If an appropriate opponent isn't found, teams will receive a match bye, rewarding them with a match win and 100 points. Losses now award 0 points, the playoff finalsValorant Patch 9.0 is just hours away, and apart from bringing a plethora of significant changes, it also marks the start of the Valorant Episode 9 Act 1.
This patch will introduce some massive nerfs to Iso, add Valorant's newest map, Abyss, to the ranked map pool, introduce new updates to Premier, mostly connected with the Path to Pro, and also address some bug fixes.
Valorant Patch 9.0 Release Date
The Valorant Patch 9.0 goes live on Wednesday 26 June, at around 6:00 am PT | 4:00 pm BST, with specific times varying by region.
Before the Patch goes live, the Valorant servers will undergo a four-hour maintenance period. This is done to ensure that the Patch 9.0 and Valorant Episode 9 Act 1 content arrives at the game without any problems.
Iso Nerfs and Premier Updates
As mentioned above, Iso will receive a massive nerf, as his Double Tap ability duration was drastically decreased, going from 20 seconds to just 12 seconds. Furthermore, Iso signature kill reset was also removed.
These changes aim to give players more chances to counterplay against Iso and force Iso players to be more thoughtful about the fights they take.
Premier is receiving a lot of updates, with the majority of them being about the Path to Pro. From now on, it will be impossible to match with the same team more than once per stage.
Teams will receive a match bye if an appropriate opponent isn't found, rewarding the team with a match win and 100 points. Loses now award 0 points, the finals in playoffs are now best-of-three, and additional roster restrictions were also put into place for Contender and Invite Division squads.
Many bug fixes will also be introduced, with most of them addressing bugs for the Valorant console version, which has recently entered closed beta.
Valorant 9.0 Patch Notes
Here are the full 9.0 Patch notes:
Agent Updates
All platforms
- We've added new conversation voice lines between Agents that includes: Phoenix, Harbor, Brimstone, Yoru, Raze, Iso, Sage, Neon, Gekko, Skye, Deadlock, Omen, Kayo, and Reyna.
PC
Iso
- Double Tap (E): Duration: 20s >>> 12s
- Signature kill reset removed
Console
- Sova's Owl Drone's HP is now 100, up from 60.
Competitive Updates
PC
- Abyss added to the Ranked map pool.
Console
- Competitive Mode is coming to Console this patch! Queue up and see if you can climb the ranks and make it onto the Immortal Leaderboards. Good luck on your first race to Radiant!
- Our Competitive Mode map pool will start with Abyss, Ascent, Bind, Haven, and Sunset with new maps slowly being added in the next few patches.
Gameplay Systems Updates
Console
- Added a new "Controls Preset" selection screen upon first boot-up prior to loading into the tutorial
- You can now choose between our VALORANT-specific controls preset or a more familiar, TRADITIONAL console FPS preset as your starting controls scheme.
- You can easily change your preset and customize controls at any point once in-game through the Settings menu.
- Polished sound transitions between Focus and ADS to better reflect the aim state you're transitioning into.
- Crosshair presets have been updated to reflect a better variety of usable crosshairs.
- Updated the Fighter controls preset so that Crouch is a Hold action instead of a Toggle action.
- Added holistic Aim Sensitivity slider.
- Added the ability to enter precision mode while in controls settings to adjust sensitivity sliders by .1 increments.
Player Behavior Updates
PC
- In addition to removing zero tolerance terms from text chat, people who repeatedly engage in this behavior will see increased penalties on their transgressions.
Premier Updates
PC
- Teams in Contender that earned a promotion in Stage E8A3 are in the new Invite Division, where finishing the Stage at a high enough rank will earn you an opportunity to make it into a Challengers League.
- Contender and Invite Divisions play a little differently:
- Strict rematch protection in weekly matches prevents you from ever matching against the same team more than once in a Stage.
- If we can't find you an appropriate match during the queue window, you'll be given a Bye. Byes award a match win and 100 points.
- Losses award 0 points.
- Finals in playoffs are Best of 3 matchups.
- There are some extra roster restrictions for Contender and Invite Division teams.
Social Updates
PC
- When you add a friend, you can now paste or type a full Riot ID (including tagline) into the "Riot ID" field and it will automatically split the data into the "Riot ID" and "tagline" fields.
Console
- We've updated the communications menu so it's easier to manage team and party voice on the fly.
- We've added Voice Chat to the Settings page. Now you can tailor your mic behavior and voice settings to suit your setup.
Bug Fixes
PC
- Fixed an issue where Iso's shield hitbox could be misaligned.
Console
- Fixed an issue with Jett's Tailwind (diagonal dash) that was reducing the dash length.
Competitive Systems
Console
- Fixed an issue in Team Deathmatch where you would incorrectly see DRAW as a final result in EOG screens
- Added specific scoreboard screens for Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch
Gameplay Systems
All Platforms
- Fixed a particle issue when using ADS on the Level 3 and 4 Mystbloom collection.
- Fixed an issue when exiting Cypher's Spycam that caused Cypher's hands to stutter for Spectators.
Console
- Fixed issue where both Focus and ADS sounds would play during transitions.
- Fixed Leave Game menu persisting through AFK idling.
- Fixed animation bug with Leave Game Menu.
Maps
Abyss
- Fixed several unintended boost positions.
- Fixed bugs allowing players to get under the map.
- A Site cover should now properly appear in Omen and Astra smoke targeting world.
- Fixed an Omen exploit allowing him to get between the spawn barriers.
Social
Console
- Fixed an issue where the friends list would sometimes display inaccurate platform information for friends.
Known Issues
General
Console
- When navigating Surrender menus, there's a chance your controls can become locked for an entire round. Due to this, we've elected to disable the Surrender and Remake menus until we can properly fix the issue. Draw will remain functional.
Premier
PC
- When changing the Stage in the dropdown on the standings page, the content doesn't refresh. To see accurate standings for past Stages, change the Stage, then change division or zone and the content will update.
- The standings page sometimes fails to update, and you may see fewer teams than expected. Click on another tab in the Premier Hub and then return to standings to fix the issue.
- If you are in Contender or Invite and are awarded a Bye during Weekly matches, you will not see that match recorded in their Premier Match History tab. You will be awarded a win and 100 Premier Score as expected, and that is reflected correctly on the standings.
We hope this article answers all of your questions about Valorant Patch 9.0.
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