Valorant Patch 8.11 changes a couple of agents and introduces a brand new map

AGENT UPDATES

For some context, this update is aimed to allow other Duelists to compete with Agents like Jett and Raze that excel at taking space for their team through sheer speed and mobility. These changes provide more ability for Duelists to take space for their team, and to be the tip of the spear through their own unique play styles—whether it’s stronger pure dueling ability like Iso, a mixture of speed and evasion in combat like Neon, or Reyna’s blend of being able to recover and escape from combat.

ALL PLATFORMS

ISO

Iso is receiving strictly buffs this patch because he’s underperforming across all skill brackets. Leaning into increasing Iso’s signature ability output is intended to make Iso more reliable at challenging contested spaces and winning opening duels by granting his shield immediately after channeling the ability. Iso’s buff will also remain active and orbs will still spawn should he lose his shield and secure a kill during Double Tap’s uptime. Shooting the orbs will refresh the duration of the buff and the shield.

• Double Tap (E)
  • Iso now grants himself a shield upon finishing a 1 second animation during which he can’t use his gun.
    • This plays a shield forming sound at the end of the channel when the shield is activated.
    • Charges 2 >>> 1
    • Kill reset added to Double Tap (Iso gets a charge back if he gets 2 kills).
    • Iso now receives a Wall Penetration tag instead of a standard Heavy Penetration tag when the shield is broken. This means he’s slowed less upon his shield breaking.
      • Additionally, Iso now gets a damage indicator towards the direction of the enemy that broke the shield
  • Iso can now recast Double Tap while it’s active to refresh the duration of the shield.
    • This is relevant if he gets a refreshed charge of his Double Tap from getting 2 kills.

NEON

We want to sharpen Neon as an Agent who excels at taking mobile fights directly to her opponents by buffing the unique value she brings to the table. We’ve made her slide more effective at sliding directly into opponents by making it more combat-ready, and by removing all weapon movement error when sliding as well as a few other changes. The updates to her Fast Lane (C) are intended to make fights around her wall dropping feel more intuitive for Neon’s allies while reducing the visual noise it creates in game.

Sharpening her Relay Bolt (Q) to be a more premium and reliable one-charge ability is intended to allow Neon to have more success when she does decide to commit to a fight with her slide, as well as make some room for the second slide charge.

• Fast Lane (C)
  • Fast Lane (C) dissipates from behind to minimize visual noise in combat space while giving cover for Neon.
    • Fast Lane’s (C) audio has been updated to travel with the fade out of the wall.
  • Wall Duration 6s >>> 4s
  • Wall Dissolve Duration 1s >>> 2s
• High Gear (E)
  • Sprint
    • Neon no longer has her strafe speed reduced while sprinting.
      • Max Sprint Speed while moving sideways 6.73 meters/second >>> 9.11 meters/second
    • Time until Full Fuel Regen 60s >>> 20s
  • Slide
    • Slide charges 1 >>> 2
    • Neon now removes all weapon movement error when sliding.
      • This effectively means she’s more accurate while sliding.
    • Second Slide Cost: 150
    • Equips out of slide: Fast >>> Instant
      • Slide equip buffer >>> .2s (after sliding, there is .2 seconds before her gun comes out)
• Relay Bolt (Q)
  • Charges 2 >>> 1
  • Windup delay 1.1s >>> .8s
  • Concuss Duration 3.0s >>> 3.5s

REYNA

Reyna is receiving both buffs and nerfs this patch to reshape the power of her kit. The goal of the changes is to reduce the level of dominance she can achieve in Ranked, especially at low and mid ranks when outperforming her enemies, while pushing some of her value in coordinated settings:

• Healing has proven very strong statistically in Ranked with higher impact at low and mid ranks. This change should reduce her ability to snowball round-over-round in these settings.
• Removing the time restrictions on her Devour (Q) and Empress (X) should allow you more flexibility to play at your team’s pace and increase the baseline value of both in coordinated play where rounds play out slower.
• Dismiss (E) has been re-tuned to provide a greater movement speed boost, but has a shorter duration. This should reward decisive and skillful Reyna players by unlocking faster and more powerful combat repositioning.

We’ll be tracking how these updates affect Reyna across all the different skill levels and settings of play.

• Devour (Q)
  • Healing decreased 100 >>> 50
  • Full heal time reduced from 3s >>> 2s
  • Overheal of armor no longer decays after a timer.
• Dismiss (E)
  • Top speed increased 9.1 meters/second >>> 12 meters/second
  • Total duration of Dismiss reduced from 2s >>> 1.5s
• Empress (X)
  • Empress no longer has a timer and is permanent until Reyna is killed or the round ends.

RAZE

As we’ve seen you get better and better at Raze’s satchel mobility, we’ve found that her total speed and movement potential can undermine the tactical loop. These changes are intended to allow you to more reasonably counterplay Raze, whether through your own utility or gunplay. While we still want to maintain the sandbox movement fantasy of Raze’s satchels, she should not be as surprising when not supported by allied utility.

