Valorant has been officially out for over a week now and that’s exactly how long it took Riot to release a new patch. Sage gets a nerf and more.
Throughout the closed beta period, Valorant received numerous patches which addressed different issues. With the game now being officially out, we can only expect that number of patches will drop down. A week after the big launch, Riot update Valorant with 1.01, which despite being a minor patch, brings various changes to the table.
Without further ado let’s take a look at what’s in 1.01, at least the most important parts of it.
Agents
Sage
- Barrier Orb cast range reduced 20 >>> 10 meters
As a Sentinel, Sage is supposed to be most effective when defending territory that she already controls. The 20m cast range was allowing Sage to aggressively take control of neutral territory in a way that was inappropriate for her role in Valorant. This range reduction aims to keep her strong while defending territory but reduce her efficacy at taking ground.
Sage gets a very expected nerf. The range on her Barrier Orb was insane and allowed her to far exceed her defensive capabilities. The “support” agent has already been nerfed several times, but she’s still a must-have on every team since all of her abilities still seem overpowered. Unless Riot plans to rework the healer, she’ll remain the most desired pick in the foreseeable future.
Maps
Ascent
- Fixed several spots where weapons were falling through the world and issues with wall penetration
All Maps
- Modified several call out names to better match player terms
Modes
Spike Rush
- Each game of Spike Rush now features a set of 5 randomly selected orbs
- The Full Ultimate orb will always be available
- 4 of the remaining 7 orb types will be chosen at random
- Chosen orb types will be shown in a description widget both in character select and during pre-round
New Orb Types
Health Orb - Grants teamwide health regen (instant)
- 20 second duration
- 12 HP per second (3HP per tick)
- SFX/VFX only play while actually healing
Deception Orb - Applies “Paranoia” to the enemy team 3 seconds after capture
- 10 second debuff
- Vision is greatly reduced (and a small Field of Vision shift)
- Fake footsteps and gunfire play for affected players
- Minimap is disabled
Golden Gun - Grants capturing player a Golden Gun
- One-shot, one-kill
- Perfectly accurate at all times
- Agent moves at knife speed
- Only has a single bullet in chamber and 2 backup rounds
- Kills grant an additional round
Spike Rush is the mode players go to have fun since it’s way more casual. The Rush is also much more fast-paced than the classic mode. With patch 1.01 Riot increased the type of orbs, so now there’s even a greater variety.
That covers the most important parts of the update. For the full notes check the official Valorant page.
Stay tuned for more Valorant news and make sure to check out EarlyGame for more content.
