Valorant has been out for three weeks and while some of the features from the closed beta are still missing, we expect some of them to make a return with 1.02.
Most recently Riot announced the Valorant Ignition Series, which serves as the first official esports program for the title. What about the next patch though? What should we expect from 1.02? Here’s a list that combines confirmed features that might be coming with the new update along with some speculation.
What’s coming with 1.02?
Ranked matchmaking - confirmed
Ranked play was a feature that was available back in the Valorant closed beta. Riot decided to remove it for the official release in order to deliver a better experience to new players.
Hey everyone, It's been hectic, so I haven't had a lot of time to post. To answer the biggest question: rated (competitive mode) will likely be out some time next week. We're spending this week putting together that release and making sure it is good. =)
— Ziegler (@RiotZiegler) June 15, 2020
Ziegler promised that rated matchmaking will make a return in the next few weeks after launch and we’re already approaching the end of the month. Ranked might not return in the exact same way as we remember it from the closed beta as Riot will probably include some newity.
A surrender option - confirmed
Valorant takes a lot of inspiration from CS:GO and much like Valve’s tactical shooter, Valorant is set to include a white flag. Surrendering will be an option in the upcoming future but whether it’ll come with 1.02 remains to be seen. The feature was officially confirmed by Riot in one of the blog posts.
Changes to Spike Rush - confirmed
The newly released Spike Rush mode was not what many expected but can still serve as a way to have fun without the pressure of a regular match. Spike Rush puts players in a 5vs5 scenario but each of the attackers has a bomb and everyone in the match has the same weapons. A Riot employee confirmed on Reddit that Paranoia and Decay orbs will be getting some changes.
Got some changes to both Paranoia and Decay coming soon. Should both be much less oppressive than they are currently
Sovereign Skin fixes
One of the more recent skin bundles in Valorant is the Sovereign one. While it includes some rather visually pleasing skins it didn’t come without its fair share of bugs. The glow on some of the weapons caused in-game difficulties when playing so the gold skin line is currently disabled as a temporary measure. Valorant is a free game and it’ll be in Riot’s best interest to resolve something which directly costs them money.
Viper buffs
In the game’s current state, Viper is one of the worst agents you can pick. She requires much more of a time investment to figure out her abilities and even then doesn’t reward you for your effort. Compared to top tier picks like Sage or Breach, there’s literally no reason to pick Viper. She’s hard to manage and requires amazing team coordination. Riot have surely noted that and it won’t be too surprising to see some buffs for the green assassin along with nerfs for the popular picks.
Stay tuned for more Valorant news and make sure to check out EarlyGame as well as our Youtube channel for more content.
