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Jul 06, 2023

Jett, Skye, Astra & More Agents Receive Massive Nerfs in Valorant Episode 7 Act 2 Update

Riot Games have officially unveiled the patch notes for the upcoming Valorant Episode 7 Act 2 update, and it’s set to bring some significant changes to the competitive shooter. We're making changes to

Riot Games have officially unveiled the patch notes for the upcoming Valorant Episode 7 Act 2 update, and it’s set to bring some significant changes to the competitive shooter.

We're making changes to 11 Agents to help boost game clarity, arriving with Patch 7.04 at the start of Episode 7 Act 2. The complete Patch Notes will go up next week—here's your preview:➡️ https://t.co/xN7fALb7kO pic.twitter.com/FRpspmsDwq

It’s safe to say that the next Valorant Act will undoubtedly shake up the current meta of the title, as it aims to introduce a number of nerfs to some of the most popular Agents in the competitive scene.

From the initial looks at the Episode 7 Act 2 patch notes, it seems that the developers intend to reduce the chaos caused by utility dumping and large scale ultimates on the battlefield. The changes included in the next update will reduce the overall effectiveness of over half the Valorant roster, with many of them having their required ultimate points increased.

According to a blog post by Riot, these changes are “sharply focused on increasing game state clarity” by making adjustments to the frequency of large AoE ultimates, the active utility time, and the HP of shootable utility.

Jeff Landa, Community Lead at Riot Games, said in a statement, “We also believe the Ultimate cost updates below better align large area, high-impact ults with the pressure they place on the enemy, creating both a better pacing of the round-defining abilities and a clearer choice competition between high and low cost ults.”

Here’s a list of all the changes that Valorant patch 7.04 will bring to the game, as revealed in the official patch notes by Riot Games:

Though many of these changes are subtle, We hope all together they improve gamestate clarity and the sense that you have even more opportunities for your skill to shine through.

Skye has become a keystone of the current meta through her blend of recon and space taking utility. While we like that she can potentially unlock new comps through this combo, we think she has lacked clear weaknesses compared to her peers given the wide range of value she brings. These changes reduce the distance in which Guiding Light can provide info. Changes also helps reduce the amount of time enemies need to worry about her flash when she flies it a great distance without activating it. We’ve also reduced the health of Trailblazer and Seekers to make them slightly easier for enemies to deal with, Skye’s ultimate cost will increase to better reflect the high level of baseline value it provides.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on these updates to see if they push the choice competition between Skye and her peers into a healthy place, or if further updates are needed in either direction.

We’ve noticed a large power disparity between Astra’s Gravity Well and Nova Pulse. Our goal is to create clearer use cases for both abilities: Gravity Well will be Astra’s tool for controlling space, and Nova Pulse for quickly affecting an area. At the same time, we hope to reduce some of the oppressive and long duration pressure Astra’s stars produce by providing enemies a chance to push past activated Gravity Well during its windup period if they act quickly.

We’re updating Cosmic Divide to help clarify the overall game state by eliminating uncertainty around whether you or your enemies are close enough to the wall to be heard. We also think this gives Astra’s wall a clearer power profile for her and her allies to play around.

Since the last time we released changes to Jett, she has continued to be a mainstay of both competitive and professional play. We like that the dash changes in 4.08 pushed her to be more deliberate and tactical, but still feel that Jett is often given more reliable power windows and generous tuning than other Duelists and Agents in general.

Our goal with these changes is further sharpening Jett as the aggressive, high precision Duelist by increasing the intentionality of her ability usage and power windows. We want to maintain her unique ability to break through chokes and dash onto site, while reducing her defensive power-holding angles and her ability to reactively undo tactical mistakes with her array of quickly cast abilities.

We believe these changes align Jett’s overall power level and place in the Tactical Cycle with our other Agents, while maintaining Jett’s unique role and fantasy on the VALORANT roster. To help explain our thought process, we’ve provided context on how each change aims to support these goals, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on how these changes land at all levels of play.

Though many of these changes are subtle, We hope all together they improve gamestate clarity and the sense that you have even more opportunities for your skill to shine through.

Skye has become a keystone of the current meta through her blend of recon and space taking utility. While we like that she can potentially unlock new comps through this combo, we think she has lacked clear weaknesses compared to her peers given the wide range of value she brings. These changes reduce the distance in which Guiding Light can provide info. Changes also helps reduce the amount of time enemies need to worry about her flash when she flies it a great distance without activating it. We’ve also reduced the health of Trailblazer and Seekers to make them slightly easier for enemies to deal with, Skye’s ultimate cost will increase to better reflect the high level of baseline value it provides.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on these updates to see if they push the choice competition between Skye and her peers into a healthy place, or if further updates are needed in either direction.

We’ve noticed a large power disparity between Astra’s Gravity Well and Nova Pulse. Our goal is to create clearer use cases for both abilities: Gravity Well will be Astra’s tool for controlling space, and Nova Pulse for quickly affecting an area. At the same time, we hope to reduce some of the oppressive and long duration pressure Astra’s stars produce by providing enemies a chance to push past activated Gravity Well during its windup period if they act quickly.

We’re updating Cosmic Divide to help clarify the overall game state by eliminating uncertainty around whether you or your enemies are close enough to the wall to be heard. We also think this gives Astra’s wall a clearer power profile for her and her allies to play around.

Since the last time we released changes to Jett, she has continued to be a mainstay of both competitive and professional play. We like that the dash changes in 4.08 pushed her to be more deliberate and tactical, but still feel that Jett is often given more reliable power windows and generous tuning than other Duelists and Agents in general.

Our goal with these changes is further sharpening Jett as the aggressive, high precision Duelist by increasing the intentionality of her ability usage and power windows. We want to maintain her unique ability to break through chokes and dash onto site, while reducing her defensive power-holding angles and her ability to reactively undo tactical mistakes with her array of quickly cast abilities.

We believe these changes align Jett’s overall power level and place in the Tactical Cycle with our other Agents, while maintaining Jett’s unique role and fantasy on the VALORANT roster. To help explain our thought process, we’ve provided context on how each change aims to support these goals, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on how these changes land at all levels of play.

Though many of these changes are subtle, We hope all together they improve gamestate clarity and the sense that you have even more opportunities for your skill to shine through. —June Cuervo, Agent Designer.

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