After waiting three weeks – we got it! Another Valorant update has arrived, and although many people were expecting some more Agent changes, this time, Riot Games have prepared a slightly smaller patch.
The previous update brought us over 60 Agent changes, changed the game, and potentially prepared it for new content. Moreover, we've been placed in the kind of metagame you'd never expect – all these Yoru and Brimstone mains are the scourge of any ranked game and encountering Astra now ranks as a miracle. Will it stay the same? Take a look at the official Patch 4.05 Notes to find that out!
Brimstone Changes: Stim Beacon Nerf
Brimstone is the only Agent that gets any change in this update, but definitely a well-deserved one. Stim Beacon will continue to make your teammates turn into little Neons, but it will happen much less frequently.
- Charges reduced to 2 (from 1)
- Cost increased to 200 Credits (from 100 Credits)
We don't think this will affect Brimstone's overall power level significantly; we see it as a change to slightly balance it out compared to other Controllers.
Game System Updates
There will only be three changes here, but they are all super handy! One is a game-changer for setting crosshairs, and the other is more like a "quality of life"/"consistency updates", but we are glad they are in the game.
Crosshair Imports/Exports
- Added the ability to import and export different crosshair settings via auto-generated codes.
How To Import a Crosshair?
- Go to Settings
- Select "Crosshair tab"
- Click on the icon that looks like an arrow pointing down, found next to Crosshair Profile
- Input or paste the code in the provided field and click the “Import” button
How To Export a Crosshair?
- Go to Settings
- Select "Crosshair tab"
- Click on the icon that looks like an arrow pointing up, found next to Crosshair Profile
- Your auto-generated code will be copied to your clipboard
"Prioritize Strongest Weapon" Setting Reworked
So, this whole "Prioritize Strongest Weapon" setting has been reworked to make it easier for players to switch to the correct weapon when they run around with Melee. Here are all the changes:
- Renamed setting to Auto-Equip Prioritizes: Most Recent | Strongest
- Updated the priority system to support weapon-like abilities.
But what does that look in practice? Here's a little table to make you understand things a little better:
| First Priority | Second Priority | Third Priority | |
| Previous Priority | Primary weapon | Secondary weapon | Melee |
| New Priority | Ultimate & Primary weapon | Secondary & Chamber Pistol | Melee |
And that makes sense, especially that the last two Agents actually got some "weapon-like" abilities. It's not a fancy change, but it definitely makes the game a little more consistent, and as far as we know, this is currently the main goal for the developers.
New Setting: "Don't Auto-Equip Melee"
The name says it all. When you have this setting enabled, you skip past the Melee weapon when finding the most recent weapon to auto-equip. It may sound a little useless, but honestly, you rarely want to use a Melee after casting abilities, so we think it's a good setting to enable for many of you.
Deterministic Map System
Deterministic Map System is officially live for all regions! We explained it a little more in the Patch 4.04 Notes, but let's briefly describe it again:
- The system looks at all maps you have played over the last 5 maps for a specific game mode
- Then, it removes any maps that you played twice in the past 5 maps
- And after that, it picks the least picked map
So, now that's how the map picking system looks! One thing that would really improve this system is if you couldn't play on Fracture at all, but I guess we'll have to wait a little more for that change.
Bug Fixes
And lastly (as always), some bug fixes!
- Fixed a bug that was causing the Leave Match button to function incorrectly for PBE players in Competitive Mode
- Fixed issue where Sova’s Recon Bolt was destroyed by Brimstone’s Orbital Strike even if the Recon Bolt was well out of the area
- Fixed a bug where the mic icon on the scoreboard could not be interacted with after hovering over it with the mouse
That's it for the Patch 4.05 Notes! Not a fancy one, but the game is fancy enough – now it needs to be a little more healthy. Plus, it's about to get fancy anyways.