Valorant devs unveil major agent changes for 11.08 as abilites undergo huge shake-up

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Riot Games is making significant changes to all of the Agents in Valorant with the upcoming patch 11.08, adjusting each one in some way.

Valorant had a significant second half of 2025. Riot Games marked the game’s fifth anniversary with a major upgrade to Unreal Engine 5 and introduced substantial changes to the game’s characters, including brand new Agents.

Riot Games had announced major updates would be coming to the Valorant esports scene after the VCT season ended with Valorant Champions Paris. Now that NRG has won the championship, those changes are happening quickly.

Update 11.08 significantly changes how all Agents work, with major improvements to each character class.

Duelist changes in 11.08

Most Duelist agents will be slightly weakened in the next update. Riot Games is reducing the duration of concussive effects across several abilities to 2.5 seconds, including Neon’s Relay Bolt.

Combat Stims are getting updated to reduce their impact on actions like reloading, shooting, and weapon draw speed, and will also minimize bullet spread.

Yoru has received several updates. His Gatecrash ability will now make a sound when used, and he can only teleport while his ultimate is active. Additionally, the duration of his flash has been reduced.

Okay, so I’ve been testing the latest changes, and here’s what I’ve noticed: Neon feels like she can sprint forever now, but it takes longer for her fuel to recharge. Waylay’s stuns and slows aren’t lasting as long, and her Ultimate doesn’t cover as much ground – Iso’s abilities are seeing the same kind of adjustments too. Basically, everything’s a bit more balanced now, but you really need to time things right!

We’re slightly reducing the power of Yoru and Neon so that other Agents have more opportunities to excel. As part of this update, we’re also making adjustments to the size of some ultimate abilities and how long certain negative effects last, to keep things balanced across all Agents.

— VALORANT (@VALORANT) October 12, 2025

Sentinel changes in 11.08

Riot Games is making changes to Sentinels because some of their abilities are too difficult to detect. They want players to be able to more easily find, trigger, or eliminate them. Additionally, after a destroyed Sentinel’s signature ability is used, it will take longer to recharge.

Vyse’s Razorvines are now less durable, and her Steel Garden will be smaller and take longer to deploy. Additionally, the sound effect when Arc Rose hits an enemy has been removed.

Deadlock and Sage’s barriers, as well as Killjoy’s Alarm Bot, will have less health. However, the barriers will now cost 300 credits to deploy, and the Alarm Bot’s health is being reduced from 50 to 20.

Cypher’s Trapwires will now only slow players when triggered, with the concussion being removed. 

We’re streamlining counter-play against Sentinels, and buffing them slightly to compensate.

— VALORANT (@VALORANT) October 12, 2025

Initiator changes in 11.08

Attackers are focusing on accuracy when they begin their assaults. Also, abilities that limit vision, like Fade’s Prowlers, will now provide more visible information to those affected.

As a player, I was really happy to hear Riot talk about making abilities feel more connected. They’re basically saying they want it to be smoother to switch between different skills without feeling like you’re completely relearning everything. They also mentioned they’re toning down stuns that *aren’t* part of ultimate abilities, making them more consistent across the board.

Sova, Kay-O, Fade, and Breach’s abilities that recharge will now take a full minute to become available again. Geko’s robot companions will recharge in 20 seconds, and Wingman and Thrash will have less health.

Breach’s ultimate ability will now cost less—reduced to eight ultimate orbs—but its area of effect and the duration of the concussive blast will be smaller.

Initiator abilities will have shorter durations, meaning you’ll need to time their use carefully to get the most out of them.

— VALORANT (@VALORANT) October 12, 2025

Controller changes in 11.08

Controllers will be updated to match general changes to how nearsight works and how often rechargeable abilities can be used. However, Astra and Omen’s smoke screens will last for less time – shorter than the 60-second duration of other agents’ smokes.

As a Jett main, I’m really interested in these changes! It looks like Omen’s Paranoia is getting a bit smaller in range, but it’ll move faster – two meters per second, to be exact. And for Viper players, it’s good news! Her Viper’s Pit, Paranoia Cloud, and Toxic Screen will all do a little less damage over time, meaning they’ll stick around and be dangerous for slightly longer.

Controllers will be updated to align with changes happening across all characters: their negative effects will be shorter in duration, and abilities that aren’t smoke-based will be used less often.

— VALORANT (@VALORANT) October 12, 2025

In addition to these changes, Update 11.08 will also adjust the design of several popular maps and refine how weapons fire. It’s a huge update that will significantly change the way Valorant feels to play.

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2025-10-13 13:51