Sage to Viper META? | VALORANT Patch Notes 1.07

Huge nerfs are done this patch 1.07. This'll probably change the META and the professional Valorant scene. And speaking of which, Vandal can now compete against the Phantom? I'd like to see this change. Let's go!

AGENTS

PicsArt_090507.11.01.jpg

These are the nerfs, buffs and fixes that took place this patch 1.07.

SAGE

Her ice/earth power will weaken drastically this patch. There is so much nerfs to Sage that it might ruin her pick rate and win rate to its lowest degree.

*Heal*
Heal reduced	100 over 5 seconds --> 60 over 5 seconds
Self heal reduced	100 over 5 seconds --> 60 over 10 seconds

This weakened Sage's heal to the extent that it's not a necessity to heal a 1 health teammate since having 61 health is still very low, unless fought against a shotgun or frenzy from long range.

*Barrier*
Cost reduced	400 --> 300
NEW! Wall forms	400 HP after a 3 second delay, then fortifies to 800 HP

I really like this wall nerf to Sage. It doesn't only create more opportunities to attacker exploits such as pressuring the wall when fortifying, but also gives Sage a much more different mechanic on her wall. So much stuff can be done and I like it a lot. This is a good one.

*Slow Orb*
Size reduced	by 30%

This nerf doesn't do much to Sage's gameplay for me since it slow at the same rate and it can still cover a whole choke point.

All in all, I like all Sage's nerfs and changes except the nerf on her heal. I think it's a bit over done just to decrease her pick and win rate. I want it to be reverted or just make it longer to fully heal.

KILLJOY

More and more of her engineering are getting the attention of people. So she turned it down for a bit to give enemies a bit of a chance. These are just mild nerfs and hot fixes on Killjoy's abilities.

*Nanoswarm*
NEW!	Brief windup before damage begins
DPS reduced	60 --> 40
NEW! Visual effects	Easier to spot the grenade on the ground
Stealth audio range	slightly increased

These are just slight adjustment to her Nanoswarm for it to behave as Riot wanted it to. Now, there are more time to get out of it since its DPS is reduced by 20 and not die in shame and tilt.

*Turret*
No longer revealed by Sova’s Recon Bolt
More effectively shoots at an enemy’s last known location

These are fixes to the turret to buff it a bit since it is getting destroyed easily. Sova's Recon Dart revealing the turret anywhere at its range is just overboard on Killjoy's kit. It also tags more efficiently so it will help her set herself for kills since it slows the enemy hit by it.

VIPER

Viper will get a place on the META for sure after this patch. Get ready for the Viper mains going up on their ranks. Remember, don't breathe in too much of her gasses. It might get you suffocated and bring you into your grave.

*Passive:Decay*
Decay on all smoke abilities no longer affects allies

My favorite on this patch. Now, Viper's team playing is much more efficient since she will not lead her teammates to death because of her poison and create more plays to play off with her smokes.

*Toxic Screen*
NEW! Can now be placed during the buy phase of rounds, through spawn barriers
Toxic Screen now goes up faster along it’s full length, once it starts to form

Now this opens up more strats on her kit. She can now go more aggressive on choke points such as B garage on Split and A Bath on Bind. This can be also used to fake a push. Viper's lurking power has now drastically gone up because of the changes.

*Viper's Pit*
NEW! The area of Viper’s Pit is now shown on her team’s minimap when deployed

In partner with the decay update, Viper will now be super strong going with her team, becoming the biggest threat. Get ready because Vipers now will give you headaches.

BREACH

Breach's robotic arms got upgraded! His changes are still in progress since he is still of low pick rate. Riot said "These are not all the potential Breach changes we want to do, but as part of our ease-in, intentional-balance philosophy, we want to be measured. Stay tuned for more...potentially." Let's take a look.

*Flashpoint*
NEW! Off-screen flashes	Now match behavior of other flashes in the game and apply a minimum amount of flash more aggressively
Charges increased	2 --> 3
Reduced windup time	0.6 seconds --> 0.5 seconds

Having 3 flashes will make breach much stronger on pushes, retakes and stalling enemies. But still takes up another 200 credits which makes his kit more expensive. This is clearly a buff but not enough I think.

