With less than a day remaining for the release of Valorant Episode 9 Act 3, Riot Games has revealed the patch notes for the upcoming update.
The Valorant 9.08 patch is set to introduce a bunch of exciting new changes to the competitive shooter, including significant tweaks to Gekko, updates to the Sunset B-site and middle area, a change in the competitive map pool, and much more.
There’s something for fans of cosmetics as well, as the new Act will bring with it a fresh Battle Pass containing a number of new skin lines alongside the Doombringer bundle.
Valorant Episode 9 Act 3 Patch Notes
Without further ado, let’s check out the detailed patch notes of the Valorant Episode 9 Act 3 update, as officially revealed by Riot Games.
ALL PLATFORMS
AGENT UPDATES
Gekko
As you have mastered Gekko’s utility since his last buff in patch 7.12, we’ve noticed that his core play pattern of using and reclaiming his buddies has little to no downside. These changes to his globules put pressure on Gekko to more quickly reclaim them, and also allow for more counterplay for Gekko’s opponents to punish him if he’s too reckless.
Dizzy and Wingman are each getting improvements to their overall reliability to reduce cases where you hear or see them target and debuff an enemy, only to find that the enemy is unaffected. These changes are targeted at addressing inconsistent behavior rather than a direct power increase for Gekko.
Dizzy is in a healthy state in terms of how often you successfully engage in its shooting counterplay, but we feel that Dizzy holds space and angles for too long. Additionally, given Gekko’s overall number of plants and defuses with Wingman, Thrash is available too frequently for its impact.
We hope these changes don’t wildly affect Gekko’s place in the ecosystem, but instead put him in a healthier long-term place.
- Globules
- Reduced time in world 20s >>> 15s
- Reclaim time increased 1s >>> 1.5s
- Dizzy
- Time active after being thrown and forming is reduced 1.5s >>> 1s.
- Dizzy’s targeting algorithm has been updated to be more reliable.
- Dizzy’s goop flash now also blinds the minimap of affected players.
- Wingman
- Increased the angle of the cone concuss area 45 degrees >>> 65 degrees.
- When Wingman turns into a globule after planting the Spike there are unique visuals.
- Thrash
- Ultimate points increased 7 >>> 8
Yoru
Various abilities were not showing effects on Yoru’s Fakeout clone, which made it too easy to discern it from the real Yoru. We are going through abilities in the game and making sure they interact properly with Yoru’s Fakeout.
- Blind abilities like Gekko’s Dizzy and Vyse’s Arc Rose will now display the blind effect on Yoru’s Fakeout clone as if he was a real Agent.
- Vyse will play her Successful Blind celebration lines when blinding Yoru’s Fakeout clone.
- Cypher’s Neural Theft will show the Yoru’s Fakeout clone.
- Clove’s Meddle will now show the decay effect on Yoru’s Fakeout clone.
Skye and Jett
- Jett’s Tailwind and Skye’s Trailblazer will no longer stop at the window in Ascent. Instead, they will bust through and continue movement onto the other side.
COSMETICS UPDATES
- We’ve made some updates to several scope reticles to make them more clean and less distracting. Here is the list of updated skins: Araxys Operator, Valiant Hero Operator, Reaver Operator, Gothic Marshal. Thanks to Derke for the feedback!
MAP UPDATES
Introducing “Glitch”, VALORANT’s Newest Team Deathmatch Map
- A 5v5 map that puts you in a dual-themed arena. This is the 5th TDM map and takes place in a “glitched out” Maxbot arena.
- Glitch is playable via the “Team Deathmatch” game mode queue.
Map Rotations
- Pearl and Split are BACK in the COMPETITIVE QUEUE
- Icebox and Lotus are OUT of the COMPETITIVE QUEUE
Sunset
We’re updating Sunset’s B Site to address defensibility, post plant, and provide more ways to play on site. The B Main pivot box was adding a ton of pressure during post plant so we’ve opted to simplify the cover here. You can still play B Main during post plant, but it should now be easier to manage for retakers. A particular Cypher trip has also been removed with these changes.
- B Main
- Before
- After
- B Main Exterior
- Before
- After
- B Site
- Before
- After
- B Site Back
- Before
- After
- B Boba
- Before
- After
- Mid Courtyard
- Before
- After
BUG FIXES
Maps
- Abyss
- The Spike will now spawn correctly at B Danger if it falls off the map.
PC
PREMIER UPDATES
Welcome to Stage E9A3!
- At the end of this Stage, the top 16 teams in Invite will remain in Invite. All other Invite teams will be demoted at the start of the next Stage. These rules are listed on the Standings tab.
- Demoted teams will seed into the zone they originally promoted from. Next Stage, Team Owners can change their zone in the Team Settings dropdown anytime before the team plays a match.
- If your team cannot be placed into a zone at the start of the next Stage, your Team Owner will be prompted to select a zone.
- Divisions other than Invite will not have demotion, and teams will still be promoted or be seeded into a division as normal at the start of next Stage.
- Contender Eligibility updates
- If you have five Contender Eligible players on your team, you are guaranteed to place into Contender Division.
- Contender Eligibility for 2024 expires at the end of Stage E9A3.
- To be Contender Eligible in 2025, you and your team must perform a qualifying action in Stage E9A3 or at any point in 2025.
- Qualifying actions include:
- Play a Weekly or Playoff match on a team in Contender or Invite Division.
- Reach Immortal 3 or higher peak rank in Competitive.
- Play in a Playoff match in Elite 5.
- Contender Eligibility for 2025 expires at the end of the last Stage in 2025.
BUG FIXES
Premier
- Fixed an issue where you would see a Competitor Crest after playing a Practice match on a brand new team, despite not having earned any points
Valorant Episode 9 Act 3 Release Date
Taking a glance at the Valorant Episode 9 Act 2 Battle Pass, we can see that the current Act will come to a conclusion on Wednesday, October 23. Players can expect the Valorant Episode 9 Act 3 update to hit the live servers around 6:00 am PT on the same date. This time may vary based on your server region.
