VALORANT Patch 8.11 Brings Big Agent Changes

VALORANT agents are getting a massive balance update to shake up the meta.

VALORANT Patch 8.11 is focused on balancing agents, meaning some big agent changes that will impact gameplay. The full patch notes are not out yet, but here is what you need to know about the upcoming agent changes coming to Riot's FPS.

Iso

Iso is receiving strictly buffs this patch because he’s underperforming across all skill brackets. Leaning into increasing Iso’s signature ability output is intended to make Iso more reliable at challenging contested spaces and winning opening duels by granting his shield immediately after channeling the ability. Iso’s buff will also remain active and orbs will still spawn should he lose his shield and secure a kill during Double Tap’s uptime. Shooting the orbs will refresh the duration of the buff and the shield.

Double Tap (E)

• Iso now grants himself a shield upon finishing a 1 second animation during which he can’t use his gun.
• This plays a shield forming sound at the end of the channel when the shield is activated.
• Charges 2 >>> 1
• Kill reset added to Double Tap (Iso gets a charge back if he gets 2 kills).
• Iso now receives a Wall Penetration tag instead of a standard Heavy Penetration tag when the shield is broken. This means he’s slowed less upon his shield breaking.
• Additionally, Iso now gets a damage indicator towards the direction of the enemy that broke the shield
• Iso can now recast Double Tap while it’s active to refresh the duration of the shield.
• This is relevant if he gets a refreshed charge of his Double Tap from getting 2 kills.

Neon

We want to sharpen Neon as an Agent who excels at taking mobile fights directly to her opponents by buffing the unique value she brings to the table. We’ve made her slide more effective at sliding directly into opponents by making it more combat-ready, and by removing all weapon movement error when sliding as well as a few other changes. The updates to her Fast Lane (C) are intended to make fights around her wall dropping feel more intuitive for Neon’s allies while reducing the visual noise it creates in game.

Sharpening her Relay Bolt (Q) to be a more premium and reliable one-charge ability is intended to allow Neon to have more success when she does decide to commit to a fight with her slide, as well as make some room for the second slide charge.

Fast Lane (C)

• Fast Lane (C) dissipates from behind to minimize visual noise in combat space while giving cover for Neon.
• Fast Lane’s (C) audio has been updated to travel with the fade out of the wall.
• Wall Duration 6s >>> 4s
• Wall Dissolve Duration 1s >>> 2s

High Gear (E)

• Sprint
• Neon no longer has her strafe speed reduced while sprinting.
• Max Sprint Speed while moving sideways 6.73 meters/second >>> 9.11 meters/second
• Time until Full Fuel Regen 60s >>> 20s
• Slide
• Slide charges 1 >>> 2
• Neon now removes all weapon movement error when sliding.
• This effectively means she’s more accurate while sliding.
• Second Slide Cost: 150
• Equips out of slide: Fast >>> Instant
• Slide equip buffer >>> .2s (after sliding, there is .2 seconds before her gun comes out)

Relay Bolt (Q)

• Charges 2 >>> 1
• Windup delay 1.1s >>> .8s
• Concuss Duration 3.0s >>> 3.5s

Reyna

Reyna is receiving both buffs and nerfs this patch to reshape the power of her kit. The goal of the changes is to reduce the level of dominance she can achieve in Ranked, especially at low and mid ranks when outperforming her enemies, while pushing some of her value in coordinated settings:

Healing has proven very strong statistically in Ranked with higher impact at low and mid ranks. This change should reduce her ability to snowball round-over-round in these settings.

Removing the time restrictions on her Devour (Q) and Empress (X) should allow you more flexibility to play at your team’s pace and increase the baseline value of both in coordinated play where rounds play out slower.

Dismiss (E) has been re-tuned to provide a greater movement speed boost, but has a shorter duration. This should reward decisive and skillful Reyna players by unlocking faster and more powerful combat repositioning.

We’ll be tracking how these updates affect Reyna across all the different skill levels and settings of play.

Devour (Q)

• Healing decreased 100 >>> 50
• Full heal time reduced from 3s >>> 2s
• Overheal of armor no longer decays after a timer.

Dismiss (E)

• Top speed increased 9.1 meters/second >>> 12 meters/second
• Total duration of Dismiss reduced from 2s >>> 1.5s

Empress (X)

• Empress no longer has a timer and is permanent until Reyna is killed or the round ends.

Raze

As we’ve seen you get better and better at Raze’s satchel mobility, we’ve found that her total speed and movement potential can undermine the tactical loop. These changes are intended to allow you to more reasonably counterplay Raze, whether through your own utility or gunplay. While we still want to maintain the sandbox movement fantasy of Raze’s satchels, she should not be as surprising when not supported by allied utility.

Blast Pack (Q)

• Raze’s satchels no longer explode for damage/knockback upon opponent destruction.
• Raze’s horizontal velocity when satcheling has been slowed.
• Satchel explosion audio has been updated to be audible farther away to ensure enemies can hear the first satchel when a Raze double satchels.

Clove

While we’re excited with how Clove has been immediately relevant in Ranked and how much you’re enjoying playing them, their performance in ranked play is stronger than we’d like. We’re trimming some extraneous power from their selfish, Duelist-oriented outputs while preserving the Controller-leaning power in their kit.

Pick-Me-Up (C)

• Cost 100 >>> 200
• Duration 10s >>> 8s
• Damaging Assist Time to activate 10s >>> 6s

Not Dead Yet (X)

• Cost 7 >>> 8
• Unequip Delay .7 >>> .8s
• BUG FIX: Clove’s ultimate will no longer survive the fighting state if they get a smoke assist.