Riot Games never shies away from fixing Valorant maps after release, and it seems players want the devs to work their magic on Pearl.
Since Pearl has been available in ranked for over a week now, players at all skill levels have had enough time to try and optimize setups in the maze-like but gorgeous location inspired by Portuguese architecture. Many are not happy with a certain part of it: B long.
In a recent developer Q&A hosted on Reddit, a user asked the devs about Pearl and if they had plans to rework B long like they had with other maps, such as Icebox, Breeze, or Bind to name a few.
Pearl Map Rework Won't Happen Soon
"Does the team have any plans to adjust the geometry on B long? It feels like a constant game of chicken between attackers who manage take the high ground headshot angle and any defenders brave enough to hold pillar or nook. Even agents like Jett are hard pressed to escape from an offensive push on B long which just doesn’t feel right to me," user xW4RP asked.
Valorant Level Designer Joe "Pearl Hogbash" Lansford, took the time to give a detailed answer in the thread, explaining that they have no immediate plans to switch things up when it comes to Pearl's map design.
"Long B is a bend not break engagement. As a Defender, you can take a forward position and push to control headshot box even. You can play pillar and/or nook if you have an escape tool (Chamber is great here). Or just take the first fight from site. Try using utility to slow down Attackers and buy time for a rotate rather than re-peeking. Defenders have a handful of fallback options," Landsford responded.
The biggest issue players have with long B on Pearl is the lack of geometry to use as cover, making it essentially target practice for defenders or attackers with better economy. Even pros have chimed, Version1's Effys stated that Pearl could be a "decent" map if only they fixed that portion of the map.
Pearl would actually be a decent map if they fixed this 5 miles corridor without cover that they call B long.
— V1 effys (@effysgo) July 13, 2022
If weeks go by and players continue complaining about B long on Pearl, rest assured Riot Games will get back to the drawing board and figure out a way to fix the corridor of death featured in their latest map.
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