How Valorant gameplay is affected after 5.03 Patch

Valorant Patch 5.03 has gone live and has introduced some changes that affect the current meta massively.

Chamber nerfs are the most prominent news surrounding the update as he was massively overpowered, which was quite evident due to his pick rate in competitive games. Although Chamber is a Sentinel, his abilities have been used more aggressively, almost as a Duelist before this patch was launched.

Alongside some huge nerfs to Chamber, Valorant PBE 5.03 brings a few changes to Neon and Jett as well. The Duelist meta will certainly be affected after the launch of patch 5.03 and this will affect how a player approaches playing these Agents. Neon and Jett mains need to be more precise with their aim now that the update is live.

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Valorant 5.03 Patch Notes and how it affects the Agents

The biggest impact has been on Chamber with the 5.03 Patch launch. He has received an extensive amount of nerfs and this will certainly affect his pick rate and even the win rate of the Agent. He has been the strongest pick for both professional and casual gamers for a long time now.

Listed below are the changes that Riot brought to Chamber in the 5.03 Patch:

Agent Updates

Rendezvous (E)

• Base Cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
• Recall Cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
• Cooldown set to 45s whenever a Rendezvous anchor is destroyed
• Radius Size decreased 21m >>> 15m

Trademark (C)

• 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

As evident in the Valorant patch notes, Chamber's Rendezvous ability has been nerfed massively. A 45-second cooldown penalty whenever an anchor is destroyed has been introduced in this patch in hopes of balancing out Chamber. Along with the Rendezvous ability being nerfed, the slow duration of the Trademark ability and his Ultimate has been reduced to six seconds.

Riot hopes this will be sufficient as the previous slow duration of 9.5 seconds was a bit too overpowered. The Ultimate points required for Chamber's Ultimate have been increased by one. Along with this, the bullet cost for the Headhunter ability has increased to 150 from 100, which will certainly impact how Chamber players buy abilities now, at the start of a round.

Along with the changes to Chamber, Neon's abilities have been updated a bit in hopes of getting her win rate and pick rate up from the dismal pick rate that she currently has. Listed below are the changes that Riot brought to Neon's Ultimate and other characters in the 5.03 Patch

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

Riot has introduced a new regional damage system in Valorant that will affect certain body segments differently. Here's what Riot had to say about the new damage system:

"We’re adding a breakup of ‘regional damage’ to all of the abilities that affect certain body segments differently, similar to our weapons, so that precision is rewarded (eg., a headshot vs a legshot)."

This means that players who are more precise with their aim will be rewarded over players who spray and pray. A headshot will now cause additional damage over a legshot, which is quite similar to the weapon damage system in Valorant.

Neon's Overdrive, Chamber's Tour De Force, and Jett's Bladestorm will now cause a bit less damage when the legs of enemy Agents are hit. This brings forth a lot of changes in the planning, strategizing, and gameplay style of numerous gamers.

Neon's Overdrive ability will now cause three times the damage it previously caused. However, this is the case only when she aims it at the opponent's head. With the launch of these changes with Patch 5.03, it remains to be seen how the current meta in Valorant will be judged by the community over the coming weeks.