easier for defenders to challenge mid.”

• A Art – “We noticed the difficulty both sides have had moving effectively through A Art. We’re simplifying the space so there are fewer areas to check.”

• B Link – “This box provides a good piece of cover for Attackers pushing B link, but it’s been tough to re-clear for defenders. We’re keeping a little attacker-side power, but making it easier for defenders to manage. The stack of boxes cover closer to the site will shift from the left side to the right, to simplify the number of angles approaching players need to consider, as well as close a difficult sightline to B Hall.”

• A Main – “Removing a cut out on the wall of A Main to simplify the space, which should also make this area slightly easier for defenders to aggro into (although really, you should hold site).”

• A Main to A Site – “This spot was unnecessarily tough to smoke effectively. By tightening the choke by a margin, we hope to make smoking easier and give a small buff to defenders (i.e, a new utility spot). The cubby on the right will also shrink slightly to keep it from being too deep.”

Social updates

• Disruptive gameplay-based behavior indicator
  • Riot introduced a feature that will show at the end of the game screen, that players have been detected for engaging in disruptive gameplay-based behavior.
  • This has been added to the following game modes: Unrated, Competitive, Spike Rush, and Replication, with more game modes to follow in the near future.

Bug fixes

Agents

• Fixed issue with KAY/O’s Zero/point sometimes incorrectly displaying enemies that were hit on KAY/O’s UI

Social

• Fixed a bug where Clutch Mutes would persist after the match ended
• Fixed a bug that prevented you from being able to respond to a whisper by clicking on the Riot ID of the player who sent the whisper in Chat
• Fixed a bug that caused the Social Panel to close when right-clicking into the Friend Note text field
• Fixed a bug where pending invites would not disappear after all friends have left the Party
• Fixed a bug where the incorrect system message was sent when accepting a friend request via the Match Tab in-game

In addition to the changes made by today’s patch, there’s a new premium weapon skin bundle coming this week called ChronoVoid.