The last patch of Valorant Episode 7 Act 3 is here, and it brings some significant changes. Valorant Patch 7.12 addresses plenty of bugs, introduces a new Team Death Match map, and brings some changes to Skye and Gekko.
Patch 7.12 also fixed some performance issues players have been complaining about recently, and updated the player behaviour code. These are small but impactful changes and are a way of preparing players for the huge patch that is coming in Episode 8.
Without further ado, let's find out everything about Valorant Patch 7.12
Skye nerfed while Gekko received a small buff
It's a dark day for Skye mains, as the leader of the pack received some nerfs to her Trailblazer ability.
The Trailblazer camera movement was disabled while jumping, Trailblazer will no longer concuss enemies if destroyed during his jump, and the concuss explosion now affects allies and enemies.
At first sight, these nerfs seem small but they are actually very impactful. They hurt Skye's ability to get information and will force players to use Trailblazer more smartly and carefully.
While Skye got some subtle nerfs, Geko received a small buff. His reclaim time for Dizzy, Thrash, and Wingman was reduced to 1 second. Furthermore, Dizzy will now see and shoot enemies faster, as her missile speed was increased to 10000, and the targeting delay decreased to 0.35 seconds.
These buffs won't put Gekko at the top of the Initiator tier list, but they certainly make him stronger. As for the Skye nerfs, they make her slightly weaker and perhaps no longer an S-tier Initiator.
A new TDM map is here!
As mentioned above, Patch 7.12 also introduced a new TDM map, which is called Drift. The map is located in Thailand and is inspired by the world-famous floating markets.
Drift joins Piazza, District, and Kasbah in the TDM map rotation. The new map has a similar layout to the other three, also having three lanes, but it promotes more long-range fights than the other maps.
It certainly looks like a very exciting map and one you should make sure to try out at least once.
Valorant 7.12 full patch notes
Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about Valorant patch 7.12.
Agent updates
Gekko
- Reduce reclaim channel time from 2s >>> 1s for Dizzy (E), Wingman (Q), and Thrash (X)
- Once Dizzy is ready to shoot and sees a target, they will shoot faster and the projectile will travel faster.
- Pre-fire targeting delay decreased from 0.5s >>> 0.35s.
- Missile speed increased from 7000 to 10000
Skye
- Camera movement is disabled during the Trailblazer leap
- When the Trailblazer is destroyed during the leap, it no longer causes a concuss explosion
- Trailblazer explosion now concusses allies as well as enemies
Map Updates
- Our newest map, Drift, is joining our roster of Team Deathmatch maps! Drift features along range mid, isolated side lanes and exciting ways to swap lanes
Performance Updates
- Raw Input Buffer beta tag removed
- Raw Input Buffer default value changed from off to on
- Raw Input Buffer existing setting values will not be impacted
Player Behavior Updates
- Implemented Party Invite Codes so that party leaders will be able to generate invite codes that other people can use in-game to be able to join the same party.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where kills would not be awarded to you while controlling an ability. This affected Sova getting a kill with Shock Dart (Q) while controlling Owl Drone(C), Gekko’s Mosh (C) kills while controlling Thrash (X), and Cypher’s Trapwire(C) kills while controlling Spycam (E).
- When KAY/O is downed during his NULL-CMD (X), the red portrait will now show for everyone in the game.
- Fixed an issue where in rare cases, someone would spawn in the next round after being detected AFK, preventing the pistol round bonus for their teammates.
- Fixed an issue in Overtime Voting where "Waiting for Opponents" message appears behind the voting team.
We hope this article answers all of your questions about Valorant Patch 7.12.
For more about Valorant, then hit the ground running and dominate your opponents with our "Iso abilities explained" guide here. Or take a look at the brand-new Valorant Chromedek Bundle.