Riot Games releases the VALORANT Patch 7.09 Update which brings the newest duelist ISO agent. There is a rank reset, a fresh Battlepass, and a new Premier Stage. Aside from all the new things released at the beginning of a new Act, they also have some Agent updates below.
General Update
- Devs changed your loadout retrieval to reduce match load times. This primarily affects those on lower-spec hardware.
VALORANT Patch 7.09 Update brings ISO
- Iso goes live!
- Learn about his abilities on our Agents page
- Watch our newest Duelist hunt his latest targets below.
CYPHER, SKYE, FADE AND RAZE
This patch, devs are looking to address some issues in the balance of power between Sentinels, especially Cypher, and some other Agents on the roster. Sentinels often craft very deliberate setups only to have Agents like Raze, Skye, and Fade destroy them with typical utility use. In this patch, devs are updating Cypher’s Trapwire (C) to try to sway these interactions more in his favor, and to encourage enemy Agents to have to be more intentional and deliberate if they aim to use their utility to counter Sentinel setups.
CYPHER
These changes force attackers to actively destroy traps to break Cypher’s setups and push interactions with utilities like Prowlers (C) and Trailblazer (Q) more in Cypher’s favor. In addition, the potency of the traps when they snag an enemy has been increased slightly to make sure opponents have to respect their threat.
Trapwire (C)Decreased the time until the trap concussed a captured enemy 3 >>> 1.5 seconds. After concussing an enemy or an enemy in the trap being killed, the Trapwire (C) no longer destroys itself but instead re-arms after 0.5 seconds, allowing it to ensnare another enemy. The duration of tag slows when hit by the trap increased by 0.75 >>> 2 seconds. These changes to Skye and Fade are meant to add more strategic depth to the placement of Cypher’s Trapwire.
SKYE
Trailblazer (Q)Adjusted Trailblazer’s collision so that it goes under Trapwires placed at mid-height. This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage.
FADE
Prowler (C)Adjusted Prowler (C) collision so that they go over Trapwires placed at foot height and under Trapwires placed at head height. This won’t affect the hitboxes for weapon damage.
RAZE
Raze will have to be more precise with her Paint Shells (E) in order to deal damage to enemies, including destroying enemy traps. Additionally, Raze will need to be more intentional in picking between using the Blast Pack (Q) for mobility or damage.
Paint Shells (E)Primary grenade explosion radius 6m >>> 5.5m.Secondary grenade explosion radius 6m >>> 5.25m.Primary grenade explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1. Secondary grenade explosion minimum damage 15 >>> 1. Damage multiplier to enemy utility 250% >>> 100%. Blast Pack (Q)Satchel doesn’t deal damage until fully armed. Satchel’s arm time increased 0.5 seconds >>> 1.5.
WEAPONS UPDATES
JUDGE
With the changes below, devs are sharpening the Judge’s identity as a hunker-down style shotgun by reducing some of its effectiveness while moving. With the reduced mag size, devs are hoping to create more opportunities for enemies to catch a person reloading their Judge as well as nudge the person with the Judge to be more efficient in order to get multi-kills.
- Judge
- Reduced max mag size from 7 >>> 5
- Increased Jumping spread from 1.25 >>> 2.25
- Increased Running spread from .10 >>> .75
PLAYER BEHAVIOR UPDATES
- When reporting others in game, there is now an added option to also mute who you’ve just reported.
SOCIAL UPDATES
- Updated the icons that appear in the Friends List when friends are playing other Riot Games.
- Riot now detects people in Riot Mobile and TFT, and display unique icons for people playing these games.
- People who are online in Riot Mobile have a “gray dot” Player Card Image.
- The failsafe “Unknown Product” icon is now a red Riot fist instead of the gray dot.
- Updated the icons shown for people in LoL, LoR and WildRift.
- Riot now detects people in Riot Mobile and TFT, and display unique icons for people playing these games.
PREMIER UPDATES
Premier Stage E7A3 is live with a few updates and new features! As always, good luck in your games!
Premier Practice
- There will be windows of time where you can queue for practice on select non-match days, check your calendars for the schedule! These matches will follow Premier match structure, but will not affect your Premier Score.
Enrollment Updates
- Teams created before or during the new ‘Team Creation Window’ will now be able to recruit members and participate in Premier at any point during the Stage!
Timeouts
- Every match, teams will have one timeout per side and an additional time out in Overtime.
Premier Crests
- Crests will now reflect your team’s performance and evolve over the entire stage.
Playoff Qualification Threshold
- Devs are lowering the qualification threshold in this stage to 600 points. They recognize that during this busy time of the year, it can be harder to schedule your team’s matches so they wanted to make it more forgiving if you have to miss a week.
Matchmaking
- Devs have made some slight adjustments to find you fairer matches during the weekly matches.
