Riot Confirms Champions Shanghai Pick’Ems, Agent Gear Changes, Stream Sniping Bans, and More in Valorant 13.05 Update

The highly anticipated Valorant 13.05 update is here, and it has brought with it a number of important changes to the competitive shooter.

With this update, Riot Games is bringing back Pick’Ems for the upcoming Valorant Champions Shanghai 2026 tournament, while also introducing penalties for players who use stream sniping and instalocking tools, alongside other changes.

As confirmed by the devs, the Champions Shanghai 2026 Pick’Ems will go live starting September 10, when you will get access to the Group Stage in-client and on the web.

As usual, players will be able to predict the advancing teams currently for points, while earning extra points for correctly guessing the exact placement. There’s also a bunch of exciting rewards for those who participate in the Pick’Ems as well as the top-performing players.

Moving forward, players who use third-party tools to stream snipe and instalock Agents will start receiving penalties, ranging from temporary bans to permanent suspensions for continued usage.

Lastly, Agent Gear progression is also getting a major revamp, with progression now tied to playtimes on each Agent.

Without further ado, let’s check out the full patch notes for the Valorant 13.05 update.

Valorant 13.05 Patch Notes Revealed: All Changes

Below, we have included the detailed patch notes for the Valorant 13.05 update, as confirmed by Riot Games:

ALL PLATFORMS

COSMETICS UPDATES

• Sound Sprays
  • Based on your feedback, we’ve adjusted the sound attenuation for all sound sprays so you’ll only be able to hear the sounds if you’re nearby to ensure teams can communicate effectively. This will be a standard for all future audio sprays.

ESPORTS FEATURES

• Pick’Ems have returned for Champions Shanghai! Starting on September 10, you will have access to the Group Stage in-client and on the web. Predict the advancing teams for points, earning extra points for correctly guessing the exact placement. You’ll also earn rewards just for participating. Get your picks in before Groups kickoff on September 24th! 

PLAYER BEHAVIOR UPDATES

• We’ve started rolling out penalties if we detect usage of stream sniping and instalock tools. Players found using these tools will be subject to temporary game bans that will escalate to permanent with repeated usage.

PROGRESSION UPDATES

• Agent Gear
  • Heads up, gamers! With the release of Patch 13.06 on September 22, we’ll be revamping the Agent Gear system and the way you unlock items on that progression track. You will still keep the gear you’ve already earned, and you’ll continue to use Kingdom Credits to unlock future gear. But after Patch 13.06, each piece of gear will be tied directly to how much you play the associated Agent. So if you’re currently grinding for Agent Gear on any Agents you don’t usually play, now’s your chance to lock in and get those unlocks.

BUG FIXES

• Agent
  • General
    • Fixed an issue where Agent Ultimate voiceover could continue playing from an enemy’s perspective after the Agent casting the Ultimate was killed.
    • Fixed an issue where the Combat Report incorrectly displayed “Enemies Blinded” for certain abilities that don’t apply Blind.
    • Fixed an issue where smokes would block flashes after dissipating.
      • We’ve better timed the dissipation for the smokes on Astra, Brimstone, Clove, Miks, and Omen to fix an issue where their smokes could continue blocking flashes and other line-of-sight-dependent abilities while the smoke was dissipating.
  • Chamber
    • Fixed an issue that could cause performance drops the first time Chamber equipped, aimed, or fired Headhunter during a round.
  • Cypher
    • Fixed an issue where Cypher’s Trapwire debuff could persist indefinitely on a new target if the initial target was killed just before the Trapwire triggered.
    • Fixed an issue where Cypher’s Cyber Cage could incorrectly block flashes, detection, and other line-of-sight-dependent abilities.
  • Deadlock
    • Fixed an issue where casting Deadlock’s GravNet could briefly display unintended VFX on screen.
  • Fade
    • Fixed an issue where Fade’s Seize would not display its danger indicator to enemies in certain locations on Lotus.
  • KAY/O
    • Fixed an issue where KAY/O’s NULL/cmd could cause client-side framerate drops with each pulse.
  • Omen
    • Fixed an issue where Omen’s Dark Cover could obscure a player’s vision after the smoke has dissipated.
  • Sage
    • Fixed an issue where Sage’s Healing Orb ability tooltips could be missing from the HUD when equipping the ability.
  • Waylay
    • Fixed an issue where vision-blocking abilities could prevent Waylay’s Saturate from applying Hinder to players within its area of effect.
    • Fixed an issue where Waylay’s Refract could cause snapshots of dynamic map objects to remain visible after the ability ended.
    • Fixed an issue where Waylay’s Saturate could apply Hinder to Agents while they were intangible.

PC ONLY

GENERAL UPDATES

• Default Bot Count in Range Practice Mode
  • An option for 10, 5, or 1 bot to spawn has been added in the Range practice mode.
  • The default number of bots spawned is now 5.
  • You can adjust this number in the Range settings.
• Fixed an issue where the close button was not functional after purchasing VALORANT Points.