Valorant Patch 4.04: Official Notes

We're entering the second Act of Episode 4, which is supposed to entirely revolutionize the game and (to quote Anna Dollon of Riot Games) strengthen its foundation. And well, it looks like that's exactly what happened! After this update, virtually the entire Controllers class will be redesigned, and Yoru has a chance to become one of the top Duelists Agents to pick. Not to mention the map randomization system to keep us from playing the same map over and over again. Is this the biggest Valorant update ever? Quite possibly, so let's not stall and take a look at the official Patch Notes of the 4.04 update.

Agent Updates

Improved the system used to place abilities at targeted ground locations. This update should make it easier to find valid placement locations in tight spaces. These are the abilities affected:Omen’s Shrouded StepViper’s pitChamber’s Trademark and Rendez-vousEvery Killjoy abilityYoru’s GatecrashSage’s Barrier Orb

We would put this under "quality of life improvement" or "consistency update"; it may not be as big and probably won't change much, but it's obviously good that it's there. So, let's move on to the big stuff – the Controller changes!

Omen

Omen got some massive buffs that we've been waiting for almost a year. They don't change anything in the character's identity, but still make his abilities much more valuable and accessible. It's especially worth noticing the projectile speed buff for Omen's smoke; it's going to be soooo fast now.

Dark Cover

• Cooldown decreased 40s >>> 30s
• Cost increased 100 >>> 150
• Projectile Speed increased 2800 >>> 6400

Shrouded Step

• Cost decreased 150 >>> 100
• Pre teleport delay decreased 1s >>> 0.7s

Paranoia

• Added forward spawn offset, so players adjacent to Omen are not hit

Brimstone

Brimstone was actually very far behind other Controllers in power level and was just an "inferior Astra". However, now that he got such strong buffs and Astra got nerfed hard, we might actually see his comeback in the meta, maybe even in VCT games.

Sky Smoke

• Deploy time decreased 2 >>> 1 second
• Deploy radius increased 5000 >>> 5500
• Smoke height increased to match other Controllers

Stim Beacon

• Now also applies a 15% speed boost in addition to RapidFire

Astra

It's time to look at Astra's changes, the Agent that was the reason the other Controllers weren't played. These nerfs weaken the whole character, and because Omen and Brimstone got buffs, we expect a considerable decrease in popularity for Astra in Act 2 on all levels. And that means a big meta shake-up because Astra + Viper in team comp happens almost every game at higher ranks.

Stars

• Max Stars reduced 5 >>> 4
• Cooldown on retrieving a Star increased 14 >>> 25
• Astra can now pick up placed Stars during the Buy Phase to refund their chargeimmediately
• Max distance of Star Placement increased 10000 >>> 30000 to allow her to place Stars across the furthest corners of maps

Gravity Well

• Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45
• Gravity Well Size Decreased 525 >>> 475
• Gravity Well no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Gravity Well

Nova Pulse

• Cooldown Increased 25 >>> 45
• Nova Pulse no longer affects anyone fully underneath the Nova Pulse

Nebula

• Cooldown Increased 14 >>> 25
• Nebula cooldowns are now sequential instead of simultaneous
• Nebula size increased 410 >>> 475

Astral Form

• While in Astral form, pings are no longer blocked by level geometry that Astra cannot see
• Astra’s targeting ring in Astral form is reduced to one ring that reflects the now unified size of all her utility
• Astra’s targeting ring no longer randomly disappears when aiming across some map locations
• Increased the speed of the overlay that covers Astra’s screen when transitioning in and out of Astral form
• Fixed an issue where Stars were placed slightly above the location Astra was targeting

Viper

Aside from the increased Fuel drain, Viper should be doing alright. Sure, the Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud changes will be somewhat noticeable, but probably not that much, and honestly, Viper might be the best Controller in the game now. She was already very solid before this update, and despite the buffs of Omen and Brimstone, these Agents are unlikely to continue to match her in terms of power level.

Fuel

• Fuel drain increased 50% when Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud are both active
• Viper’s fuel bar now turns red when she does not have enough fuel to activate her abilities

Toxic Screen

• Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8
• Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays
• Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8
• Toxic Screen now has yellow lights that indicate when it is on cooldown
• Removed delay on Toxic Screen disabling when Viper is suppressed
• Added a unique VO line that plays when her smoke is disabled by suppress

Poison Cloud

• Cooldown after deactivating increased 6 >>> 8
• Cooldown timer now starts when her smoke starts dissipating instead of when the deactivation telegraph plays
• Deactivation delay decreased 1 >>> .8
• Poison Orb now has a yellow light to indicate when it is on cooldown
• Removed delay on Poison Orb disabling when Viper is suppressed
• Added a unique VO line that plays when her smoke is disbaled by suppress

Snake Bite

• Duration decreased 6.5 >>> 5.5

Yoru

It's time for the long-awaited Yoru rework. And we're not going to lie; we didn't think we'd ever live to see a time where so many players would unironically say "oh, I'm becoming a Yoru main now". Still, it's not surprising; these changes will really turn Yoru from a meme to one of the best Duelists in the game.

