Riot Games has officially shed light on some of the upcoming changes coming to Valorant with the game’s 12.09 update, and it’s not looking good for Neon mains or shotgun abusers.
The Valorant 12.09 patch will likely bring an end to the Neon meta by nerfing not only the Agent, but also her most powerful synergy – shotguns.
All shotguns in the game will see some notable nerfs with the next Valorant patch. These changes aim to reduce the overall impact of shotguns in the current meta without curbing their effectiveness in close-quarters combat.
Valorant 12.09 Shotgun Changes
As confirmed in a recent X post by Valorant dev ‘Penguin,’ all shotguns will have their moving accuracies reduced in the upcoming 12.09 patch. Additionally, run, walk, crouch-walk, and jump inaccuracy values for all shotguns have been standardized.
Moving forward, crouching will provide a flat 15% accuracy multiplier for all shotguns. This is a significant nerf to weapons like the Judge and Shorty, and a slight multiplier buff for the Bucky. Regardless, the Bucky is still always less accurate after the patch, since its spread itself has been increased along with that of the Judge.
Lastly, the Bucky also sees a reduction in its individual pellet damage.
Fans can take a look at all the upcoming shotgun changes below:
Alongside the aforementioned shotgun changes, Neon will also see some significant nerfs to her kit with the new Valorant patch.
Her air speed when sprinting has been gutted to match the game’s melee speed, and her fuel will no longer regenerate to full when killing an enemy unless she’s in her ultimate.
For the time being, Neon still remains disabled across all game modes. She will return to the shooter with all the new changes once the 12.09 update goes live on May 13, 2026.
