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VALORANT Patch 10.04: Waylay, Agent Updates and New Map Rotation
Patch 10.04 for VALORANT is about to land with major changes to shake up the game once again. Biggest news is new Thai duelist, Waylay, will be arriving in VALORANT with the new launch of V25 Act 2. The patch is set to drop on Wednesday, the 5th of March.
Waylay Dashes Into the Fray
The 28th VALORANT agent, Waylay will be officially available for players to get their hands on with the launch of the new Act. With her arrival, the duelist roster has increased to 7, making it the most numerous of the 4 roles.
Check out our Waylay cover here for a full rundown of all the abilities for this new Thai duelist.
Waylay was designed as an alternative option to mobility agents, primarily Raze and Jett, and offers players a unique way of entry pathing with her double dash.
Fear not, however. Should you run into any trouble, Waylay also comes equipped with a unique ability – Refract – which allows her to recall back to a preset point while remaining invulnerable for the duration.
When will Waylay be released?
Waylay will be released in a staggered rollout to all regions beginning from 9:00 am PT on 5th March, coinciding with the launch of Act 2.
Agent Adjustments
Clove
“Clove has been overperforming in ranked, so we’re making some adjustments to their abilities to keep ranked in a healthy spot. Similar to balance changes we’ve made in the past, we’d like to continue encouraging Controller diversity by making space for other agents who have similar strengths.”
Meddle:
- Behaviour Change.
- [Old] Explodes after 1.3 second timer post-casting.
- [New] Explodes after contact with ground after 0.75s timer.
Ruse:
- Cooldown increased 30s > 40s.
Pick Me Up:
- Health Buff duration increased 8s > 10s
- Move Speed duration reduced 8s > 3s
Deadlock
“We want to encourage GravNet as one of her primary tools to pounce onto targets that are disrespecting the areas she controls. To account for GravNet swapping to signature, we’ll be shrinking the size and increasing some of its counterplay. Since the skill will be cast more frequently, we’d like to encourage plays to be intentional and precise about placement.”
Barrier Mesh:
- Swapped to non-signature ability.
- Cost increased Free > 400 credits.
GravNet:
- Swapped to signature ability.
- Cost decreased 200 credits > Free.
- Total Size reduced 16m > 13m.
- Projectile Audio Updated to improve gameplay clarity.
- Net Removal Audio will now be played as an audio cue for all players.
Iso
“These changes are intended to redistribute power around Iso’s kit to make him a more well-rounded agent. Changes to Undercut intent to increase his overall strategic options, and Contingency is receiving an alternate cast paradigm to support slower play and its ability to isolate angles. We’re reverting Iso’s Double Tap tagging change, as trying to kill Iso through his shield is already a highly frustrating and powerful moment. Changes to Kill Contract are intended to ensure that won duels in the arena always spawn an orb.”
Undercut:
- Charge reduced 2 > 1.
- Cost increased 200 > 300 credits.
- [New] Applies Suppression alongside Vulnerability for the same duration (4s) on players hit.
Contingency:
- [New] ALT-Fire function added, allowing the wall to move at half speed.
Double Tap:
- [New] Iso will receive a Heavy Penetration tag rather than Wall Penetration tag when shield is broken.
Kill Contract:
- Behaviour Update.
- If Iso does not have Double Tap buff applied during the duration of ult, ultimate will automatically apply it so that won ultimate duels will always spawn an orb.
Neon
Overdrive:
- Behaviour Update.
- VFX update for Neon during Overdrive duration for better directionality when fighting with it active.
Tejo
Guided Salvo
- Damage Reduced 70 > 65.
- [New] Damage to non-player objects reduced to 50%.
- Damage Reduced (specifically in interaction with Killjoy ultimate), Killjoy Lockdown will now survive Guided Salvo with 5hp.
Map Updates
Map Rotation (Competitive and Deathmatch)
- [IN] Ascent and Icebox
- [OUT] Abyss and Bind
Map Changes
Ascent
“While bullet penetration is a meaningful system that rewards map knowledge and situational execution, we feel like the weapon spam here at barrier drop is currently creating unhealthy gameplay and frustrating experiences. This change will give Attackers some added safety at barrier drop when first approaching B Main.
- Portion of B Main wall has now been made non-pennable.
Gameplay Updates
- Combat Report
- Overhauled visuals for detailed damage breakdown panel to be more organized and intuitive.
Bug Fixes
Agents
Neon
- Checked in a more systemic fix to an issue where Neon could jiggle her head up and down while sliding if mashing strafing inputs.
Fade
- Fixed an issue where Fade’s hands got stuck in place if she crouched while holding Nightfall out.
Competitive
- Fixed an issue where the Rank Shield icon on the Match History page would disappear after playing a non-Competitive game.
General
- There is a bug where the first person camera angle may be slightly offset from the expected player point of view while spectating another player.
Agent Adjustments (Console)
"Generally speaking, we believe that the best version of VAL is true across all platforms. As a result, we only look to make console-specific changes when absolutely necessary. We’d like to take this opportunity to adjust any changes that may no longer be needed."
Neon
Overdrive:
- Head Damage Multiplier increased 2.5 > 3.
- Body Damage Multiplier unchanged.
- Leg Damage Multiplier increased 0.75 > 0.85
Sprint:
- Fuel Drain Per Second decreased 0.11 > 0.1.
Yoru
Dimensional Drift:
- Unequip Delay decreased 1.2s > 0.8s.
Fakeout:
- Max flash duration increased 2s > 3s.
- Flash explosion delay increased 0.6s > 0.8s.
Blindside:
- Max flash duration increased 1.25s > 1.75s.
- Flash explosion delay decreased 0.7s > 0.6s.
Reyna
Leer
- Health increased 40hp > 100hp
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Featured Image Credit: Riot Games
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