Riot Games and Valorant just released their latest agent, who will change the way players think and play.
Players will notice Agent 29 is out now. Riot Games and Valorant just released their latest agent, who will change the way players think and play. Agent 29 is named Veto, a new Sentinel who defies the rules of the game and is a counter ability character. Veto is fully live today. We were able to do a little deep dive into the character and see how his play style matched against other agents’ abilities. Along with the new agent, Patch 11.08 is live today. There are significant changes in this patch, which include changes to gunplay mastery and weapon balance, nearsighted vision distance, a uniform ‘concussed’ duration, cooldowns for rechargeable abilities, stim effects, and map adjustments.
As shown on the Valorant official page, here are all of Veto’s abilities:
Chokehold (Q)
EQUIP a viscous fragment of your mutation. FIRE to throw. The fragment deploys upon impact, creating a trap to hold enemies in place. Held enemies are Deafened and Decayed. Enemies can destroy the trap before activation.
Crosscut (C)
EQUIP a vortex. FIRE to place on the ground. While in range and looking at the vortex, REACTIVATE to teleport to the vortex. During the BUY PHASE, the vortex can be reclaimed to be REDEPLOYED.
Interceptor (E)
EQUIP an Interceptor. FIRE to place the Interceptor at the projected location. Once placed, RE-USE to activate. Once active, it will destroy any utility that would BOUNCE off a player and/or be destroyed naturally by gunfire. Enemies can destroy the Interceptor.
Evolution (X)
INSTANTLY begin to fully mutate, gaining a combat stim, regeneration, and becoming IMMUNE to all forms of debuffs.
The devs spoke about how Veto’s kit was centered around “anti-utility,” building on the defensive focus introduced in the latest map: Corrode. Essentially, he is able to defend a site or area of the map more effectively than the rest of the Agent pool. Taking sites or space will be tough playing against Veto because his Interceptor ability blocks abilities like Jett smokes, a Deadlock wall, a Raze rocket, or a Skye recon dog. We found out that there are available counters to this ability though. The ability also has a cooldown, so it is not active for the whole round. Timing and giving away intel against a Veto is crucial.
“His setups are highly adaptable, shifting based on how opponents play over time. His teleport, for example, offers strong repositioning potential that gives players a fallback option to regroup, reposition, and stay in control. And I would say that his boldness really shines in his ultimate, which is a moment to play with confidence, even a bit of brashness. Veto can function like a traditional defensive Sentinel, or you can take a more aggressive approach to create space and make plays. We’re excited to see how players get creative with him, the possibilities are wide open,” Game Designer Nicholas Smith spoke on Veto’s gameplay style.
So, the question remains: will Veto shake up the current Valorant meta? Definitely, but not in the drastic way people think. Killing Veto first would be ideal for a heavy utility-based team. However, they can also counter Veto with specific utility combos. A Breach or Omen flash could temporarily blind Veto’s placed Interceptor ability. Breach’s stun cannot be negated, nor can Astra’s abilities. Essentially, Initiators and Controllers still have a major impact in the game; it will just require more skill and team coordination to make better use of abilities in skirmishes around the map.
More on Initiators, the Valorant devs unanimously spoke about how they planned to re-focus gameplay into gunplay versus the utility-dumping aspect. So, not only are they adding Veto as an anti-utility agent, they are also making big changes to almost every agent in every role. Here is an in-depth breakdown of agent changes, provided by Riot Games:
- Breach
○ Fault Line
■ Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
■ Initial windup decreased from 1.2s → 1.1s
■ Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s
○ Flashpoint
■ Flash duration increased up from 2s → 2.25s
○ Rolling Thunder
■ Width decreased from 23m → 18m
■ Concuss duration decreased from 6s → 4s
■ Ult points decreased from 9 → 8
- Fade
○ Haunt
■ Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
■ Haunt active duration decreased 2s → 1.5s
○ Prowler
■ Visibility in Nearsight increased from 5m → 7m
○ Nightfall
■ Deafen and Marked duration decreased from 12s → 8s
■ Width decreased from 24m → 20m
■ Decay now remains a consistent 80 damage over its duration instead of decreasing over time
- Gekko
○ General
■ Cooldown upon reclaim increased from 10s → 20s
○ Wingman
■ Health decreased from 80 → 60
■ Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s
○ Thrash
■ Health decreased from 200 → 180
- KAY/O
○ ZERO/POINT
■ Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
○ FLASH/DRIVE
■ Underhand maximum flash duration increased from 1.5s → 2.25s
○ NULL/CMD
■ Updated to match Stim standardization
● Increased fire rate reduced from 15% → 10%
● Added standardized weapon draw time for Stims
○ NEW: Increased weapon draw speed by 10%
● Added weapon recovery speed for Stims
○ NEW: Weapon recovery speed increased by 10%
- Sova
○ Recon Bolt
■ Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
- Iso
○ Kill Contract
■ Length decreased from 48m → 36m
- Neon
○ Neon’s High Gear changes allow Neon to make more significant timing breaks but will require more thoughtful resource management.