Fakeout

• Charges reduced from 2 >>> 1
• Decoy HP: 150
• Decoy is now a full running version of Yoru and can only be sent running forward
• Right -click to place a stationary marker for the decoy (Reactivate similarly to footsteps to create the decoy that runs forward)
• Upon taking damage from an enemy gun, the decoy winds up, turns towards the enemy that shot it, and explodes after a short delay (Enemies within the cone are flashed)

Gatecrash

• Charges increased from 1 >>> 2
• Cost: 200 Credits
• Cooldown charge refresh removed, switched back to 2-kill reset
• Gatecrash can be faked by pressing F, while hovering over the beacon
• Fake teleport will play audio and portal visuals as if Yoru is attempting to teleport.
• Time it takes for teleport beacon has decreased 1.5 >>> 0.5 seconds
• Teleport beacon’s in-game audio while traveling reduced 22.5m>>>12.5m
• Teleport beacon’s speed has been increased 675 >>> 800
• Upon activating a fake teleport, the beacon creates a small decal on the floor for 30 seconds to indicate location of the fake teleport

Dimensional Drift

• Duration increased 8 >>> 10 seconds
• Yoru is not revealed to enemies
• Unequip delay time increased 0.6 >>> 1.2 seconds
• Yoru is now able to cast all utility out of his ultimate
• Yoru’s footsteps can now be heard within 15m of Yoru’s location
• Cast delay added upon casting Dimensional Drift, preventing the invulnerability frame on cast

Map Updates

Ascent

• B Orb can now be taken directly from the bottom box (previously you had to do a double jump to the box to get it).

Icebox

Icebox is the first map to be updated to balance the gameplay for both sides (we say "first" because we expect more updates of this type in the coming weeks). There's no denying that this was a map that heavily favored Attackers, to the point where it was unhealthy, and now that's going to change. With the considerable amount of changes that have been made to Icebox, we decided to put them all in a gallery, so you could not only read about them but see exactly what's going to change in the 4.04 update:

• Check out all the Icebox changes:

Competitive Updates

Patch 4.04 is also coming with a new map draw system to prevent players from playing the same maps repeatedly.

Introducing initial testing of a new “deterministic map system” in LATAM. The goal of this system is to increase the variety of maps that players will encounter. If there are no issues, we plan to activate this system (explained below) for all regions within the next few days/week. Although this is LATAM region only, we are including it here as a heads up if we decide to expand.

Deterministic map selection follows 3 rules when picking a map, after players have been selected to play a match:

• The system will look at all maps players have played over the last 5 maps for that mode
• The system will remove any maps that a player has played twice in the past 5 maps
• The system will pick the least played map (If all maps have been removed due to the “Twice Played” rule, those maps will be added back to the pool and the least played map will be picked)

This is the kind of change we have been waiting a long time for. We know it's far from the "map selection" that so many people want, but we still love the concept, and at least you won't have to play a map you hate several times in a row. Even though this feature is only available on the LATAM server for now, it is way better than what we have now, so expect it for all regions in the upcoming weeks.

Bugs

And as always for the end of every Valorant Patch - some bug fixes! However, this time there are more than usual.

Agents

• Fixed issue where enemies wouldn’t trigger Cypher’s Trapwire in rare situations
• Fixed the boom not showing up for Astra if planted while in Astral Form
• Fixed a bug where Viper’s Toxic Screen audio could play in the next round if it is activated right on round end
• Fixed Yoru’s Gatecrash icon showing up as a big white circle on Brimstone’s targeting map
• Fixed a bug where Chamber’s teleport would sometimes fail when cast immediately after firing the last bullet of Headhunter
• Fixed a bug where Chamber’s Tour de Force would inconsistently spawn slow zones when firing at KAY/O during NULL/CMD

Social

• Fixed an issue with AFKs in Escalation game mode

Esports Features

• Fixed a bug where the timer would overlap itself while viewing the megamap as anobserver

Game Systems

• Fixed an issue where you could tap the scroll wheel to activate the defuse audio without actually initiating a defuse