Valorant update version 1.09 has landed, and if you’ve been playing, you’ve probably already noticed that Operator has been nerfed. Like most updates, the latest patch notes can help explain what’s been changed. In the case of the Operator nerf, they also detail why such changes have been made. Check out the full Valorant patch notes for update 1.09 to get the scoop on all weapon and Agent changes.
Valorant Patch Notes | Update Version 1.09
The biggest changes detailed in the Valorant 1.09 patch notes concern the Operator. This weapon has been given a major nerf, with an increased price, decreased scope movement, and a lowered firing rate. It’s also had its leg shot damage reduced, and the instant equip time has been nearly doubled.
It’s a big change for sure. Riot Games says the Operator’s dry peeking ability was too strong, so the changes are meant to make it more competitive. Similarly, the developers saw players grabbing Operator and armor as early as round three, creating a situation where the combo “snowballs” into a match-wide domination.
Of course, there’s more in the changelog than ways to make Operator more balanced. Reyna and Brimstone’s fire rate bonus have been set at 15%, which is lower for the former and higher for the latter. Viper also sees several adjustments to abilities, including starting the round at 100 fuel (instead of 50), a longer debuff period for Snake Bite, and doubled move speed while casting Viper’s Pit.
Here are the full patch notes for Valorant update 1.09 as provided by the team at Riot Games.
Agent Updates
Omen
- Paranoia
- Updated projectile VFX to better represent its hitbox, especially when it is traveling towards your POV
- We’re keeping an eye on the overall power level of Paranoia, but as a first step wanted to resolve visual issues where players hit with Paranoia appear outside of its impact on their screen.
Jett
- Blade Storm (Burst Fire)
- The time between consecutive Burst Fire use has increased from 0.33 seconds >>> 0.45 seconds
- Daggers thrown in Burst now have a damage falloff that begins at 12 meters and drops steadily (to 35 damage) at max falloff
- Headshot multiplier on Burst Fire reduced from 3x >>> 2x
- While we continue to investigate some of her outsized strengths, we think the burst fire on her Blade Storm has been over-performing at long ranges. The burst fire is intended to be a close range attack, but we found it frequently getting frags at over 20 meters away. These changes aim to rein in its effective range while retaining its close range potency.
Viper
While Viper is stronger than ever, her overall impact is lower than we’d like. This round of changes continues in the same vein as patch 1.07—increasing her flexibility, especially when trying to play with teammates.
- Fuel
- Viper now starts the round at 100 fuel (previously 50)
- Now that Viper can place her wall pre-round, we want her to be able to act with her team right at barrier drop without the tension of also trying to maximize her fuel for an initial move.
- Snake Bite
- Vulnerable debuff applied from Snake Bite now lingers for 2 seconds after leaving Viper’s acid
- Immediately dropping the vulnerable debuff upon exit wasn’t creating the threat we’ve hoped for when we added it. This change should make the Viper (and team) advantage window more realistic, as well as project a unique threat on opponents playing around it.
- Viper’s Pit
- Move speed doubled while casting
- Viper now fast equips her weapon after casting, re-equip times vary per gun—but on average will reduce her weapon down time by .4 seconds
- The combination of a slow placement and re-equip time was resulting in Viper players getting too hurt or killed while casting ults in a situation we felt should be pretty safe. This change should increase the positional options available while casting, and get your weapon up sooner.
Reyna
- Empress
- Fire rate bonus decreased from 25% >>> 15%
- At its previous fire rate, we felt Empress was too effective when using heavies/smgs, AND too fast to master the change in spray pattern on rifles. We hope this change allows us to address both issues at once, while also giving us a chance to have a unified fire rate increase (matching Brimstone’s stim below) that players can learn and master.
Brimstone
- Stim Beacon
- Fire rate bonus increase from 10% >>> 15%
- Paired with Reyna’s change (above), we felt Brimstone’s stim could use a little more punch. This also unifies our two fire rate increase buffs, making them easier to learn.
Weapon Updates
Operator
- Increased price from 4500 >>> 5000
- Decreased scoped movement speed from 76% >>> 72%
- Adjusted weapon deadzone from becoming inaccurate at 30% movement speed >>> 15% (become inaccurate sooner, become accurate later when stopping)
- Firing rate reduced from .75 >>> .6
- Instant equip time adjusted from 0.3 >>> 0.5 (instant equip plays after tapping orb, bomb defuse/plant tap, Jett Cloud Burst, and Phoenix Curveball)
- Leg shot damage decreased from 127 >>> 120
All Weapons
We’ve noticed a trend where players landing from a jump are able to shoot accurately sooner than is reasonable. While this issue is most pronounced on the Operator, it is something that we’ve noticed across all weapons. Jump peeking is valuable for the mixup potential it provides but it was proving too difficult for players to reasonably deal with. These changes retain that mixup potential while slightly increasing the time before the peeker can fire with perfect accuracy.
- Jump land inaccuracy state changed from gradual >>> binary
- Jump land inaccuracy duration increased from .2 >>> .225
- Jump land inaccuracy value increased from 5.0 >>> 7.0 (more inaccurate for .225s after a land)
Competitive Updates
- During this patch, the chances of being in an hour+ queue should be notably reduced
- This is already a very rare occurrence, but it can happen more often for high rank players—especially in premade groups. We are also doing some tuning behind the scenes to keep high rank matches found after long queue times reasonably balanced and fair.
Social Updates
- Riot ID Reviews
- Players that have been reported for inappropriate Riot IDs will now be reviewed automatically after the match has ended. If their name is flagged as inappropriate, they will be forced to change their Riot ID the next time they log in to the Riot Client.
- Removed Multi-line Breaks in Chat
- Some sneaky people were impersonating system messages to troll others into quitting a match. Enough!
- Changes to party push to talk settings will now take effect immediately
- The chat window can now be pinned to stay open across menus
- Social Panel Sorting Logic
- Sorting algorithm for the social panel has been updated to make it more intuitive for players as they interact with it.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed issue where Sova’s hitbox was incorrect while using his Owl Drone
- Fixed bug where Omen’s glowing eyes weren’t properly removed when he cancelled his ult
- Fixed a bug where Custom Game preferences would be wiped after navigating away from the Custom Game lobby