• Blast Pack (Q)
  • Raze’s satchels no longer explode for damage/knockback upon opponent destruction.
  • Raze’s horizontal velocity when satcheling has been slowed.
  • Satchel explosion audio has been updated to be audible farther away to ensure enemies can hear the first satchel when a Raze double satchels.

CLOVE

While we’re excited with how Clove has been immediately relevant in Ranked and how much you’re enjoying playing them, their performance in ranked play is stronger than we’d like. We’re trimming some extraneous power from their selfish, Duelist-oriented outputs while preserving the Controller-leaning power in their kit.

• Pick-Me-Up (C)
  • Cost 100 >>> 200
  • Duration 10s >>> 8s
  • Damaging Assist Time to activate 10s >>> 6s
• Not Dead Yet (X)
  • Cost 7 >>> 8
  • Unequip Delay .7 >>> .8s
  • BUG FIX: Clove’s ultimate will no longer survive the fighting state if they get a smoke assist.
• We’ve also added a new VO line for Omen and for Clove when starting a match on Abyss.

ESPORTS FEATURES

PC

• Esports Hub Team Page Improvements
  • We’ve added roles to our roster information to help differentiate between players, substitutes, and coaches.
  • We’ve added blurbs highlighting the personality and accomplishments for teams in VCT Americas and VCT Pacific, with more on the way!

GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS UPDATES

ALL PLATFORMS

• Radio Command Wheels
  • With player-to-player communications being so vital to the core game loop of VALORANT, we’ve taken the opportunity to improve our Radio Command Wheels to include more relevant call-outs, a higher variety of pings and Agent VO, and brand new Wheels to extend player communication across more phases of the round. We’ve also removed some less useful commands to make the wheels as quick and easy to use as possible while making sure the most important commands are easy to access.
  • These changes add specificity & clarity to the existing communication tools and add new ways for teammates to strategize and communicate:
    • New Strategy Wheels during the Buy Phase
    • Unique Strategy Wheels for Attackers and Defenders
    • New Commands Wheel on the Megamap
    • Updated options on existing Command Wheels
    • Updated VO on existing Commands Menu (PC only)
    • Streamlined Wheels to feature our most important command options

CONSOLE

• New Player Tips
  • As you join our community and complete the tutorial and start sharpening your skills on the battlefield, we want to make sure you are armed with the right information to succeed and secure that clutch! So, we’ve implemented a “New Player Tip” system that will display useful in-game information based on the actions you take during the match. These tips will provide critical information for gameplay fundamentals, potential focuses for skill improvements, and suggestions for advanced strategies.
  • Our New Player Tips have been built from the ground up for Console Limited Beta to give you more opportunities to skill-up and learn VALORANT faster via:
    • Tips that ‘listen’ to your in-match actions and behaviors
    • Tips that level up with you as you learn the fundamentals of VALORANT gameplay, from beginner to advanced strategies
    • If you’re a returning player, New Player Tips won’t show up, since you already have a good grasp of the fundamentals. If they do pop up, and you’d like them to stop, you can always switch them off in Settings

MAP UPDATES

PC

• NEW MAP: ABYSS
  • A 5v5 spike mode map that provides thrilling danger with its precarious pitfalls (watch your step) and vertical gameplay. ABYSS is the first VALORANT map that has no boundaries and takes place in the secret hidden fortress of the Scions of the Hourglass.
  • Abyss is our newest map and features three lanes and two sites.
• MAP POOL UPDATES
  • Please note, there are significant map pool updates in the 8.11 patch. In addition to a brand new map entering the rotation, we have made the following changes.
    • Starting in patch 8.11, Competitive, Deathmatch, & Premier queues will contain ASCENT, BIND, ICEBOX, LOTUS, SUNSET, and HAVEN (returning).
      • ABYSS will enter the competitive pool in patch 9.0.
      • ABYSS will enter the premier pool in patch 9.02.
      • BREEZE and SPLIT have been removed from the above map pools.
    • Starting in patch 8.11, Unrated, Swift Play, Spike Rush, & Escalation will move to an OPEN map pool. All maps (including ABYSS) will be available in these queues.
  • Please continue to share feedback as we work through improving the map pool experience. And keep an eye out, because we’ll be sharing more about map pools in the future!

CONSOLE

• CONSOLE MAP POOLS
  • New console players will have access to a limited number of maps for beta launch. We know there’s a lot to learn when you’re new to VALORANT, so we’re limiting the map pool to allow players who are queuing up for the first time have an easier time learning core mechanics and map layouts.
    • The initial map pool for console will include ABYSS, ASCENT, BIND, and HAVEN
    • A new map will be added on every patch starting with 9.0
    • There will also be a limited number of modes queues for console Beta (please see “mode updates” section)
  • All Team Deathmatch maps will be available for console beta
  • All 11 VALORANT spike mode maps will be available in custom game mode.
• OPEN RANGE
  • The open range has been updated for console beta
    • Various visual updates to the environment
    • Visual updates to in-world UI panels (bot shooting range & practice target)
    • Practice target has moved to a new location
    • Portal & playable mini training modules have been removed from the environment

MODES UPDATES

PC

• ABYSS QUEUE (PC ONLY)
  • Please note that the Abyss Only queue will only be live for one week.
  • Abyss Only games will use the Unrated mode format.