○ High Gear
■ Battery recharge decreased, time to recharge to full battery increased from 20s → 60s
■ Battery drain reduced, increasing sprint time with full battery from 12s → 16s
○ Relay Bolt
■ Concuss duration decreased 3.5s → 2.5s
- Reyna
○ Leer
■ Health decreased from 80 → 60
○ Empress
■ Updated to match stim standardization
● Faster reload time reduced from 25% → 10%
● Increased fire rate reduced from 15% → 10%
● Increased weapon draw speed reduced from 25% → 10%
● Increased weapon recovery speed reduced from 25% → 10%
- Waylay
○ Saturate
■ Hindered duration decreased from 4s → 3s
○ Convergent Paths
■ Ultimate no longer spawns an afterimage of Waylay, and she is no longer pushed back when casting
■ Ultimate now briefly restricts aim rotation and movement speed similar to Breach’s Rolling Thunder when casting
■ Hindered duration decreased from 7s → 6s
■ Initial windup decreased from 2s → 1s
■ Width decreased from 18m → 13.5m
■ Decreased movement speed buff on ult from 15% → 10%
- Yoru
○ We’ve seen a notable rise in Yoru mastery, but his kit has become so effective it can overshadow other Duelists, and even some Initiators. We’re making changes to make his tools a bit more selfish and encourage coordinated team plays to achieve his potential.
○ Gatecrash
■ Health decreased from 60 → 20
■ Audio now plays from Yoru’s location when Yoru teleports or fakes it
○ Fakeout
■ Flash duration decreased from 3s → 2s
○ Blindside
■ Flash duration decreased from 1.75s → 1.5s
■ Flash now follows the standard flash falloff curves as other Agents. Previously, Yoru’s flashes that were slightly offscreen were more effective than intended
○ Dimensional Drift
■ Yoru can no longer cast Blindside, or set up his fakeout during Dimensional Drift
■ He can still cast the initial Gatecrash and reactivation, as well as reactivation of Fakeouts
- Raze
○ Blast Pack
■ Raze can now affected by Slows while midair with Blast Pack
■ If Slowed, the force from Blast Pack will be reduced, similar to how slows affect other Dashes
- Astra
○ Gravity Well
■ Fragile duration decreased from 5s → 2.5s
■ Cooldown increased from 45s → 60s
○ Nova Pulse
■ Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s
■ Cooldown increased from 45s → 60s
○ Nebula
■ Cooldown increased 25s → 35s
- Brimstone
○ Stim Beacon
■ Updated to match stim standardization
● Increased fire rate reduced from 15% → 10%
● Increased movement speed reduced from 15% → 10%
- Omen
○ Dark Cover
■ Cooldown increased from 30s → 40s
○ Paranoia
■ Projectile speed increased from 16 meters per second → 20 meters per second
■ Travel distance reduced from 32.5m → 25m
- Viper
○ Initial contact now inflicts less Decay, reduced from 30 → 10 health
- Vyse
○ Vyse has been great at stalling and punishing enemies that move recklessly through her space but countering her has been more difficult than intended. We’re adjusting Shear
and Arc Rose’s counterplay rules to make them simpler and more consistent for enemies to perform.