*Rolling Thunder*
Detonation delay between blasts decreased	0.3 --> 0.255

This is also not that big of a deal since it is still slow to hit and the time they are dazed is not enough since you still have to clear every corner to fully clear a site. It needs more rewarding buffs to be really of use.

*Passive: Concussion*
Concuss now de-scopes players and prevents re-scoping

SOVA

Shock Dart! Just some minor changes on Sova's visuals, no nerfs nor buffs.

*Visuals*
Updated the physics on Sova’s cape so that it should wiggle outside his hitbox less frequently
Polish work on Sova’s 1P hands to bring them up to the fidelity bar of the rest of our agents

WEAPONS

PicsArt_090508.15.19.jpg

Now hot buffs on the Vandal has been implemented and nerfs on shotguns including the shorty is in game. Let's see those.

VANDAL


Increased firing rate	9.25 --> 9.75
Increased damage	39 --> 40

These changes will surely bring Vandal to the contest in par with the Phantom. Personally I was a Phantom user but after the changes, Vandal was really a much better gun for me.

SHOTGUNS


tagging tuned for targets beyond 10 meters
Hitting an enemy past 10 meters will apply a different tagging value to them instead of the standard tagging
NEW! Tagging: 30% slow for .5s on a smooth curve going back to normal speed
When getting headshot by a shotgun, the aimpunch will be lower than all the other weapons

These changes are awesome! Riot said this is to prevent unnecessary odd things such as aimpunching from 50m and messing your aim, which is not the Riot devs want for the shotguns.

SHORTY


1st falloff range reduced	9m --> 7m
Updated headshot multiplier	3x --> 2x

Riot said these nerfs are to make Shorty users work more for their kills. I like this nerf.

JUDGE


Price increased	1500 --> 1600

This change is to just pair it of on other shotguns. Judge was too powerful yet so affordable that you should just buy it and hold close corners. Now, players will have to choose if it is better to play Judge or a Spectre or just go with a cheaper buy, the Bucky.

HIT IMPACT

PicsArt_090510.40.07.jpg

A lot of players are getting confused on where the bullet was registered to hit. So with this update, it will help players clearly see where their bullets are hitting.

Server hit VFX confirms will now spawn at the location of the hit on the character and stay attached to that position.

If sometimes you are confused and the VFX blocks your vision, this will help a lot. Previously, it stays at where you hit the enemy and might block your vision when moving. Now, you will clearly see your enemy since VFX will follow at where you hit your enemy.

An additional client-predicted small spark VFX now spawns immediately at the game space location of a hit.

Adjusted the sparks hit VFX coloring and shape adjusted to more closely resemble blood VFX shape

Adjusted the size of headshot VFX, where both blood and sparks are scaled down slightly

Now, the client predict where you'll hit your shot! It will clearly help us on getting our shots accurately as to where we want it to land. I love this update!

COMPETITIVE

PicsArt_090510.59.31.jpg

For the players who have experienced starting with unfair 4v5 games, this update will surely hype you up. According to Riot,

      When a match begins with a 4v5 (or more lopsided teams), players will now have the option to end the game they’re in and queue for a new one.
      If any player is disconnected at the start of the match (beginning of buy phase) through the entire first round, a remake call may be triggered at the start of the second round by typing /remake in chat.
      All connected players on the team that called the remake may vote to remake the game— It’s required that all connected players agree to remake the game
      If the vote is successfully passed and the game is remade, all players who voted do not receive any XP or MMR adjustments for the match. The match will also not show up in match history. All disconnected players not part of the vote will take a full MMR loss for the game, and receive a leaver penalty equivalent to disconnecting from a full match..

Now, you will not lose unnecessary elo in a 4v5 games, made like a jail for you to play for 40 mins or longer. Good news for us players!

Act Ranks visuals have been updated to better differentiate wins at different rank tiers.

Act Ranks are out! Now you can flex how good you are at this game. Play more games and grind more with friends!

Changed some potentially misleading verbiage in the restriction message for players who need to play more unrated games to unlock competitive play.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

INCOGNITO MODE

For the streamer who doesn't want to get noticed by the players they play with and play casually, here's the updated you've been waiting. Here are the options available according to Riot.