Valorant's next set of Patch Notes are huge; It's all-change in Episode 3

By Kyle WilsonStaff Writer

Riot Games has finally let us in on everything changing in Valorant Episode 3 Act 1. The server downtime has started on the NA servers, so we're not too far away from the full release of the update.

That gives us just enough time to read through the huge Patch Notes 3.0 and check out what's new in Episode 3.

Patch Notes 3.0 Highlights

Valorant has just tweeted their Patch Notes 3.0 Highlights and it looks like this update is going to be a lot bigger than anyone anticipated. We knew there was going to be quite a few changes going into Episode 3 Act 1, but this seems like a lot!

We've listed the several things mentioned in the Tweet below:

  • All Agents Changing
    • Buy Phase Ability Costs Altered
  • All Weapons Changing
    • Buy Phase Weapon Costs Altered
  • Competitive Tuning
    • Improved Matchmaking Accuracy
    • Adjusted Rank Distribution
    • Highest Placement: Diamond I
  • Run-And-Gun Changes
    • Adjusted Moving Accuracy
  • New Agent: KAY/O

Let's get stuck into what's changing, shall we?

Full Patch Notes Rundown

ALL AGENTS

  • Signature abilities now only provide a minimum of one charge per round instead of accumulating a charge every round.
    • For example, if you have a two charge signature ability and you end the round with one charge remaining, you will not gain an additional charge
  • Charges gained from cooldowns are now always temporary
  • Visibility returns faster during the fadeout period of all flashes

ASTRA

  • Nova Pulse (Q)
    • Cooldown time increased 12 >>> 25
  • Gravity Well (C)
    • Cooldown time increased 12 >>> 25
  • Stars/Astral Form (X)
    • Stars are now inactive when placed during the buy phase
      • When the barriers drop, her Stars charge for 1.4 seconds before becoming active and usable.
    • On Attack, Astra can now see the Spike’s location in Astral form
      • This representation does not animate so it will not provide additional info on the status of the Spike.
    • Recall cooldown increased 8 >>> 15
    • Granted signature charges decreased 2 >>> 1
    • Star cost decreased 200 >>>150

BREACH

  • Flashpoint (Q)
    • Total charges reduced 3 >>> 2
    • Cost increased 200 >>> 250
    • Projectile speed decreased 2500 >>>2000
  • Fault Line (E)
    • Full charge time decreased 1.5 >>> 1 second
    • Width increased 600 >>> 750
    • Telegraph windup time decreased 1.3 >>> 1
    • Concussion duration increased 3 >>> 3.5
    • Unequip time after firing decreased 1 >>> .7
    • Cooldown time increased 35 >>> 40
  • After Shock (C)
    • Now explodes 3 times with each blast dealing 60 damage with no fall off, blasts are .6 seconds apart
    • Explosion radius increased 260 >>> 300
    • Unuequip time after firing decreased 1.1 >>> .9 seconds
    • Cost increased 100 >>> 200
  • Rolling Thunder (X)
    • Width of all explosions increased to 2300, which was the previous width of the final explosion

BRIMSTONE

  • Incendiary (Q)
    • Cost increased 200 >>> 250

CYPHER

  • Neural Theft (X)
    • Ultimate points required decreased 7 >>> 6

JETT

  • Updraft (Q)
    • Cost increased 100 >>> 150
  • Tailwind (E)
    • No longer breaks Cypher’s Trapwire
  • Cloudburst (C)
    • Cost increased 100 >>> 200
  • Bladestorm (X)
    • Ultimate points required increased 6 >>> 7

KILLJOY

  • Alarmbot (Q)
    • Cooldown after pickup increased 7 >>> 20
  • Turret (E)
    • Cooldown after pickup increased 10 >>> 20

OMEN

  • Paranoia (Q)
    • Cost decreased 400 >>> 300
  • Dark Cover (E)
    • Granted signature charges reduced 2 >>> 1
    • Omen now must buy his second smoke for 100
    • Cooldown time increased 35 >>> 40
  • Shrouded Step (C)
    • Cost increased 100 >>> 150

PHOENIX

  • Curveball (Q)
    • Cost increased 200 >>> 250

RAZE

  • Model Update
    • Model has been updated with a polish pass
  • Boombot (C)
    • Cost increased 200 >>> 400
  • Showstopper (X)
    • Ultimate points required increased 7 >>> 8

REYNA

  • Leer (C)
    • Cost increased 200 >>> 250

SAGE

  • Slow Orb (Q)
    • Cost increased 100 >>> 200
  • Barrier Orb (C)
    • Cost increased 300 >>> 400
  • Resurrection (X)
    • Ultimate points required increased 7 >>> 8

SKYE

  • Trailblazer (Q)
    • Vision radius increased 1750 >>> 2250
    • Max concussion duration increased 3 >>> 4
    • Cost increased 200 >>> 250
  • Guiding Light (E)
    • Charges reduced 3 >>> 2
    • Charges are now replenished on a 40-second cooldown
    • Skye no longer needs to re-equip to trigger her flash
    • Guiding Light’s projectile now goes around corners tighter when free-flying and is more responsive to guiding
    • Audio attenuation when cast reduced 3250 >>> 1250
    • Cost of charges increased 100 >>> 250

SOVA

  • Shock Dart (Q)
    • Cost increased 100 >>> 150
  • Recon Bolt (E)
    • Cooldown time increased 35 >>> 40
  • Owl Drone (C)
    • Cost increased 300 >>> 400
  • Hunter’s Fury (X)
    • Ultimate points required increased 7 >>> 8