○ Arc Rose
■ Arc Rose is now destructible after the flash windup starts rather than being invulnerable.
■ When enemy players are successfully flashed, the audio cue and voiceline alerting Vyse and her allies is removed
■ Flash duration decreased from 2.25s → 2.0s
■ Cooldown are slightly adjusted
■ After destruction, cooldown is increased from 45s → 60s
■ Recalling the ability will now always incur a 20s cooldown
○ Shear
■ Wall Trap trigger logic has been reworked to make it easier to bait out. The wall now spawns immediately when an enemy enters and then leaves its trigger zone. Enemies will also hear an audio cue, audible only to them, when they enter the trigger zone
○ Razorvine
■ Health decreased from 40 → 20
○ Steel Garden
■ Initial windup increased from 3.4s → 4.4s
■ Radius decreased from 32.5m → 26m
- Cypher
○ We’re asking Cypher players to be craftier with their camera placements and focus on his role as a surveillance network master. Enemies will now see and hear a Spycam when it is nearby, similar to Vyse’s Arc Rose. Trapwire has been adjusted to be less lethal, though Cypher can still convert to a kill when they are disrespected.
○ Spycam
■ Added stealthing functionality
■ Inactive camera will be revealed to enemies when you are within 8 meter radius of the camera, and will also have an accompanying audio tell
■ When the camera is active, there will be a louder persistent camera audio for enemies with a 12m range
■ Cooldown when destroyed is increased from 45s → 60s
○ Trapwire
■ Trapwire activation windup decreased
■ PC: 1.5s → 0.9s
■ Console: 2.5 → 1.9s
■ Trapwire activation has been adjusted to remove the Concuss and Tether debuffs. Timing of other debuffs has been changed
■ Previously, players were Tethered and Revealed after 0.5 seconds. Trapwire would then activate after 1.5 seconds and Concuss players if it was not destroyed.
■ Now, players will be immediately Slowed upon crossing the Trapwire Trapwire will now activate after 0.9 seconds and Reveal players if not destroyed OR if the player moves 4 meters away from the attached location.
- Killjoy
○ Turret
■ Cooldown when destroyed increased from 45s → 60s
■ Reactivation time for turret increased from 0.5s → 2s
■ Turret movement tagging per bullet increased 29.5% → 50%
■ NEW: Added a “windup” effect when Killjoy first re-enters the activation range
○ Alarmbot
■ Health decreased from 50 → 20
■ Reactivation time increased from 1s → 2s
■ NEW: Added a “windup” effect when Killjoy first re-enters the activation range
- Deadlock
○ GravNet
■ Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
○ Barrier Mesh
■ Cost reduced from 400 → 300
■ Health of smaller nodes decreased from 570 → 480
○ Sonic Sensor
■ Concuss duration reduced 3.5s → 2.5s
- Sage
○ Barrier Orb
■ Cost reduced from 400 → 300
■ Fortification delay reduced from 3.3 sec → 2 sec
■ Health of Barrier segments decreased from 800 → 600
Ultimately, almost all of these agents are getting nerfed in some way. Primarily, Initiators got the biggest nerfs with the new stun and blind consistency. For some Duelists, they will also see some impactful changes to their utility kit since they cannot rely too heavily on utility as before. Let us know what you think of the Valorant agent changes in the 11.08 patch.
And finally, map changes to Pearl and Abyss are live now too. In general, the Valorant devs noted focus for this patch was to encourage more on-site play for both teams, and to make planting for main more risky and predictable. So on Pearl A Site, that could mean some boxes were added and certain pieces of buildings/structures have been taken away. Whereas on Abyss, the pathing challenges to work around the map quickly have been slightly reduced. Specific entryways in Mid have shifted, and wall angles have been simplified.
One last note for those facing pesky smurfs out there, there is a new update for the reporting system. There is a new category called “Rank Manipulation”, which should be used instead of the Cheating category. It is for reporting players who abuse matchmaking. This encompasses behaviors we commonly know as smurfing, wintrading, and boosting. Let us know your thoughts on Patch 11.08, and feel free to visit the official Valorant website for a deeper dive on PC vs. console-specific changes.
