Valorant patch 5.01 has brought a number of balance changes to agents alongside a new experimental smurf detection system.
Balancing is difficult in any game and that applies to both the game itself and the matchmaking engine. Some agents are overly powerful or weaker than they should be, and some players end up competing against opponents that are way better or way worse than they are. Riot Games is taking steps to deal with both sides of this issue in Valorant patch 5.01.
A number of changes were made to Phoenix, Yoru, and Kay/O. The tweaks largely reflect a series of experimental changes that were made on the PBE.
Phoenix got improved across the board with a longer duration on Curveball, quicker draw when he stops bending his Blaze wall, and the ability to keep his shield after using Run it Back. Yoru’s Dimensional Drift now lasts 12 seconds instead of 10 and the unequip time was reduced by 33%. Kay/O received a mixed bag but will likely be stronger on the whole, with FRAG/ment’s AOE being reduced but its effectiveness ignoring obstructions while NULL/cmd no longer being heard by enemies.
Valorant patch 5.01 bringing new smurf counter-measures
While the balance changes aren’t surprising, there are some interesting new additions with this patch. First and foremost being a new way to deal with smurfs.
“This addition to our smurf detection systems is designed to make sure that new players, that means all new accounts, are matched up with players of the correct skill level, much faster than before,” Riot said in the patch notes.
It’s uncertain whether that means players will be able to climb the ranks more quickly as they pick up wins or something else. Regardless, these new changes will first be implemented in North America. If the experiment is successful, it will be rolled out in other regions in a future update.
Also included in the patch is “improved collision behavior” surrounding other players in order to deal with the bumping and shoving that accompanies every B-rush. There are also some bug fixes for specific agents and an issue with scrolling in the friends list and chat.
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