After months of dominating the meta, Riot Games has decided to nerf the Sentinel fully for patch 5.03. In fact, it's pretty much the only major balance update this time.
Despite not being a Duelist, Chamber could fill multiple roles within a team thanks to his incredibly versatile tool kit. There was no need for characters like Jett, Raze, or Killjoy (to name a few) in certain maps and comps - why would you waste a spot when you can just cover lurk and get access to a free OP with Chamber's Ultimate, all at the same time?
As it turns out, most of the massive Chamber nerfs that people could try out in the PBE made it to the live servers with patch 5.03. So if you're a OTP that relied heavily on his abilities, you might want to check out what's in store for you.
That wasn't the only thing Riot changed within the game, as some Ultimate abilities also received some interesting damage overhauls, as well as adding a bit of flavor to the menus. Let's break it all down below.
Valorant 5.03 Update - All patch notes
GENERAL UPDATES
- Engine update to Unreal Engine 4.26
- There are some known issues this time around though, mostly the UI is misbehaving. Riot explains there might be some bugs during the menus but nothing should affect your gameplay experience.
- Agent Browser visual design refresh
AGENT UPDATES
CHAMBER
Rendezvous (E)
- Base Cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
- Recall Cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
- Cooldown set to 45s whenever a Rendezvous anchor is destroyed
- Diameter size of the “ring” Chamber can stand that allows him to activate Rendezvous decreased 21m >>> 15m
- Slow Duration decreased 9.5 >>> 6s
Tour De Force (X)
- Ultimate Points Required increased 7 >>> 8
- Slow Duration decreased 9.5 >>> 6s
Headhunter (Q)
- Bullet Cost increased 100 >>> 150
ABILITY REGIONAL DAMAGE BREAKUP
NEON
Overdrive
- Damage per shot reduced 22 >>> 18
- Killzone increased 15m >>> 20m
- Leg shot multiplier reduced 1.0 >>> 0.85
- Headshot multiplier increased 1 >>> 3
CHAMBER
Tour De Force (X)
- Leg shot multiplier reduced 1.0 >>> 0.85
JETT
Bladestorm (X)
- Leg shot multiplier reduced 1.0 >>> 0.85
There was also your healthy dose of bug fixes which you can check out on the Valorant official website. Do you think these Chamber nerfs will be enough for the Sentinel to stop feeling as oppressive?