On July 12, Valorant rolled out update 5.01, bringing a characteristically conservative number of balance tweaks to the game. The topics of discussion are Agents Phoenix, Yoru, and KAY/0, with Phoenix receiving the most changes. No weapons are being changed in this update. Below you will find a breakdown of Valorant update 5.01, followed by the patch notes in full.
Pheonix and Yoru buffs
As one of the original cast members of Valorant, Phoenix has received very few changes over time, and is thus somewhat behind on the power curve. Update 5.01 gives him more power by making his abilities more responsive, with better animation timing. His flash also lasts roughly 30% longer. For his part, Yoru is receiving a 20% increase in ultimate up-time, which is a nice little buff.
KAY/0 changes in 5.01
What is happening to KAY/0 in Valorant update 5.01 feels more like a quality-of-life improvement than balance. His Frag ability now applies its damage through objects and walls, and the area-of-effects has been reduced by 20% to balance out the buff. His ultimate channel audio has been tweaked so only his teammates are aware of it, while enemies can just hear a short sound cue when he begins to channel.
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Valorant update 5.01 full patch notes
Below are the Valorant 5.01 patch notes in their entirety, minus the bug fixes, which you can review in the official update post.
PHOENIX
We believe Phoenix’s Curveball is the cornerstone of his kit, and as we explored adjustment options it became clear that Curveball being more powerful unlocks his kit as a whole. So we wanted to assess Phoenix in a world where Curveball is more competitive with the rest of the ecosystem to get a sense for the impact of the changes. We view Phoenix as an aggressive entry Agent, so the additional Run It Back and Blaze changes are intended to support his proactive intentions when taking space or fights early on into rounds.
| Curveball (Q) Flash Max duration increased 1.1s >>> 1.5s. Flash Windup decreased .7s >>> .5s. |
| Blaze (C) Phoenix will now equip his weapon earlier if he stops bending his wall. |
| Run it Back (X) Phoenix will now spawn at the marker with the amount of shields he had when the ability was cast. |
YORU
We’ve noticed you Yoru players having a bit of friction achieving the dream of setting up a master plan while in ultimate. We’re hoping these changes will reduce a bit of that problem, rewarding you for using your flash during ultimate, while still preventing unhealthy play patterns that leave enemies without counterplay.
| Dimensional Drift (X) Increased duration of ultimate 10s >>> 12s. Reduced unequip time 1.2s >>> 0.8s. |
KAY/O
KAY/O hasn’t had much of a quality of life pass since we’ve last had some changes so we wanted to reduce some pain and help you access more parts of the kit that haven’t felt as accessible.
| FRAG/ment (C) Zone diameter reduced 10m >>> 8m. Damage now applies without needing line of sight. We’ve noticed a lot of inconsistencies with how the FRAG/ment is communicating the actual damage zone on the ability. We wanted to be consistent with how the visuals were showing the damage zone, so we’ve removed the line of sight requirement to apply damage. |
| NULL/cmd (X) Now, only allies will hear the full channel audio of reviving KAY/O, while downed Enemies will only hear a short audio cue when the revive has started, matching a similar gameplay pattern to playing around ultimate orbs or tapping the bomb. |
GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS
- New Smurf Detection functionality (North America)
- This addition to our smurf detection systems is designed to make sure that new players (that means all new accounts) are matched up with players of the correct skill level, much faster than before.
- We’re testing this change in North America first, to make sure everything is working correctly before a global rollout.
- Testing begins the week of July 11th, 2022
- Improved collision behavior when walking next to or behind another player.
- This should heavily reduce the amount of jitteriness experienced when moving close to your allies (rushing a site as a group or moving out of spawn should feel better!)
GAME MODES
- Twin Hunters in Spike Rush will now damage destructible walls.
