Valorant update 5.06 arrives today and, as the patch notes reveal, it tweaks the free-to-play PC FPS’s underwater level.
Sure, there are other changes as well. But the patch notes offer some insight into how and why Valorant developer Riot has updated the level, dubbed Pearl. The patch also makes it easier to spot disruptive players.
The changes are in the name of fairness, an important factor especially in free-to-play games. If you spend fifty pounds on a game and discover it’s woefully off balance, that £50 is an incentive to stick around.
But if a free-to-play game seems unbalanced, are you really going to give it a second chance? Given that Valorant has been going for two years, it seems that Riot have mastered the art of keeping players around.
Here, then, are the ways that Pearl has changed, from the official patch notes.
● B Main – Lowered waist-high wall on the left side of B Main so that it can no longer completely hide anyone.
● Mid Shops – Clearing this area in Mid Shops is harder than we intended. By extending the platform, we’re still keeping some of the holding power for attackers, but making it easier to push this area.
● Mid Shops to Mid Plaza – This is another spot on Mid Shops that’s proven to be painful to clear when trying to move through mid. So we’ve removed one of the corners.
● Mid Top – Mid currently favors attackers so we’ve pushed in a wall on Mid Top, to remove a 50-50 check. This should make it slightly easier for defenders to challenge mid.
● A Art – We noticed the difficulty both sides have had moving effectively through A Art. We’re simplifying the space so there are fewer areas to check.
Before:
● B Link – This box provides a good piece of cover for Attackers pushing B link, but it’s been tough to re-clear for defenders. We’re keeping a little attacker-side power, but making it easier for defenders to manage. The stack of boxes cover closer to the site will shift from the left side to the right, to simplify the number of angles approaching players need to consider, as well as close a difficult sightline to B Hall.
● A Main – Removing a cut out on the wall of A Main to simplify the space, which should also make this area slightly easier for defenders to aggro into (although really, you should hold site).
● A Main to A Site – This spot was unnecessarily tough to smoke effectively. By tightening the choke by a margin, we hope to make smoking easier and give a small buff to defenders (i.e, a new utility spot). The cubby on the right will also shrink slightly to keep it from being too deep.
The Mid Shops to Mid Plaza fix definitely had us grinning. It’s a creative move, blocking cover with a big plant. Aside from the map tweaks, the patch also implements several other fixes/changes. From the patch notes:
Stinger
- Primary Fire error adjusted from 1.6 error after 7 bullets >>> 1.3 error after 6 bullets
- Our goal for the Stinger is to feel controllable and appropriately lethal at short ranges, but currently, even in close-quarters, it can feel out-of-control. Lowering the top spread should make it feel more reliable at the appropriate range once you’ve overcome the learning curve of the recoil.
- Alt Fire first shot error adjusted from .5 >>> .35
- For an option that’s about being more accurate, it felt like the first shot had more variance than we’d like, especially at the ranges you’d want to use the burst fire mode.
Social Updates
- Disruptive Gameplay-based Behavior Indicator
- We’ve introduced a feature that will show at the end of game screen, which players have been detected for engaging in disruptive gameplay-based behavior.
- This has been added to the following game modes: Unrated, Competitive, Spike Rush, and Replication, with more game modes to follow in the near future.
Agents
- Fixed issue with KAY/O’s Zero/point sometimes incorrectly displaying enemies that were hit on KAY/O’s UI
Social
- Fixed a bug where Clutch Mutes would persist after the match ended
- Fixed a bug that prevented you from being able to respond to a whisper by clicking on the Riot ID of the player who sent the whisper in Chat
- Fixed a bug that caused the Social Panel to close when right-clicking into the Friend Note text field
- Fixed a bug where pending invites would not disappear after all friends have left the Party
- Fixed a bug where the incorrect system message was sent when accepting a friend request via the Match Tab in-game
Yes, you read that right – this Valorant patch will make it easier to see which players have been acting like jackasses. Sure, you can boot players for unleashing a torrent of filth. But there are also players who go out of their way to sucks the fun out of games. This change should help address this.
You can also check out the patch notes on the official Valorant site, along with pictures of the changes to of Pearl.
