Riot Games released Patch 12.00 for VALORANT on January 6, 2026, kicking off Season 2026 with a large rework of Breeze, a new sidearm called the Bandit, agent tweaks, map fixes, and a temporary 5v5 mode.
The studio has returned Breeze to the competitive map pool and deployed what Riot is calling its largest map rework to date. The update trims wide sightlines and tightens plant sites and mid so defenders get more realistic rotation and post-plant options. Riot also closed or altered some long halls and wooden doors to reduce angle sprawl. During the patch’s first two weeks, round-robin losses on Breeze are reduced by 50 percent to ease the transition for ranked players.
Riot posted a summary of the changes on Valorant on X, and the full developer writeup is available in Riot’s Patch 12.00 announcement.
Map and weapon fixes
Haven and Corrode received targeted fixes aimed at reducing wall-penetration exploits. Haven’s mid window wall now breaks under certain conditions to stop early-round peeks through heavy-penetration weapons, while Corrode had key A- and B-site walls reinforced to deny penetration entirely at those surfaces. Riot said these changes are a response to heavy usage of high-penetration guns such as the Odin.
The new pistol, the Bandit, is positioned between the Ghost and the Sheriff as a light-round option that still offers high headshot potential for skilled players. Bandit stats included in the announcement are listed below:
- Weapon Class: Sidearm
- Price: 600 credits
- Attachments: None
- Bullets per Magazine: 8
- Ammo Reserve: 24
- Reload Timing: 1.5s
- Equip Timing: 0.75s
- Wall Penetration: Medium
Agent updates in Patch 12.00
Patch 12.00 shifts several agents’ numbers and utility. Highlights include:
- Breach – Flashpoint projectile speed increased 20 percent (2000 >> 2400) and Fault Line width increased from 7.5m to 8m.
- Tejo – Special Delivery concuss duration shortened from 4s to 2.5s and now deals explosion damage (35 at center, minimum 20); Stealth Drone reveal changed to full reveal and pulse radius reduced from 30m to 16m.
- Harbor – Additional controller buffs: Storm Surge no longer needs line of sight to apply nearsight and slow, windup reduced from 0.8s to 0.6s, slow duration increased to 2s; Reckoning slow duration also increased to 2s.
- Vyse – Ultimate radius and width increased (26m >> 28m radius; width 7.5m >> 8m) to help offset earlier sentinel nerfs.
- Sage – Healing Orb targeting adjusted so she can heal allies even when mid and lower parts of their models are blocked by geometry.
Those numbers aim to move a few underused tools back into play while nudging others toward clearer tradeoffs between ability and gunplay.
Competitive impact and the VCT
The VCT 2026 season begins later this month, and many of these changes will be live for the Kickoff events. Breeze’s tighter lanes could make some defensive setups more reliable, but teams may still prefer controllers like Viper or switch to Harbor as an alternative depending on how maps settle. Duelist choices such as Yoru remain likely in solo or duo roles on Breeze, and the Bandit pistol adds a fresh economic option for light-round builds.
Patch 12.00 also introduces a limited 5v5 mode called All Random One Site, where teams fight over a single site with free loadouts, abilities that recharge each round, and an agent swap after every round. Other smaller items in the patch include multi-factor authentication for Ascendant+ players in Europe, Replays for Custom games, and hidden MMR adjustments.
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