Riot Games took servers offline in all regions for the roll out of a major patch, Patch 0.50.
This patch includes a huge number of changes including: tweaks to the Creds cap & ability costs, balance updates for Agents & weapons, & fixes for FPS drops when shooting.
One of the biggest changes involves weapon accuracy while moving. The removal of being in the “walking accuracy” state when transitioning from a run to a stop, means it’ll be harder to “strafe and shoot”, as intended.
In addition, the deadzone accuracy speed threshold has been slightly increased from 25% to 30%. The “deadzone” is the point an Agent is considered to no longer be moving, therefore fully accurate. Since it’s considered to be a zone, you don’t have to be literally completely still to be fully accurate. With the slight increase in the size of the zone, you’ll be able to go from running accuracy to full accuracy a bit quicker when letting go of a movement key or counter strafe.
VALORANT Game Director, Joe Ziegler, gave insight into some of the changes made.
A major change to the economy is the reduction of the total credit (cred) cap from 12,000 to 9,000. This makes eco rounds much more important and will make comebacks possible against teams/players with a rich economy.
Additionally the credit (cred) cost of several Agent’s abilities were increased. Sage, Raze, Phoenix, and Brimstone had some ability costs increase, while Jett’s Updraft was reduced in credit cost.
Rifles got an update to make single-tap and burst fire more efficient. Tap, Burst, and Spray shooting styles will all be possible due to a slight improvement in “Gun Recovery Time”.
Maps Split, Haven, and Bind all received updates. Split received changes to allow attackers to better contest A Main, Mid Top, and B Tower.
To counter some exploits with Omen on Haven, a new system has been activated.
Sage, Cypher, Omen, Brimstone, Phoenix, and Viper all received balance updates.
Sage’s Slow Orb was nerfed.
Cypher received nerfs to his Cyber Cage (no longer slows enemies moving through it) and his Spy Camera (cooldown when destroyed increased). Fixes for several exploits with Cypher’s Spy Camera on all 3 maps were also deployed.
Viper received a buff with her Snake Bite radius increased.
Brimstone, Phoenix, and Viper all received a buff for their Incendiary, Hot Hands (Fireball), and Snake Bite abilities respectively to prevent bunny hoppers from taking no damage when inside the radius of the ability.
A nice QoL update finally allows toggling between walking & running! No more holding down that shift key with your pinky finger.
Read the full patch notes from Riot Games »
