Valorant, developed by Riot Games, received the 11.05 update in early September, focused on visual clarity and behavior changes. The patch tightens penalties for AFK and remake abusers and makes targeted visual adjustments to Harbor’s abilities to improve readability in matches.
The most visible changes affect Harbor. Riot said these are not the larger updates players can expect later, but they should help with clarity in play. Reckoning sees reduced visual noise and an updated ground indicator to show impact range better. Cove’s water shield now better reflects shield health through its animation.
Player behavior systems were also adjusted to address remake abuse and gameplay participation. Penalties for repeated AFK behavior and queue dodging have been increased, targeting players who repeatedly disrupt systems. These adjustments aim to make matchmaking fairer for active players while avoiding undue punishment for genuine attempts to play. Esports-related features are included as well, with Pick’ Ems returning around the Champions event.
The full patch notes are provided below, including the complete list of changes and fixes.
Patch Notes – 11.05
ALL PLATFORMS
Agent Updates
Harbor
- Visual effects updated for clarity. Hold your horses 🏇 – these aren’t the larger updates we’ve been talking about. But you will hear more about those at Champs, so stay tuned. For the moment, we’re updating the visual clarity of his abilities.
Reckoning
- Reduced visual noise. Updated ground indicator to more clearly show its impact range. The yellow wisp is now closer to the Agent being hit, so it’s easier to see where someone is hiding before the concuss comes down. Shortened water splash on the ground for visibility.
Cove
- Improved visual clarity of shield health states. The health state is now more reflected in the visual water animation.
ESPORTS FEATURES UPDATES
- It’s time to make a choice—Pick’ Ems have returned in time for Champions Paris! Starting on September 4th, you will have access to the Group Stage in-client and on the web. Predict the advancing teams for points, earning extra points for correctly guessing the exact placement. You’ll be able to earn rewards for participating
- This year, we’re adding something extra to up the ante-you can align yourself with your favorite creator’s Faction! Choose carefully, as you can only join one faction. Each group offers a unique in-game reward.
- If you do well, the points you earn in Groups and Playoffs stage will contribute to the Faction leader’s score. See if your Faction wins it all!
PLAYER BEHAVIOR UPDATES
We have adjusted our behavior system to address Remake Abuse and Gameplay Participation.
- Penalties will increase for those who repeatedly AFK and dodge queues. This affects those who consistently abuse and disrupt our systems so don’t worry, we won’t be unfairly penalizing players who are genuinely trying to play
BUG FIXES
General
Improved the backend technology around detection abilities (i.e. Prowlers, Wingman, Dizzy, etc) so they can more reliably detect opponents within their field of view.
- Added audio cleanup logic to make sure unexpected audio events don’t continue playing across transitions.
Agents
Astra
- Fixed an issue where bullet tracers pass through Astra’s Cosmic Divide. This fix does reintroduce an audio bug where there is a slight audio hitch when passing through Astra wall.
Chamber
- Fixed an issue where Chamber’s Trademark in-world icon would not change color when aimed at.
Clove
- Fixed an issue where Clove’s Pick-Me-Up cast sound was silent for enemies.
Deadlock
- Fixed an issue where Deadlock’s Sound Sensor and Cypher’s Trapwire were more difficult to place than intended
- Fixed a Spectator bug with Deadlock’s Annihilation deafen where audio processing was not cleaning up as expected after a spectated player was impacted by the ability
- Fixed issue where use of Deadlock’s Annihilation on Yoru’s Fakeout clone would apply audio effects to the real Yoru.
Gekko
- Fixed a bug where “Spike Down” VO would play if Wingman was destroyed right after planting the Spike.
Jett
- Fixed a bug where Jett’s Tailwind audio would continue into the next round.
Sova
- Fixed audio issue where the “being watched” sonic feedback of Sova’s Owl Drone wouldn’t trigger if the drone had line-of-sight to the player when the drone spawned.
Vyse
- Fixed issue where Vyse’s Steel Garden audio could trigger twice after Observers swap targets.
- Fixed a bug where Vyse’s Razorvine would leave circles on the minimap for observers when Vyse died.
Waylay
- Fixed a bug where Waylay’s Saturate could affect enemies after they left the range of the area of effect.
Yoru
- Fixed an issue where Yoru’s Gatecrash in-world icon would not change color when aimed at.
- We have fixed a bug where in some cases after turning invisible, Yoru and Reyna would reappear in their original location when the invisibility ends.
PC ONLY
BUG FIXES
Premier
- Fixed an issue on the Awards tab where long names were not displayed correctly in some languages
CONSOLE ONLY
Competitive Updates
- Updated leaderboards to display Immortal+ ranked rating thresholds
Bug Fixes
- New Player Tips have been switched off while we fix an issue where they are being displayed for a much shorter time than intended to new players. We are actively investigating having the feature switched back on as soon as possible.
Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow for quick updates and community chat on X and Bluesky.