CONSOLE

• CONSOLE MODE QUEUES
  • Console players will have access to a limited number of modes for the Limited Beta launch.
  • Console Limited Beta players will have access to:
    • Unrated
    • Swift Play
    • Deathmatch
    • Team Deathmatch
    • Custom Games
      • Competitive mode will go live for console players in patch 9.0
• NEW BASIC TRAINING TUTORIAL (CONSOLE ONLY)
  • The in-game tutorial has been updated for console launch! All players queuing up on Console will auto-load into a new training experience that goes over the basics of VALORANT gameplay (shooting mechanics, agent abilities, match format, and more!)
• NEW BOT TRAINING MATCH (CONSOLE ONLY)
  • There is an OPTIONAL bot match for new players who want to warm up with AI controlled bots and teammates. This special match is meant for new players that want to apply what they just learned in the basic training tutorial.
  • The bot training match is a full Swift Play match on Haven.
• NEW PRACTICE OPTIONS (CONSOLE ONLY)
  • The practice menu has been updated for console launch
    • Open Range (will spawn player directly in front of the bot shooting range)
    • Replay Tutorial (ability to replay new tutorial experience)
    • Removed old training modules from practice menu
• Note: All new training content will be coming to PC on a later patch.

PERFORMANCE UPDATES

PC

• We’ve updated our threading behavior to improve performance on 2-core machines. This will result in better in-game performance for and shorter loading times.

PLAYER BEHAVIOR UPDATES

ALL PLATFORMS

• In Patch 8.11, we will be implementing an intermediate change to mitigate an exploit around remakes. Previously, matches that ended in a remake weren’t being acted upon appropriately by our systems allowing players to attempt repeated remakes without seeing any enforcement. Now, we’ve increased the intervention severity for AFKs resulting in a remade match. This means players will immediately encounter an intervention in this scenario, which will increase through repeated occurrences. We’re still exploring this space, so please keep providing us with your feedback.

SOCIAL SYSTEMS UPDATES

PC

• We’ve updated the friends list to display VALORANT console players. This means any of your Riot friends who are playing on console will appear under “other games” in your friends list.

CONSOLE

• We’ve changed the default behavior of voice chat to prioritize team voice. Now when you connect to a team voice channel, you will automatically be speaking to your whole team, not just party members.

PREMIER UPDATES

PC

• After playoffs on June 23, teams that performed well enough will get promotion notifications!
  • If you’re in Open – Elite Divisions, win your playoff bracket and you’ll see a notification when you return to the Premier hub.
  • If you’re in the Contender Division, finish in the top 32 teams and you’ll see a notification the first time you visit the Premier hub after the standings finalization time.
• If you’re on a team that earned a promotion, your division icon on the Premier hub and Premier Team page will have a promotion indicator for the rest of Stage E8A3.
  • If you’re in Open – Elite Divisions, you’ll be placed at least one division higher at the start of Stage E9A1.
  • If you’re in the Contender Division, you’ll be placed into the new Invite Division, where you’ll compete for an opportunity to make it into a Challengers League.

STORE UPDATES

PC

• The Store has had a visual update to increase clarity and quality of the buy phase experience.
  • Ally utility is now visible on team member slots for easier strategization.
  • Remaining armor is now visualized as a fill in the UI.
  • Holistically added animations to increase clarity around affordability, requesting and weapon purchases.
  • Item states have gone through a visual pass to improve readability.

BUG FIXES

• Agent
  • ALL PLATFORMS
    • Fixed an exploit where players could stand on Killjoy’s Turret (E) when it was wedged into a corner. Players in this situation will now have inaccurate gunfire similar to if they were jumping.
    • Fixed issues where Clove could play the incorrect animation or slide along the ground during a skin finisher if they were the last player alive and had their ultimate available.
    • Fixed an issue where players inside Clove’s smoke forming location were at a disadvantage compared to players on the outside of the smoke.
    • Fixed an issue where Clove’s Pick-Me-Up (C) could not proc on training range bots
    • Fixed an issue where Clove’s Not Dead Yet (X) allowed smoke assists to allow them to survive
• Gameplay Systems
  • Fixed an issue with Brimstone Incendiary (Q) VFX not appearing unless the player is observing the direction it is coming from
  • Fixed some issues with Combat Report Player Info not populating properly with information on death
  • Fixed bullet tracers still being visible after being turned off in settings when player fires at certain angles away from the map
  • Fixed issues where agent abilities that attach to walls can be shot through impenetrable surfaces
  • Fixed tooltips not updating after rebinding while an agent ability is equipped
  • Fixed Arabic language format errors when using Gekko Wingman (Q) or picking up a Weapon
  • Fixed longer crosshair profile names extending the Delete/Duplicate Profile popup in settings
• Premier
  • PC ONLY
    • Fixed a bug where the green arrow indicator for the Choose Side selection in map pick and bans didn’t show up