Valorant 1.09 Preview and Official Patch Notes: Jett and Operator nerfs, Viper Buffs

The Valorant v1.09 update is now out for Korea. As predicted, Riot Games has finally paid attention to the Operator meta, as the Jett-Operator combination was quite challenging to overcome in the professional realm.

Similarly, player speed, weapon cost, damage differential, Agent changes — all of these seem to have been affected. The latest patch, thus, introduces a much more balanced structure to Valorantgs..

Mr.GHOST GAMING posted a translated video for the Valorant v1.09 Korean patch notes, and it was quite self-explanatory. First of all, the main focus was given to the Operator, with a comprehensive set of changes, and it seems that v1.09 makes the following changes in Valorant.

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Latest upcoming changes in Valorant v1.09 patch notes

For the Operator, a significant nerf was necessary as it became a tool that players kept exploiting. In ranked games, The Operator kept dominating the meta Gold and above.

• Price from 4500 to 5000.
• Scope Movement Speed from 76% to 72%
• Fire Rate - 0.75 to 0.6
• Equip time - 0.3s to 0.5s (increased)
• Leg Shot Damage - 127 to 120
• Scope Deadzone - 30% to 15% movement speed.

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Agent changes

Similarly, a significant alteration has been implemented in the current Valorant dynamics. Omen, Viper, Reyna, Brimstone and Jett were five Agents focused upon. And from what can be gathered, Reyna has a slight decrease during shooting while using her Ult, which is approximately a 10% deduction with her Ult-induced firing speed.

On the other hand, Jett has been nerfed as her Ult knives have received a damage drop. A slower speed with the knives, as well as a distance differential, have been added.

Image Credits - Liquipedia VALORANT

At the same time, Omen's Paranoia has been affected. Primarily, it looks like the opponent will have a little more vision while inside Paranoia, which makes it more apparent to him/her when flashed.

Brimstone is another Valorant Agent that saw an upgrade to his kit. The Stim Beacon earlier allowed people to shoot Rapid-Fire while inside the radius. However, the firing speed has now been increased a little.

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Finally, Viper gets a much-needed buff

Image Credits: Liquipedia Valorant

Viper has been vested with one of the vital buffs, as she has continuously been a disappointment in Valorant. Players, streamers, and pros have reported how she needs a top-to-bottom change. As one of the least picked Agents ever, the new updates from Riot look like a step in the right direction.

Viper's kit is heavily dependent on her toxin fuel, and she will now have a 100 poison instead of 50 while starting a round.

Her Snakebite ability makes opponents fragile and damages them at once. However, players could walk out of it to stop being vulnerable. With this latest update, Riot has increased the vulnerability time, even when players move out of the Snakebite.

This Agent's Ult - Viper's Pit, has been criticized a lot, and some even claimed that even if her Ult is the whole map, it still won't make a difference. Riot has decided to add a little mobility to Viper during her Ult. She will now move faster and equip a weapon quicker than before during her Ult.

With all these changes in Valorant v1.09 coming shortly, the meta is about to change. Especially with the changes given to Operator and Viper, a new dynamic will hopefully be forged.

Here are the Valorant Patch 1.09 Official notes

If you want a detailed description of patch 1.09, and why Riot made the changes that they did, then you can always visit Valorant’s official website

But for a brief overview, here is a simplified list of all the upcoming changes that we have mentioned above.

Agent updates

Jett

Blade Storm (Burst Fire)

• The time between consecutive Burst Fire use has increased from 0.33 seconds to 0.45 seconds
• Daggers thrown in Burst now have a damage falloff that begins at 12 meters and drops steadily (to 35 damage) at max falloff
• Headshot multiplier on Burst Fire reduced from 3x to 2x

Reyna

Empress

• Fire rate bonus decreased from 25 percent to 15 percent

Viper

Fuel

• Viper now starts the round at 100 fuel (previously 50)

Snake Bite

• Vulnerable debuff applied from Snake Bite now lingers for 2 seconds after leaving Viper’s acid

Viper’s Pit

• Move speed doubled while casting
• Viper now fast equips her weapon after casting, re-equip times vary per gun—but on average will reduce her weapon downtime by 0.4 seconds

Brimstone

Stim Beacon

• Fire rate bonus increased from 10 percent to 15 percent

Omen

Paranoia

• Updated projectile VFX to better represent its hitbox, especially when it is traveling towards your POV

Weapon updates

Operator

• Increased price from 4500 to 5000
• Decreased scoped movement speed from 76 percent to 72 percent
• Adjusted weapon deadzone from becoming inaccurate at 30 percent movement speed to 15 percent (become inaccurate sooner, become accurate later when stopping)
• Firing-rate reduced from 0.75 to 0.6
• Instant equip time adjusted from 0.3 to 0.5 (instant equip plays after tapping orb, bomb defuse/plant tap, Jett Cloud Burst, and Phoenix Curveball)
• Leg shot damage decreased from 127 to 120

All weapons

• Jump land inaccuracy state changed from gradual to binary
• Jump land inaccuracy duration increased from 0.2 to 0.225
• Jump land inaccuracy value increased from 5.0 to 7.0 (more inaccurate for 0.225s after a land)

Competitive updates

• During this patch, the chances of being in an hour+ queue should be notably reduced

Social updates

• Riot ID Reviews
• Players that have been reported for inappropriate Riot IDs will now be reviewed automatically after the match has ended. If their name is flagged as inappropriate, they will be forced to change their Riot ID the next time they log in to the Riot Client
• Removed Multi-line Breaks in Chat
• Changes to party push to talk settings will now take effect immediately
• The chat window can now be pinned to stay open across menus
• Social Panel Sorting Logic
• Sorting algorithm for the social panel has been updated to make it more intuitive for players as they interact with it

Bug fixes

• Fixed issue where Sova’s hitbox was incorrect while using his Owl Drone
• Fixed bug where Omen’s glowing eyes weren’t properly removed when he cancelled his ult
• Fixed a bug where Custom Game preferences would be wiped after navigating away from the Custom Game lobby