Valorant 1.09 Patch Notes – Nerfs for the OP and More!

Valorant patch 1 09 — Image credit: Riot Games

Valorant’s latest Patch 1.09 brings might shake the meta in Riot's tactical shooter. With changes coming to five agents, nerfs to the Operator, and more. Find out everything about it!

Just as the prophecy foretold, Valorant’s Patch 1.09 was released yesterday, and it includes some nerfs for the Operator. Among other things, it also features changes to five agents, most notably Viper.

Agent Updates

Omen

Paranoia

Updated projectile VFX to better represent its hitbox, especially when it is traveling towards your POV

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

The nerfs might seem harsh on Jett but consider that her Burst Fire mode for Blade Storm is meant to be a close-range alternative. Players used it to get frags at long distances and it only made sense for Riot to tone it down a notch.

Viper

Fuel

Viper now starts the round at 100 fuel (previously 50)

Snake Bite

Vulnerable debuff applied from Snake Bite now lingers for 2 seconds after leaving Viper’s acid

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 downtime by .4 seconds

Viper now starts with 100 fuel instead of the previous 50 and that’ll change a lot. Anyone playing Viper will have more options right from the start instead of having to wait. Dropping a wall as soon as the barrier drops is also not out of the question. Viper keeps getting buffs but according to Riot, her game impact is still way lower than they want.

Reyna

Empress

Fire rate bonus decreased from 25% >>> 15%

While this may seem like a total nerf it might be good for players that prefer weapons with a high rate of fire.

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 increased from 10% >>> 15%

To make up for the Reyna nerf, Riot are buffing Brim’s Stim Beacon.

Top 5 Weapons in Valorant View gallery

Weapon Changes

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

As many of us expected, the Operator nerfs are finally here. To be honest, it’s not even that bad as the weapon will remain a solid pick for anyone that’s confident in using it. The price increase might be the hardest change of all.

All weapons

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)

You’ll now be inaccurate when landing from a jump with any weapon. Why?

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.

Competitive updates

During this patch, the chances of being in an hour+ queue should be notably reduced

Social Updates

Riot ID Reviews (players that got reported will be reviewed automatically)
Removed Multi-line Breaks in Chat
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

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 canceled his ult
Fixed a bug where Custom Game preferences would be wiped after navigating away from the Custom Game lobby

The patch focuses on balance improvements and we’ll probably see some meta changes in the upcoming weeks. Will Viper become a top pick? Will the Operator be labeled useless? We shall see.What do you think about the new patch? Tell us on our Facebook or Twitter!