The Valorant 7.09 patch notes have been released! Alongside the massive Judge nerfs and the much-anticipated debut of the latest Duelist agent, Iso, the 7.09 update will bring interesting changes to Cypher, setting the stage for future power balance adjustments between Sentinels and other Agents.
This is a relatively hefty patch as Valorant gears up for the final act of Episode 7. Cypher takes centre stage, receiving long-awaited buffs aimed at encouraging opposing players to be more cautious and calculated in their use of utility when attempting to counter his setups. Conversely, a handful of other agents have been hit with the nerf hammer in light of these Cypher buffs.
Without further ado, let’s dive right into what Valorant 7.09 has in store!
Valorant patch 7.09 highlights
In patch 7.09, Riot Games aims to tackle the power imbalance between Sentinels and other Agents, with a focus on Cypher. Riot acknowledges the frustration of Cypher mains who invest time in crafting intricate setups only to have them easily dismantled by the utility of other Agents.
To rectify this, Riot is updating Cypher's Trapwire ability to make it more difficult to destroy. This will encourage opponents to be more careful and deliberate when using their utility to counter Sentinel setups.
On the other hand, Raze, Skye and Fade have received some adjustments corresponding to the Cypher tripwire changes: Fade's Prowlers and Skye's Trailblazer will now have a harder time breaking Cypher's Trapwires. Raze has also been subjected to a series of massive nerfs that significantly impact her gameplay.
Riot is also making some changes to the Judge shotgun. They are reducing its magazine size and making it less effective while moving. This is to make it more of a hunker-down style shotgun, and to create more opportunities for enemies to catch a Judge user reloading.
Additionally, this patch will see the debut of Iso, the latest Duelist agent to join the Valorant roster!
Valorant 7.09 full patch notes
Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about Valorant patch 7.09.
Agent updates
Iso
- Iso goes live
- Learn about his abilities on our "Iso abilities explained" guide here!
Cypher
- Trapwire (C)
- Decreased the time until the trap concusses a captured enemy 3 >>> 1.5 seconds
- After concussing an enemy or an enemy in the trap being killed, the Trapwire (C) no longer destroys itself but instead re-arms after 0.5 seconds, allowing it to ensnare another enemy
- Duration of tag slow when hit by the trap increased 0.75 >>> 2 seconds.
Skye
- Trailblazer (Q)
- Adjusted Trailblazer’s collision so that it goes under Trapwires placed at mid-height
- This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage
- Adjusted Trailblazer’s collision so that it goes under Trapwires placed at mid-height
Fade
- Prowler (C)
- Adjusted Prowler (C) collision so that they go over Trapwires placed at foot height and under Trapwires placed at head height
- This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage.
Raze
- Paint Shells (E)
- Primary grenade explosion radius 6m >>> 5.5m
- Secondary grenades explosion radius 6m >>> 5.25m
- Primary grenade explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1
- Secondary grenades explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1
- Damage multiplier to enemy utility 250% >>> 100%.
- Blast Pack (Q)
- Satchel doesn’t deal damage until fully armed
- Satchel arm time increased 0.5 seconds >>> 1.5
Weapons update
Judge
- Reduced max mag size from 7 >>> 5
- Increased Jumping spread from 1.25 >>> 2.25
- Increased Running spread from .10 >>> .75
Player behaviour updates
- When reporting others in game, there is now an added option to also mute who you’ve just reported
Social updates
- Updated the icons that appear in the Friends List when friends are playing other Riot Games
- We now detect people in Riot Mobile and TFT, and display unique icons for people playing these games
- People who are online in Riot Mobile have a "gray dot" Player Card Image
- The failsafe "Unknown Product" icon is now a red Riot fist instead of the gray dot
- Updated the icons shown for people in LoL, LoR and WildRift
Premier updates
Premier Stage E7A3 is live with a few updates and new features!
Premier Practice
- There will be windows of time where you can queue for practice on select non-match days, check your calendars for the schedule!
- These matches will follow Premier match structure, but will not affect your Premier Score
Enrollment Updates
- Teams created before or during the new 'Team Creation Window' will now be able to recruit members and participate in Premier at any point during the Stage
Timeouts
- Every match, teams will have one timeout per side and an additional time out in Overtime
Premier Crests
- Crests will now reflect your team’s performance and evolve over the entire stage
Playoff Qualification Threshold
- Qualification threshold lowered to 600 points
- We recognize that during this busy time of the year, it can be harder to schedule your team’s matches so we wanted to make it more forgiving if you have to miss a week
Matchmaking
- We've made some slight adjustments to find you fairer matches during the weekly matches
Zones
- Some regions can't support the same number of divisions, so we've made adjustments to certain zones to support generally healthier queue times and improved match fairness
Bug fixes
General
- Fixed an issue where some people’s hardware configurations resulted in a white screen at login
Gameplay Systems
- Fixed a rare issue where detaching from a rope would cause a footstep noise
That's everything you need to know about Valorant Patch 7.09!
Interested in learning more about Valorant? We've got you covered! Hit the ground running and dominate your opponents with our "Iso abilities explained" guide here. On top of that, we've compiled everything we know about Episode 7 Act 3 in our guide here. Be sure to check out all the leaked rewards for the Episode 7 Act 3 Battle Pass too!