Valorant Patch 5.01: Balancing Changes for Phoenix, Yoru, and Kay/O

By Abhinav Sharma Published 07/12/22 EDT

Valorant Patch 4.05 Twitter/@PlayVALORANT

Valorant, the free-to-play FPS game by Riot Games, received a small patch just a few hours ago. Patch 5.01 brings balancing changes to three Agents, namely, Phoenix, Kay/O, and Yoru.

A new Smurf Detection system has also been applied to North America; it’s now live for testing. If everything works fine, then the said system will be used in other regions as well. The patch also makes sure that destructible walls will be damaged by Twin Hunters in Spike Rush.

You can read a portion of the patch notes below.

AGENT UPDATES

PHOENIX

Curveball (Q)

Flash Max duration increased 1.1s > 1.5s
Flash Windup decreased .7s > .5s

Blaze (C)

Phoenix will now equip his weapon earlier if he stops bending his wall

Run it Back (X)

Phoenix will now spawn at the marker with the amount of shields he had when the ability was cast

YORU

Dimensional Drift (X)

Increased duration of ultimate 10s > 12s
Reduced unequip time 1.2s > 0.8s

KAY/O

FRAG/ment (C)

Zone diameter reduced 10m > 8m
Damage now applies without needing line of sight

NULL/cmd (X)

Now, only allies will hear the full channel audio of reviving KAY/O, while downed
- Enemies will only hear a short audio cue when the revive has started, matching a similar gameplay pattern to playing around ultimate orbs or tapping the bomb

GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS

New Smurf Detection functionality (North America)
- This addition to our smurf detection systems is designed to make sure that new players (that means all new accounts) are matched up with players of the correct skill level, much faster than before.
- We’re testing this change in North America first, to make sure everything is working correctly before a global rollout.
- Testing begins the week of July 11th, 2022
Improved collision behavior when walking next to or behind another player.
- This should heavily reduce the amount of jitteriness experienced when moving close to your allies (rushing a site as a group or moving out of spawn should feel better!).

GAME MODES