VALORANT Patch 9.06: All You Need to Know

VALORANT Patch 9.06 brings a host of exciting updates, tweaks, and fixes to elevate the gameplay experience. From new player tips to significant map, weapon, and agent updates, this patch addresses various aspects of the game. Here’s a breakdown of the major highlights.

Agent Updates: Balancing Abilities on Ascent

Riot have changed the way agent abilities interact with glass windows on Ascent:

• Phoenix’s Blaze and Neon’s Fast Lane will now break the window only if their initial cast hits it.
• Harbor’s High Tide will no longer break the window, as it interacts differently from other abilities.
• Chamber’s Trademark, Cypher’s Trapwire, and Killjoy’s Lockdown will not destroy windows if placed too close.

Additionally, Brimstone’s Orbital Strike and Vyse’s Steel Garden Area of Effect abilities now offer directional audio cues, helping players identify which direction to escape to.

Map Changes: Haven and Breeze

• Haven: Improvements for agents like Vyse and Cypher, particularly when placing abilities like Arc Rose and Trapwire on crates.
• Breeze: A bug that prevented bullets from passing through the mechanical door at A Switch when it was open has been fixed.

Gameplay Updates: AFK Players and New Player Tips

• AFK Voting Adjustment: AFK players will no longer affect the outcome of a draw vote, ensuring more fair and responsive gameplay decisions.
• New Player Tips: New PC players can now benefit from tips that adapt based on their actions, helping them master the basics and work their way up to advanced strategies. Existing players can enable or disable these tips through the settings.

Weapon and Console Tweaks

• Console Updates: Console players can now enjoy a complete map pool as Fracture joins the Unrated and Swift Play queues. The developers have tweaked Megamap cursor sensitivity settings and made specific changes to abilities like Brimstone’s Sky Smoke and Omen’s From the Shadows.
• Aim Assist Removal: Aim assist has been removed from certain abilities that weren’t designed to target enemies, providing a more skill-based interaction.

Weapon Skins

• Skin Names in HUD: Weapon skin names are now displayed in the HUD. This quality-of-life improvement will make switching and recognizing skins easier for all players.
• Nocturnum Scythe: The third-person animation for the Nocturnum Scythe has been fixed. It will now properly align with the Agent model when equipped as a melee weapon.
• New Bundle: The new patch also introduces the Singularity 2.0 Bundle. 

Player Behavior and Social Adjustments

• VALORANT continues its efforts to improve the in-game environment with increased penalties for repeat offenders of comms abuse. Those identified through manual behavioral evaluations will face stiffer punishments.
• Players can now block communications from specific individuals, ensuring that blocked users can no longer send messages, invite to parties, or communicate via voice chat.

Bug Fixes: Cleaner, Smoother Gameplay

Several bugs have been addressed in this patch, such as:

• Deadlock’s Sonic Sensors no longer stay active after she is killed.
• Gekko’s Wingman will no longer chase unreachable targets in a loop.
• Breeze’s door at A Switch will now allow bullets to pass through when open.

These fixes, alongside a variety of collision and visual glitches associated with Vyse’s Shear, round out a cleaner gameplay experience.

These changes are just the tip of the iceberg. To read the complete patch notes, click HERE.

As always, Riot Games encourages feedback, helping to shape future patches and updates. Enjoy exploring these new changes and take your game to the next level!

---

There's still plenty of VALORANT action ahead in the OFF//SEASON. So, check in with Strafe to catch all of the latest VALORANT news.

Also, stay tuned to Strafe YouTube for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.

Featured Image Source: Riot Games

Read More:

2Game Esports ascends in VCT Americas Ascension 2024

XLG Esports Dominate Rare Atom in VCT China Ascension Grand Finals

Unpaid Wages: The Growing Crisis in VCT EMEA Tier 2