Valorant patch 2.06 official notes introduce massive Viper and Yoru buffs while nerfing the Bucky

Valorant patch 2.06 will be looking to bring some much-needed quality of life upgrades to two of the most underwhelming agents in the shooter at the moment.

Both Viper and Yoru have had an abysmal pick rate in pro play and standard matchmaking. The buffs that the devs are trying to introduce with 2.06 are sure to give them that well-deserved boost.

Moreover, the Bucky will have much of its power stripped from it, and will not be as oppressive during the econ rounds as it used to be.

Valorant fans looking for a detailed description of the patch can look up Riot’s official website.

Here are all the major highlights.

Valorant patch 2.06 official notes

#1 - Agent Updates

Viper

Image via Riot Games

Toxin (passive)

• Enemies that cross through Viper’s Poison Cloud, Toxic Screen, or Viper’s Pit are instantly inflicted with at least 50 decay. Their decay level increases the longer they remain in contact with toxin.
• While in cloud, Decay over time decreased 15 >>> 10
• When out of Viper’s cloud, delay before health regen decreased 2.5 >>> 1.5

Poison Cloud (Q)

• Can now immediately be redeployed when picked up, but grants a temporary charge instead of a permanent charge
• If active when Viper dies, Poison Cloud now remains up for an additional two seconds, or until Viper runs out of fuel.
• Pickup distance increased 200 >>> 400

Toxic Screen (E)

• If active when Viper dies, Toxic Screen now remains up for an additional two seconds before deactivating
• Full blind distance from the wall increased to better match the blind distance from the edge of smokes

Snakebite (C)

• Equip time decreased 1.1 >>> 0.8

Practice Tools

• In custom games with cheats and infinite abilities enabled, Viper can hold down “activate” on Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen to recall them
• In custom games with cheats and infinite abilities enabled, Poison Cloud’s landing location is shown on the minimap while equipped

Yoru

Image via Riot Games

Blindside (Q)

• Flash activation time decreased 0.8>>> 0.6 seconds
• Flash duration increased from 1.1>>>1.5

Gatecrash (E)

• Gatecrash is no longer refreshed on kills and is instead replenished every 35 seconds
• Lifetime of the Gatecrash fragment increased 20 seconds >>> 30 seconds
• The range at which the Gatecrash fragment is revealed from stealth decreased 7m >>> 4m
• Visuals for visibility range added to the moving fragment

Dimensional Drift (X)

• Ult Points reduced 7 >>> 6
• Yoru can now reactivate Gatecrash while in Dimensional Drift

Killjoy

Image via Riot Games

Nanoswarm (C)

• Killjoy can now pick up deployed Nanoswarm grenades during the buy phase to get the charge back.

#2 - Weapon Updates

Bucky

• Primary fire (left-click) bullet spread decreased 3.4 >>> 2.6
• Decreased spread on Alt-fire (right-click) 3.4 >>> 2.0
• Updated damage curve for both primary and alt-fire
• 0m–8m is 20dmg per pellet
• 8m–12m is 12dmg per pellet
• Beyond 12m is 9dmg per pellet
• Reduced amount of pellets in a right click shot from 15 >>> 5

#3 - Mode Updates

Escalation

Abilities

• Raze’s Showstopper now comes with two Blast Pack Charges which refill when players touch the ground. Practice those boosts!
• Snowball Launcher now comes with Skates—the increased mobility should give players an edge against the generally more lethal weapons.
• Big Knife now comes with one Tailwind (Jett Dash) charge which refills on kill.
• Close all the gaps!
• Loadout variations will be a bit of a surprise, and they’ll show up rarely.

#4 - Competitive Updates

• Players can now view a person’s career from the in-game Leaderboard
• If players are on the Leaderboard, but don’t want to give away who they are, theycan leverage the in-client toggle to label themselves a "Secret Agent"

#5 - Quality of Life

• To improve legibility, the megamap now consistently uses a mouse pointer instead of a crosshair for map pings

#6 - Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF)

• Added an audio toggle located in the Audio settings panel to enable HRTF
• HRTF allows players wearing headphones to play audio in a simulated surround
• sound audio space.
• Currently, only footsteps, reloads, and Deathmatch respawns will be rendered in
• 3D with HRTF enabled
• It’s recommended that players please turn off any other “3D Audio” processing while using this feature.

#7 - Bugs

• 20 assorted bugs for Agents, QoL, Competitive, and more fixed for this patch