VIPER

  • Snakebite (C)
    • Duration reduced 8 >>> 6.5
    • Outer edges of Viper’s acid patch form faster to ensure it is lethal if an enemy sits in the entire duration
    • Cost increased 100 >>> 200

YORU

  • Blindside (Q)
    • Cost increased 200 >>> 250
  • Gatecrash (E)
    • Cooldown time increased 35 >>> 40

ALL WEAPONS

  • Bullet tagging changed from 75% slow >>> 72.5% slow
    • “Tagging” is the slowing effect you feel when hit by bullets
  • Weapon Deadzones changed from 30% >>> 27.5%
    • “Deadzone” in VALORANT refers to the movement speed a player becomes inaccurate

ALL RIFLES

  • Walking inaccuracy changed from 1.3 >>> 2.0
  • Running unchanged at 5.0

ALL HEAVIES

  • Walking Inaccuracy changed from .5 >>> 2.4
  • Running unchanged at 6.0

ALL SMGS

  • Walking inaccuracy changed from .3 >>> 1.0
  • Running inaccuracy changed from 2.0 >>> 2.5

CLASSIC

  • Walking inaccuracy changed from .25 >>> .84
  • Running inaccuracy changed from 1.5 >>> 2.1

FRENZY

  • Price decreased 500 >>> 450
  • Walking inaccuracy changed from .25 >>> .8
  • Running inaccuracy changed from 1.0 >>> 2.0

GHOST

  • Walking inaccuracy changed from .25 >>> .92
  • Running Inaccuracy changed from 1.85 >>> 2.3

SHERIFF

  • Walking inaccuracy changed from .25 >>> 1.2
  • Running inaccuracy changed from 2.0 >>> 3.0

JUDGE

  • Price increased 1600 >>> 1850
  • Damage falloff at 10m changed from 13 per pellet >>> 10 per pellet
  • Damage falloff at 15m changed from 10 per pellet >>> 7 per pellet

BULLDOG

  • Hip-fire (full auto mode) firing rate increased from 9.15 RPS >>> 9.5 RPS
  • Price decreased 2100 >>> 2050

SHORTY

  • Price decreased 200 >>> 150

STINGER

  • Price decreased 1100 >>> 950

BUCKY

  • Price decreased 900 >>> 850

MARSHAL

  • Price decreased 1000 >>> 950

ARES

  • Price decreased 1600 >>> 1550

OPERATOR

  • Price decreased from 5000 >>> 4700

COMPETITIVE UPDATES

  • Reduced the possibility of feeling “hard stuck” on older accounts. If your skill improves, your rank should properly reflect that, regardless of account age.
  • Matchmaking accuracy will improve across all ranks, which should lead to a smoother ranked climb and reduce how hard you may swing up and down in rank
  • While winning games is still the most important factor, individual performance will also be accounted for to improve matchmaking at Immortal+
    • This should result in better matches at the highest levels.
  • Close games will have a smaller effect on rank rating gains and losses
  • Adjusted our Rank Rating curves, so climbing (or falling) should feel less volatile
  • Updated Rank distribution
  • Placements raised to Diamond 1

PERFORMANCE UPDATES

  • Improved clipping plane calculations using multithreading
  • Improved thread utilization across multiple cores for distributed tasks
  • Optimized camera calculations
  • Optimized ambient audio for each map
  • General optimizations for all ability animations

SOCIAL UPDATES

  • Hover Cards have been added to the social panel
    • Hover over your friends list to quickly learn more about the players you have added.
  • You can now invite to party with Riot ID in custom game

GAMEPLAY TECHNOLOGY

  • KILLFEED
    • Your kills will get an additional highlighted border to make them stand out
    • Kill assists will also be shown to the left of the killfeed entries
    • The killfeed will also display a highlighted border for your assist portrait
    • The killfeed will display certain ultimate abilities when players on either team are killed in a second-life state or revived
    • Added multi-colored killfeeds in cases where kills would result in the same team color appearing side by side
  • “ROUND ROLLBACK” FEATURE FOR TOURNAMENT MODE CUSTOM GAMES
    • This feature allows you to set the game back to the start of a previous round and re-play the game starting from there
    • To enable the feature, go to “Options” while setting up a Custom Game and toggle “On” Tournament Mode
      • Moderators can activate a rollback
      • If Cheats are enabled as a Custom Game option, all players can activate a rollback.
    • During the match, the Round Rollback feature can be found in the “Cheats” section of the Menu.
    • Added the ability to toggle on and off the outer crosshair lines!
    • Adjusted assist timings and thresholds for utility-based assists to make them more consistent across different Agent abilities.

PROGRESSION UPDATES

  • Happy anniversary VALORANT! To celebrate we have added a new Year One Event Pass—this is similar to a Battlepass but it's completely free and has some really cool goodies.
    • This will be active for the duration of Patch 3.0 and will only last till 3.01 goes live. So remember to get your goodie bag before the party ends.
  • What's a party without friends? We’ve also added a Squad Boost: You will get extra XP when you play in a premade group.
    • +8% boost for one additional player, +12% for two, +16% for three, and +20% for a full squad.
    • This will also be active for the duration of 3.0.
  • We’re also permanently adding Account Leveling: A new way to recognize and reward you for your time playing in all VALORANT game modes.
    • Your account Player Card will now display a numeric level based on how much you play.
    • In addition to that, you will also be boosted to a certain level based on how many games you’ve played before Patch 3.0.

There's also a series of Bug Fixes that can be found in the full Patch Notes 3.0 here.